# Prompts with Blanks: Fill In a Form


A blank is a gap in a saved prompt that you fill in each time you use it. Write the blank once, and Kortex opens a small form when you insert the prompt. It is like a form letter with spaces for the name and the date.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-ai-sites-prompt-blanks-form.webp" alt="A small form above the chat box asks for each blank, with the usual answers already filled in" width="560" />

## Why use blanks?

Many prompts stay the same except for one or two words. A blank lets you save the part that stays and change the rest in seconds.

## How to write a blank

Put the name of the blank between double curly brackets in your prompt.

- `{{audience}}` is a blank you fill in each time.
- `{{audience=my team}}` is a blank with its usual answer already in it.
- `{{tone:formal|friendly}}` is a choice. The first one, **formal**, is picked for you.

Kortex can also fill some blanks for you: `{{selection}}`, `{{clipboard}}`, `{{date}}`, `{{time}}`, `{{page}}` and `{{url}}`. They are the text you selected, what you copied, today's date, the time, the page's title and its address. Write `{{>sum}}` to bring in another saved prompt by its shortcut.

You do not have to remember this. In the Library's prompt editor, the **Add a blank** menu inserts any of them for you.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-library-p2-prompt-blank-menu.webp" alt="The blank menu in the prompt editor adds a blank, a choice, the selection, the clipboard and more" width="560" />

## How to use a prompt with blanks

1. Type `;` and the prompt's shortcut in a chat box, then press **Enter**.
1. A small form opens above the chat box. It shows your last answers.
1. Fill in each field. Press **Tab** to move to the next one. Choices show as a list.
1. Press **Enter**, or click **Insert**. The finished prompt goes in the chat box. **Shift+Enter** adds a new line inside a field.

## How do I chain prompts, one step after another?

Some jobs take two or three messages in a row. Write them in one prompt and put a line with only `>>>` between the steps.

1. Use the prompt as usual. The first step goes in the chat box.
1. Send it, and wait for the answer.
1. A box appears above the chat box. Click **Insert next step**.
1. Click **Stop** if you do not want the rest.

<img src="/docs/img/docs/shot-ai-sites-prompt-next-step.webp" alt="After you send the first step, a box offers Insert next step" width="560" />

:::tip Good to know

- The editor warns you about likely mistakes, such as a blank spelled two ways. It never stops you from saving.
- In the Library's Prompts view, the **⋯** menu has **Starter ideas**: ready-made prompts with blanks you can copy.

:::

Next: [Prompt shortcuts](/docs/prompt-shortcuts), [Prompt suggestions](/docs/prompt-suggestions).