Document Template Builder

Document Templates: How to create letter templates Kin can generate

Overview

Turn the letters your team already sends, such as employment verification letters, offer letters, or visa support letters, into reusable templates. Kin fills each template with the employee's details from your HRIS and produces a finished PDF, either when an employee asks for a letter in chat or as a step in a workflow.

Templates live under Settings > Templates, which has two tabs: Templates, where you build and manage your letters, and Signatories, where you set up the people whose signatures appear on them.

A few behaviors are worth knowing up front. You don't build a template from scratch: you upload a PDF of a letter you already use, and Kin reads it and rebuilds it as editable blocks. You then replace the hard-coded details (names, job titles, dates) with variables that pull from each employee's record. Every template has a status, and only Active templates can be used to generate letters. Draft and Archived templates are never sent, so a template you're still working on won't reach employees by accident.

Employees can request a letter for themselves in chat. Only Admins and Superadmins can generate a letter on behalf of another employee.

How to create a template

1. Go to Settings > Templates and click New template.

2. Drop in a PDF of a letter your team sends today, or click Choose file. Upload one letter per file.

3. Wait while Kin reads the letter and rebuilds it as blocks. If the letter includes a signature, you can pick which signatory it should use (these are set up under 'signatories'. Screenshot a signature and upload it to use.

4. If any variables weren't recognized, these are left as plain text, and you can fix them in the editor once the draft is created.

5. Click Create draft. The template opens in the editor with a Draft status.

How to edit a template

The editor has two views: Blocks, where you edit the letter, and Preview, where you see the finished PDF.

In the Blocks view, drag a block from the side panel into the letter, or click it to add it at the end. You can add:

- Text, for the body of the letter. Insert variables here so details like the employee's name or start date are filled in automatically.

- Columns, a two-column row typically used for a letterhead. You can drag a Text, Image, Signature or Page break block into either column. To remove a block from a column, hover over it and click Delete. An empty column shows Drop a block here.

- Image, for a logo.

- Signature, linked to one of your signatories.

- Divider and Page break, for layout.

Under Letter settings, choose the Date format used for dates in the letter: US, UK, Day/month/year, or ISO. Leave it on Default to keep the letterhead's own format.

Changes aren't saved automatically. Click Save changes when you're done, or Discard to throw them away. You can rename a template at any time by clicking its name at the top of the page.

How to add custom fields

Some letters need information that isn't in the employee's HRIS record, such as an embassy address or travel dates for a visa letter. Add these as custom fields.

1. In the Blocks view, add a new custom field and give it a clear label (e.g. "Passport number").

2. Choose whether the field is Required. Required fields must be filled in (via the Slack form sent to the requester) before the letter can be generated. Optional fields are offered but can be skipped.

3. Insert the field into the letter wherever the value should appear.

When an employee requests the letter in chat, Kin asks them for these values. In a workflow, each required custom field becomes an input on the step.

How to show a block only to certain employees

You can add a visibility rule to any block so it only appears for some employees, for example, a paragraph that only applies to one country or department. Open the block's visibility settings and choose Every employee or Selected employees, then set the filter. Blocks without a rule always appear.

How to preview a template

Switch to the Preview tab and choose what to preview with:

- Sample data fills the letter with example values. It shows every block, whatever its visibility rule, so you can check the whole letter at once.

- My data fills the letter with your own HRIS record, so you see exactly what an employee would get. If your record isn't available, the preview falls back to sample data.

The preview always shows the last saved version of the template, so save your changes first. It also warns you about any fields left blank, either because the employee record has no value or because something isn't set in your organization settings.

How to activate, set as draft, or archive a template

Each template has one of three statuses, shown next to its name:

- Draft: still being worked on. Kin won't generate letters from it.

- Active: live. Kin can generate letters from it in chat and in workflows.

- Archived: retired. Kin won't generate letters from it, and it can be reactivated later.

Use the button at the top of the template to Activate it or Set as draft. To archive it, open the More actions menu and choose Archive template. The status controls are hidden while you have unsaved changes, so save or discard them first.

How to set up signatories

1. Go to Settings > Templates and open the Signatories tab.

2. Click Add signatory.

3. Optionally, pick a Kinfolk user. Kin offers to fill in their name and signature lines for you.

4. Enter the Full name and any signature lines that should appear under the signature, such as a job title.

5. Upload a signature image (PNG, JPEG or WebP). A transparent PNG works best. Adjust the size if needed.

6. Click Save.

You can archive signatures no longer in use.

Using templates in workflows

In the workflow builder, add a Generate Documents step and choose a template from the Template picker. Only Active templates appear in the picker. A template you haven't activated yet won't show there, so click Activate on the template first. The step always uses that exact template, so the letter it produces won't change unexpectedly. If the template has required custom fields, they appear as inputs on the step and must be filled in.

If the template a step points to is later archived, set back to draft, or deleted, the step will fail until you pick another Active template.

To share the finished letter later in the workflow, for example in a Slack message or an email, open Insert data in that step and pick Document link under the Generate Documents step. It adds a link to download the generated PDF.