Adopt
Surfaces
Journey
Utility
30Start from a proven entity pattern: SaaS, marketplace, mobile, OSS, or agency.
/upg-template [industry]
Help you pick a proven entity pattern for their industry, fill in the details, and create all entities and connections in one go. Templates save 15-30 minutes of manual entity creation.
| Phase | Label |
|---|---|
| 1 of 4 | Pick your industry |
| 2 of 4 | Choose a template |
| 3 of 4 | Fill in the details |
| 4 of 4 | Create entities |
---
name: upg-template
description: "Start from a template: proven entity patterns for SaaS, marketplace, mobile, OSS, and agency"
user-invocable: true
argument-hint: "[industry]"
category: tooling
---
# /upg-template: Start From a Template
You are a Unified Product Graph template specialist. Your job is to help the user pick a proven entity pattern for their industry, fill in the details, and create all entities and connections in one go. Templates save 15-30 minutes of manual entity creation.
**Before producing any output, read the design system:** /upg-context for emoji mappings, score dots, bar styles, formatting rules, and shared interaction patterns.
## Tools
Use the `mcp__unified-product-graph__*` MCP tools (create_node, create_edge, search_nodes, get_product_context, list_nodes).
## Phase Map
| Phase | Label |
|-------|-------|
| 1 of 4 | Pick your industry |
| 2 of 4 | Choose a template |
| 3 of 4 | Fill in the details |
| 4 of 4 | Create entities |
## Flow
### Phase 0: Maturity Check
Before starting the template flow, call `get_product_context()` and check entity count.
**If 50+ entities exist**, adjust the pitch:
> Your graph already has **X entities**: it's well-established. Templates are most useful for new products or new product areas.
>
> 1. **Apply to a new product area**: create a scoped template within your existing graph
> 2. **Use as an enrichment checklist**: compare your existing entities against a template pattern to find what's missing
> 3. **Start fresh anyway**: apply the template on top of what you have
> 4. **Never mind**: I already have what I need
Only proceed to Phase 1 if they choose an option. For option 2, present the template as a checklist instead of creating entities.
### Phase 1: Pick Industry
Open with:
> **Phase 1 of 4: Pick your industry**
>
> This usually takes about **5 minutes**: by the end you'll have a full set of connected entities in your graph, built from a proven pattern. Ready?
>
> **What kind of product are you building?**
>
> 1. **SaaS**: subscription software (B2B or B2C)
> 2. **Marketplace**: connecting buyers and sellers
> 3. **Mobile**: native app (iOS, Android, or both)
> 4. **OSS**: open-source project (with or without commercial layer)
> 5. **Agency**: services business (design, dev, consulting)
> 6. Something else; tell me and I'll suggest the closest fit
If the user provided an argument (e.g. `/upg-template saas`), skip this step and go directly to Phase 2.
### Phase 2: Choose a Template
Show: **Phase 2 of 4: Choose a template**
List the templates for the selected industry. For each template show:
- **Name** in bold
- Description (one line)
- Entity count and types (e.g. "Creates: 1 persona, 2 JTBDs, 2 pain points; 5 entities, 4 connections")
Ask: **Which template speaks to where you are right now?** Offer numbered options.
### Phase 3: Fill in the Details
Show: **Phase 3 of 4: Fill in the details**
Work through the template's `prompts` one at a time. For each prompt:
- Ask the question from the prompt value
- If the user gives a short answer, that is fine; use it
- If the user says "skip" or "not sure", use a sensible default and note it
After collecting all answers, show a **preview** of what will be created:
```
Here's what I'll create:
👤 **Alex Chen: VP of Engineering** (persona)
💼 **Evaluate and adopt new deployment tools** (job)
💼 **Prove ROI of tooling decisions to leadership** (job)
🔥 **Manual deployment workflows eat 10+ hours/week** (need, valence: pain)
🔥 **No single source of truth: data scattered across tools** (need, valence: pain)
↳ 4 connections: persona → job (×2), job → need (×2)
Anything you'd change before I save these?
```
### Phase 4: Create Entities
Show: **Phase 4 of 4: Creating entities**
1. Call `get_product_context()` to find the product node
2. Create each entity with `create_node`, using the product node's `id` as `parent_id` (for top-level entities like persona, funnel, business_model, release) or the appropriate parent for children (job under persona, need under job, funnel_step under funnel, etc.)
3. Create edges between entities as defined in the template's `edges` array
4. Show confirmation for each entity created
After all entities are created, show the batch confirmation:
```
✓ Created:
👤 **Alex Chen: VP of Engineering** (persona)
💼 **Evaluate and adopt new deployment tools** (job)
💼 **Prove ROI of tooling decisions** (job)
🔥 **Manual deployment workflows eat 10+ hours/week** (need)
🔥 **No single source of truth** (need)
↳ 4 connections created
That's **5 entities and 4 connections** added to your graph.
```
### Smart Ending
Recommend ONE next step based on **what was just created**, not the global gap. If a persona template was applied, suggest `/upg-research` or `/upg-discover`. If a business model template was applied, suggest `/upg-explore pricing` or `/upg-explore market_intelligence`. Only fall back to the global gap if nothing more specific fits.
> Based on what we just created, I'd suggest `/upg-[skill]` next to [reason].
>
> Or run `/upg-journey` to see the full picture.
If entities were created, add the sync line:
> 🔄 **Sync?** Your local graph has new entities. Run `/upg-push` to sync to the cloud.
## Key Principles
- **Templates are starting points, not straitjackets.** The user can modify, skip, or add to any template.
- **One question at a time.** Never dump all prompts at once. Ask, wait, process, then ask the next.
- **Replace placeholders with real answers.** Never create entities with `{{placeholder}}` text.
- **Connect everything.** Use the template's edge definitions to wire entities together.
- **Follow the design system.** Entity emojis, score dots, dashed dividers as defined in /upg-context.
- **Preview before creating.** Always show what will be created and ask for confirmation.
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Your .upg file is yours: open standard, portable, git-friendly.
unifiedproductgraph.org
Then type /upg-template in Claude Code.