Templates and context variables
A template wraps what you said, and can pull in what’s on your screen: the selected code, the window you’re looking at, the page in your browser.
Writing a template#
In the profile editor, under Shape the text › Template. Put {{text}} where your words should go. A template without {{text}} gets your words added after it, separated by a blank line.
- Click a variable chip to insert it; hover for what it is.
- Preview · sample values shows the result as you type.
- Anything in braces that isn't a known variable gets a warning (“It'll be left as typed”), and so do broken braces.
- Variables that need a permission get a note under the chips.
Order: snippets expand first, then the format, then the template. The result is what gets pasted or typed, and what the actions, script and webhook get. The API and History keep your words without it.
Variables#
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
{{text}} | What you dictated, after snippets and the format |
{{raw}} | The raw transcript, before cleanup |
{{clipboard}} | What was on the Mac clipboard just before this dictation |
{{selection}} | The text selected in the app in front |
{{app}} | The name of the app in front |
{{window}} | The title of the front window |
{{url}} | The front tab’s URL in Safari, Chrome, Arc, Brave or Edge: the browser in front, else the browser with the front-most window |
{{tmux_cwd}} | The working directory of the profile’s tmux pane |
{{date}} | 2026-10-12 |
{{time}} | 14:05 |
{{datetime}} | ISO 8601, such as 2026-10-12T14:05:00-07:00 |
{{profile}} | The profile’s name |
{{device}} | The iPhone it came from |
“In front” means when the dictation arrived, before Macrophone brought anything forward. Only the variables a profile's template (or a snippet it uses) contains are gathered, so an unused {{url}} never asks your browser anything.
Permissions#
| Variable | Needs |
|---|---|
{{selection}}, {{window}} | Accessibility, which pasting already needs |
{{url}} | Automation for that browser, asked once per browser |
{{tmux_cwd}} | tmux, and a profile that types into a tmux pane |
| Everything else | Nothing |
Examples#
A code review with context#
You are a careful code reviewer. I'm looking at {{window}} in {{app}}.
Selected:
{{selection}}
{{text}}Ask about the page you’re reading#
About {{url}}:
{{text}}Ground Claude Code in the right folder#
(Working in {{tmux_cwd}})
{{text}}A dated log line#
{{datetime}} [{{device}}] {{text}}