Building Affidavit Templates
Create reusable affidavit templates with live variables, conditional blocks, and automatic photo inclusion — then generate perfect affidavits in seconds.
1 Template basics
An affidavit template is a reusable document definition that Proxiant uses to generate completed affidavits for specific jobs. Instead of writing each affidavit from scratch, you define the structure once — body text, legal language, variable placeholders — and Proxiant fills in the live job data at generation time.
Proxiant has two types of templates:
Platform templates
Maintained by Proxiant. Pre-built for common state/court/job-type combinations. You cannot edit platform templates directly, but you can copy them to your firm library and customize from there. Platform templates are updated when statutory requirements change.
Firm templates
Templates you create or copy into your firm's library. Full edit access. These always appear above platform templates in the selection dropdown when generating an affidavit.
2 Starting from a platform template
For most states, starting from a platform template is the fastest path to a working affidavit.
- Navigate to Templates in your dashboard sidebar
- Click Browse Platform Templates
- Filter by State, Court type, and Job type
- Click a template to preview it — you'll see the full document with variable pills visible
- Click Copy to My Firm — the template appears in your Firm Templates list
- Open the copy and make any customizations your firm needs
3 Creating from scratch
If you need a template that doesn't map to any platform template, or if your firm has highly custom language, create one from scratch:
- Go to Templates and click New Template
- Enter a template name (visible to admins only — clients and servers don't see it)
- Select the Job type(s) this template applies to — a template can apply to multiple job types
- Optionally assign it to specific courts (leave blank to make it available for any court)
- Click Create — the TipTap editor opens
4 The TipTap editor
Proxiant uses TipTap, a rich-text editor that looks and feels like a word processor while supporting live variable tokens.
Formatting tools
The toolbar provides:
- Text styles: Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough
- Structure: Headings (H1–H3), paragraphs, blockquotes
- Lists: Bullet lists, numbered lists, task lists
- Tables: Insert and resize tables for multi-column layouts (useful for signature blocks)
- Alignment: Left, center, right, justify
Normal mode vs Advanced Edit mode
In Normal mode, the editor restricts formatting to a safe subset that renders predictably in PDF generation. This is the default and recommended for most users.
Advanced Edit mode unlocks full HTML/CSS access for edge cases like complex table layouts or custom page-break rules. Changes in Advanced Edit mode bypass PDF rendering safeguards — use with care and always test-generate after editing.
How the editor looks
The editing canvas appears on a white background (simulating a printed page) while the rest of the UI remains dark. Variable pills appear as {{server.name}} colored tokens inline with text — they are not editable as raw text, only insertable via the variable menu or slash command.
5 Variables — the key concept
Variables are the core of what makes Proxiant templates powerful. A variable is a token that resolves to live job data at generation time — so a single template automatically produces different completed affidavits for different jobs.
Variables appear as colored pills in the editor, like {{server.name}} or {{attempt.1.date}}. When you generate an affidavit, Proxiant replaces each pill with the real value from that specific job.
Inserting variables
Two methods:
- Slash command: Type
/anywhere in the editor to open the command palette. Start typing the variable name to filter. Press Enter to insert. - Variable menu: Click the Variables button in the toolbar to open a categorized browse panel. Click any variable to insert at the current cursor position.
{{server.Name}} will not resolve. Always use the variable menu or slash command to insert variables safely rather than typing them manually.
6 Variable reference
Complete list of available variables and what they resolve to:
| Variable | Resolves to |
|---|---|
| {{server.name}} | Assigned server's full name |
| {{server.license}} | Server's state process server license number |
| {{firm.name}} | Your firm name as configured in Settings |
| {{recipient.name}} | Recipient full name on the job |
| {{recipient.description}} | Physical description of recipient (from attempt log) |
| {{service_address}} | Primary service address (street, city, state, zip) |
| {{attempt.count}} | Total number of attempts logged on the job |
| {{attempt.1.date}} | Date of the first attempt |
| {{attempt.1.time}} | Time of the first attempt |
| {{attempt.1.outcome}} | Outcome of the first attempt (e.g., "No Answer") |
| {{attempt.1.narrative}} | Full narrative text of the first attempt |
| {{attempt.last.date}} | Date of the most recent attempt |
| {{served.date}} | Date service was completed (only resolves on served jobs) |
| {{served.time}} | Time service was completed |
| {{court.name}} | Court name from the job record |
| {{case.number}} | Court case number |
| {{party_1_label}} | "Plaintiff" or "Petitioner" based on case type |
| {{party_1_name}} | First party's name |
| {{party_2_label}} | "Defendant" or "Respondent" based on case type |
| {{party_2_name}} | Second party's name |
| {{job.number}} | Your firm's job number for this job |
| {{today.date}} | The date the affidavit is generated (not the serve date) |
For attempts 2 through 10, replace 1 with the attempt number: {{attempt.2.date}}, {{attempt.3.narrative}}, etc.
7 Conditional sections
Some sections of affidavits are needed only in certain circumstances. Proxiant supports two built-in conditional blocks, configurable per template:
Perjury block
Toggle on the Include perjury attestation switch to append your jurisdiction's standard "under penalty of perjury" language at the end of the affidavit. The exact text is pulled from your state's platform template language. You can customize the text for firm templates.
Notary block
Toggle on the Include notary block switch to append a standard notary acknowledgment section at the bottom of the affidavit. When enabled, a notary signature line and acknowledgment fields are inserted automatically after the server signature block.
Both toggles are per-template settings — not all job types require both blocks.
8 Photo settings
Each template has its own photo inclusion setting, found in the Template Settings panel on the right side of the editor:
- Always include photos — attempt photos are appended automatically every time this template is used
- Never include photos — no photos included, regardless of what photos exist on the job
- Ask every time — when generating, the admin sees a prompt to choose whether to include photos for this specific generation
Photos are appended as a separate page at the end of the PDF, with each photo labeled with the attempt number, date, time, and GPS coordinates.
9 Setting as default
You can designate a template as the default for a job type, a specific court, or both. When a staff member generates an affidavit, the most specific default is pre-selected — reducing clicks and preventing wrong-template errors.
Default by job type
In the template's settings, check Set as default for this job type. Only one template can be the default per job type. Saving this setting overrides any previous default for that job type.
Default by court
Under the Court Defaults section, search for and add specific courts. When a job is associated with one of those courts, this template is pre-selected, overriding the job-type default.
10 Validation
When Proxiant generates an affidavit, it checks that every variable in the template can be resolved from the job's data. If a variable cannot be resolved, Proxiant does one of the following:
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Variable exists but job is missing that data field | Generation blocked — you see a list of unresolved variables with links to the job fields to fill in |
{{attempt.N.*}} where N exceeds actual attempt count | Variable resolves to blank (e.g., for non-service affidavits with fewer than max attempts) |
| Template references a deleted variable name | Variable shown in red in editor; generation blocked until fixed |
11 Saving and testing
After building or editing a template:
- Click Save Template — a draft version is saved. The template is not yet active for affidavit generation.
- Click Publish — the template becomes available for use on live jobs. Previous published version (if any) is archived.
- To test before publishing: click Generate Test Affidavit in the template editor toolbar
- Search for a real job to test against — choose one with a completed service for the most complete data
- Review the generated PDF — check that all variables resolved correctly, formatting looks right, and page breaks are sensible
- If changes are needed, edit and repeat. Publish only when satisfied.