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Master template

Learn how to create and manage sub-applications from a single master template

Master template in My Betty Blocks lets you manage one core application and use it to create many others. When you promote an app to a master template, it becomes the main reference point for all related sub-applications.

Those sub-applications inherit the template’s structure, components, and logic, and stay linked to it. When you update the master template, the changes roll out to every sub-application at once, speeding up development and reducing maintenance work.


Common use cases

1. Multi-client applications

Useful when you maintain a core product but need variations per customer or internal business unit. This makes it a good fit for SaaS providers or large enterprises: most shared functionality stays in the master template, while each sub-application can take on its own logic, content, or styling — often something like an 80/20 split between shared features and customer-specific needs.

2. Skeleton application base

Create a standard "corporate base" application. This template might only contain 5% of the functionality required by every app in your organization (e.g., SSO configuration, standard branding themes, and basic user roles), ensuring every new project starts with compliance standards already met.


Getting started

Pre-requisites

  • Access to My Betty Blocks.
  • An application with at least one sandbox environment.

Note: This feature may need to be enabled for your organization. Please contact our support if you do not see the options below.

Promote an application to a master template

To turn an existing application into a master template:

  1. Open the application you want to use as the source.
  2. Navigate to Settings → Template.
  3. Toggle the Master template option to on.
  4. Confirm the promotion by pressing ‘Update template’.

Note: After promotion, this application becomes the source for all sub-applications until you change the configuration.

Create sub-applications

Once an app is promoted, a Sub-applications tab appears in the My Betty Blocks dashboard next to the sandbox manager.

  1. Navigate to the Sub-applications tab.
  2. Select Create sub-application.

The new application matches the template at the moment of creation and stays linked for future updates.

Managing the development lifecycle

To keep custom changes in sub-applications while still receiving updates from the master template, follow this workflow:

Branching & customization

Sub-applications support a branching model. This allows them to receive updates from the master template while retaining their own unique development lifecycle.

  • Create a sandbox: Below your production sub-application, create a sandbox environment.
  • Create a development branch: Inside the sandbox, create a branch. This branch will house all customizations specific to this sub-app (e.g., specific workflows, UI tweaks, or integrations).

To learn more about branching, check out this article.

Receiving updates 

New master template versions are not pushed directly to production. Instead, they’re available for you to pull into a sandbox to avoid breaking changes.

Workflow:

  1. Pull updates from the master template into your sandbox
  2. Apply updates to your development branch on top of your custom changes
  3. Validate the merged result in the sandbox environment

Promote to production

Once you have validated the merged results in the sandbox:

  1. Promote the merged branch from the sandbox to the production environment
  2. Your sub-application now includes the latest master template updates along with its own customizations.

Limitations

Custom action functions & rebasing

Currently, there is a limitation regarding custom action functions when working with multiple branches and rebasing.

  • You cannot safely add custom action functions in several branches if you plan to rebase them later
  • We recommend keeping all custom action functions in one dedicated branch and rebasing that branch into others when needed.

FAQ

What is a master template?

A promoted application that acts as the central source for creating and managing multiple sub-applications.

What is a sub-application?

An application created from a master template. It is identical at creation and remains linked for update purposes.

How do updates flow?

Once a new version of the master template is released to production, those changes become available to all sub-applications. They must be pulled via a sandbox to ensure compatibility before going live.

Can sub-apps be customized?

Yes. Each sub-app can branch off to add or override specific functionality, logic, styling, or integrations (deviations).

What if I want 100% synchronization?

If you do not create custom branches in the sub-application, it will remain fully in sync with the master template.

What kind of deviations are supported?

  • Client-specific business rules.
  • Styling and branding changes.
  • Localization or regional compliance logic