> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.runpod.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

> Streamline your Pod deployments with templates, bundling prebuilt container images with hardware specs and network settings.

export const PodTooltip = () => {
  return <Tooltip headline="Pod" tip="A dedicated GPU or CPU instance for containerized AI/ML workloads." cta="Learn more about Pods" href="/pods/overview">Pod</Tooltip>;
};

<div className="overview-page-wrapper" />

<PodTooltip /> templates are pre-configured [Docker image](/tutorials/introduction/containers#what-are-images) setups that let you quickly spin up Pods without manual environment configuration. Instead of installing PyTorch, configuring JupyterLab, and setting up dependencies yourself, you can select a template and have everything ready instantly.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Explore templates" href="https://www.console.runpod.io/explore" icon="search" horizontal>
    Browse official and community templates.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Create a custom template" href="/pods/templates/create-custom-template" icon="plus" horizontal>
    Build your own reusable Pod configuration.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manage your templates" href="/pods/templates/manage-templates" icon="list" horizontal>
    Edit, share, and organize your templates.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Environment variables" href="/pods/templates/environment-variables" icon="key" horizontal>
    Configure template behavior with variables.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Template types

| Type          | Description                                                                                         | Support                                             |
| ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **Official**  | Curated by Runpod with proven demand and maintained quality. Regularly tested and updated.          | Full Runpod support                                 |
| **Community** | Created by users and promoted based on community usage. Wide variety of specialized configurations. | [Community Discord](https://discord.gg/runpod) only |
| **Custom**    | Created by you for specialized workloads. Can be private or shared publicly.                        | Self-supported                                      |

<Warning>
  Runpod does not maintain or provide customer support for community templates. If you encounter issues, contact the template creator directly or seek help on the [community Discord](https://discord.gg/runpod).
</Warning>

## What templates include

Templates contain all components needed to launch a fully configured Pod:

* **Container image**: The Docker image with all software packages and dependencies.
* **Hardware specifications**: Container disk size, volume size, and mount paths.
* **Network settings**: Exposed HTTP and TCP ports for web UIs or APIs.
* **Environment variables**: Pre-configured settings that customize application behavior.
* **Startup commands**: Instructions that run when the Pod launches.