# Response Modes
URL: /response-workflows/response-modes
Type: concept
Description: Choose how much creative control you give the AI — from structured templates to fully guided responses.
Keywords: response modes, template, guided, hybrid
Every Response Workflow uses one of three response modes. You don't choose the mode explicitly — it's determined by the type of content you create. If you write a template, it's template mode. If you write strategy instructions, it's guided mode. If you write both, it's hybrid mode.

Template mode [#template-mode]

**Best for:** Standardized responses where the exact wording matters — legal replies, compliance acknowledgments, shipping confirmations with specific formatting.

In template mode, you design the exact structure of the response using a visual editor. You control the greeting, the paragraphs, the sign-off — everything. The AI only fills in specific gaps that you mark with placeholders.

**How it works:**

* You build a response template with a mix of static text and dynamic placeholders
* Placeholders pull in ticket data (customer name, ticket subject), external data (order number, tracking info), or AI-generated text (a paragraph explaining your refund policy for this specific situation)
* The structure of the response is always the same — only the placeholder values change per ticket

**Example template:**

> Hi \{\{customer first name}},
>
> Thanks for reaching out about your order \{\{order number}}.
>
> \{\{AI: Explain the current order status and next steps based on the fulfillment data}}
>
> Let me know if you have any other questions.
>
> Best,
> \{\{agent name}}

Guided mode [#guided-mode]

**Best for:** Adaptive responses where the AI needs to reason about the situation — refund requests that depend on order age, troubleshooting that varies by product, any scenario where a single template can't cover all the variations.

In guided mode, you write strategy instructions that tell the AI *how to think about* the response — what data to check, what decisions to make, what tone to use. The AI generates the entire response from scratch, guided by your instructions.

**How it works:**

* You write strategy instructions — a set of guidelines the AI follows when crafting the response
* The AI receives your instructions along with the full ticket context, any external data (orders, subscriptions), and relevant knowledge base articles
* The AI generates a complete response that follows your strategy while adapting to the specific situation
* The response format adjusts automatically based on the channel — longer and more formal for email, brief and conversational for chat, very concise for social messaging

**Example strategy instructions:**

> 1. Look up the customer's most recent order using their email
> 2. Check the fulfillment status and financial status
> 3. If the order was delivered less than 30 days ago, explain the refund process and let them know we'll initiate it
> 4. If the order was delivered more than 30 days ago, explain the policy but offer store credit as an alternative
> 5. If the order shows as disputed, do not respond — this will be escalated to a human agent
> 6. Always include the order number and current status in your response
> 7. Use a warm, empathetic tone

The same workflow handles multiple scenarios because the AI adapts based on what it finds. You don't need separate templates for "refund within policy" and "refund outside policy" — one set of instructions covers both.

Hybrid mode [#hybrid-mode]

**Best for:** Structured responses where you want consistent formatting but with AI-powered sections that follow a strategy — like an order status email where the greeting and sign-off are fixed, but the middle section adapts based on order data.

Hybrid mode combines both approaches. You build a template that controls the overall structure, and the AI sections within that template use your strategy instructions as additional context for how to generate their content.

**How it works:**

* You create a template (like template mode) AND write strategy instructions (like guided mode)
* The template controls the overall structure — greeting, sections, sign-off
* AI placeholder blocks within the template receive your strategy instructions as context, making them smarter about how to fill in their sections
* You get the structural consistency of a template with the adaptive intelligence of guided mode

Choosing the right mode [#choosing-the-right-mode]

| Scenario                                                             | Recommended mode |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- |
| Exact wording required (legal, compliance)                           | Template         |
| Simple fill-in-the-blank responses                                   | Template         |
| Complex situations with multiple possible outcomes                   | Guided           |
| Responses that need to reason about data before deciding what to say | Guided           |
| Structured format with smart AI sections                             | Hybrid           |
| Gradually migrating from templates to AI                             | Hybrid           |

You can change modes at any time by adding or removing content. Add strategy instructions to a template and it becomes hybrid. Remove the template from a hybrid workflow and it becomes guided.

Related [#related]

* [Creating a Workflow](/response-workflows/creating-a-workflow)
* [Strategy Instructions](/response-workflows/strategy-instructions)