AI Gateway Policy Templates
A pool's policy template is the policy chain that apps created in that pool start with. Use templates to give every app in a pool the same app-specific controls—such as Model Filtering, Budgets and Costs with an app budget, a guardrail, or a custom compliance policy—while controlling what individual apps may change. Pool and gateway limits don't depend on the template.
How templates apply
When an app is created in a pool, the pool's template is copied into the app as its starting policy chain. From that point on, the chain belongs to the app.
A new pool's template starts with the API Key Authentication policy as a locked entry, so every app created in the pool requires its API key from the start. A new sub-pool starts by inheriting its parent's template instead of defining its own.
Template edits don't change existing apps
A template is a starting point, not a live link. Editing a pool's template affects apps created afterwards—it never changes the chains of the pool's existing apps. To change a running app's behavior, edit that app's chain on its Policies tab.
New apps inherit their initial budget settings from their pool's policy template. Configure these settings with Budgets and Costs in the template. To set a budget shared by all apps in the pool, use Usage & Limits. See Usage Limits.
Editing a template
Open a pool and select its Policy Template tab. The template editor works like the app chain editor: add policies from the gateway's declared menu, order them, and configure their options.
Each policy in the template carries two checkboxes that control what an app starting from the template may do with that entry. Both start checked—a policy you add to a template stays locked until you uncheck the boxes:
| Checkbox | When checked |
|---|---|
| Cannot edit | Apps can't change the entry's options—the template's settings apply |
| Cannot delete | Apps can't remove the entry from their chain |
Locked entries appear in the app's chain with a lock icon and the note "Locked by the pool policy template".
Inheriting from a parent pool
A sub-pool can use its parent pool's template instead of defining its own, controlled by the Inherit from parent switch on the sub-pool's Policy Template tab. The switch drafts like the page's other edits and applies when you click Save changes. While inheriting, the sub-pool's template is read-only—it shows the parent's effective template. Turn the switch off to give the sub-pool its own template: the editor starts from a copy of the parent's effective template, which you then adjust. Turning inheritance back on and saving discards the sub-pool's own template in favor of the parent's—before you save, flip the switch again to restore your draft.
Next steps
- Policy Chains: how an app's chain executes
- Managing Pools: creating pools and sub-pools
- Custom Policies: put your own policy in a template