Archetypes: save a client's setup and start new clients from it

An Archetype is one client's setup, saved so you can start other clients the same way. Set up a client the way you like it, save it as an Archetype, and pick it the next time you add a client. You can also add an Archetype to a client you already have.

An Archetype carries setup and design only. Nothing from the client's own content comes along: no words, no photos, no reviews and nothing personal (no contacts, customers, orders, messages or members). Each piece of wording is replaced by a short note of what it's for, like "[Home page heading: about 6 words]", so the next client gets placeholder text or Zeus's words for their own business.

What an Archetype can carry

Each part is optional. You tick the ones you want when you save.

The website (one of the client's Mount Olympus sites):

• Comes along: every page's layout, the header and footer, the design (colors, fonts, spacing, buttons), popups, the blog layout, forms' fields and settings, collections' structure (like Services and Service areas), and shapes, dividers, icons and patterns.
• Left out: every word on every page (each becomes a note of what goes there), every photo and video (stock photos too), blog posts and collection items, the domain, tracking codes, SEO fields, the logo and favicon, and reviews (the reviews widget stays, empty, ready for the new client's own Google reviews).

The Pantheon setup (the client's Business Hub):

• Comes along: pipelines and stages, lost reasons, tags and tag categories, custom fields and their folders, business value names, automations' steps, waits and timings, email templates' layout and merge fields, saved replies and texts, and the website's forms with their field matching.
• Left out: every word in emails, texts and templates, and every contact, deal, conversation, invoice and booking. Also everything tied to the client's own accounts: team members picked in steps, email senders, phone numbers, webhooks, voicemail drops and payment connections. You set those for the new client after applying.

Also on The Pantheon setup, when the client has them:

• Booking: booking settings (notice, buffers, hours, policies, deposits), services with their lengths and prices, categories, extras, questions, calendars, rules, resources, rate cards, classes, rentals and yearly closed days. Calendars come with no one on them (staff never come along), and booking zones keep their names but not their map, so you draw them for the new client.
• Invoices and estimates: the settings and the look (prefixes, due terms, reminders, late fee), tax rates, and products and services as structure only. Product names become placeholders and prices are left blank. Numbering restarts at the new client's own counter. Contract settings come too, and contract templates with their signers, blanks, steps and wording. Contract templates are the one place the source client's words are kept: its name (in every form it's written, capitals too), phone, email, street address and website become merge fields like {{business.name}} and {{business.phone}}, so the new client's own details fill in. Towns and team-member names have no merge field, so they become short blanks to fill in, such as [Town: 1 word]. Nothing of the source client is left.
• The Assistant's settings: its modes, goals, rules and hand-off. Never its knowledge or its instructions: the new client's Assistant reads the new client's own website instead.

Portal settings: the portal preset and every visibility switch, and approvals for blog, Business Profile, social and press. Never client people, their logins, or approvals already sent. Your agency's portal branding already applies to every client.

Zeus settings and keywords: Zeus's switches, the map radius and when the first scan runs, and the keyword plan as patterns, like "{service} in {city}" or "emergency {service} {city}", with AI Visibility prompt patterns. When you apply, the patterns are filled from the new client's own services and service areas. The client's own keywords, brand voice, scan results and what Zeus has learned never come along.

Client credit allowances: the monthly credits you give, "You pay" and its monthly limit, whether the client can buy credits and whether client people can use Zeus. Never balances, transfers or purchases: the new client starts at zero plus its first monthly credits.

Store and memberships: store settings, categories, collections, products as structure (options and variants, placeholder names, no prices, no photos), shipping zones and options, packaging, stock locations (without the address), member groups with their joining mode and their prices to check, and memberships settings. Members-only pages and sections on the website point at the new client's own groups. Never orders, customers, members, subscriptions, payments or stock levels.

Names you set up (pipelines, stages, tags, fields, automations, templates, booking services, calendars, member groups) come along as they are, after a check that they don't mention the client or its team.

How to save an Archetype

1. Open the client and click … → Save as Archetype. Or go to Custom assets → Archetypes → New Archetype and pick the client.
2. Enter a Name, pick an Industry and, if you like, a Description.
3. Tick the parts to include. For the website, pick Which site. Each part says what it found and what it leaves out; click Details to see the lists.
4. Click Next: check names. The client's business name in a name is fine: a tag like "Blue Ridge Referral" is saved with the business name swapped out, and becomes the new client's name when you apply it ("Acme Plumbing Referral"), the same way contract templates work. Any name with other details of the client (a team member, the street address, phone, email, website or a town) is listed, like the tag "Dana's leads". Type a new name, or click Clear to name it when you apply. Two of the same kind (two tags, two stages in one pipeline) can't end up with the same name: Check names says which one to change. Renaming here changes the Archetype only, not the client.
5. Click Save Archetype.

Saving makes a frozen copy. Changing the client later never changes the Archetype.

Your Archetypes are in Custom assets → Archetypes, next to Templates and Widget builder. Each one shows its parts, version, how many clients use it and when it was last changed. Open one to see what it sets up, its versions and the clients using it. From there, Apply to a client adds it to a client you already have, Apply to a new client starts a new one, and its menu has Edit the website and Delete. Deleting an Archetype never changes clients already set up from it.

How to start a new client from an Archetype

1. Go to Clients → Add client → Start from an Archetype.
2. Archetype: pick it (and a version; the latest is picked for you).
3. Client details: type in their details (only the business name is required), Let Zeus read their website (1 credit), or Email the onboarding form, apply when it comes back (see below). The client is added at this step.
4. Parts: untick anything you don't want. Nothing is switched on or published.
5. The words: choose Placeholder text (free) or Fill with Zeus, for everything at once. Switch off Use the same choice for everything to choose per part, for example Zeus for the website and the automations, placeholders for wording you'll write yourself. The total shows before anything runs, like "Fill with Zeus: 47 credits".
6. Apply: use the client's brand colors (from their logo and website) or keep the Archetype's, check the total and click Apply.

If a name was cleared on Check names when the Archetype was saved, the last step shows Name this first with a box for each one, like "Tag". Type a name for each before you apply (or send the onboarding form). Nothing is ever made with a placeholder as its name.

A window shows each part as it's set up, like "Website: writing page 6 of 13". You can close it; the work carries on. If a part can't finish, its credits are given back and you can try that part again on its own, like Try Business Hub setup again. The other parts aren't affected. Click Open the review to see the review on the client's Client tab.

When you click Apply, the button says Setting up… right away. If it gets no answer within about two minutes of your click, or the connection drops, the window says the client was added but the setup didn't finish, like "Acme Roofing was added, but setting up Roofing starter didn't finish." Click Try again to finish it on the same client; it never adds the client twice or sets things up twice. If you close the window instead, the client's Set up this client window says the setup didn't finish, with Try again, which opens Apply an Archetype with that Archetype picked and adds only what's missing.

Follow updates is off by default. Updating clients from a changed Archetype comes later.

Email the onboarding form, apply when it comes back

Pick this on the Client details step when the client should tell you about their business first, so Zeus writes from their own answers.

1. Enter their name and email (and, if you like, the business name and a personal note). The preview shows your usual onboarding email.
2. Choose the parts and the words as usual. The total is an estimate, worked out from the Archetype.
3. Click Send the form. The window that follows says what happens when the form comes back, following your words choice: Zeus writing from their answers, placeholder text for you to fill in, or Zeus for the parts you picked and placeholder text in the rest.

Until they send it back, it shows on Clients under Waiting for the onboarding form, where you can click Stop. When they send the form, the client is added from their answers and the Archetype applies by itself about a minute later (after their brand voice is built), then the review shows on the client's page. If their answers make it cost more than the estimate you saw, or something else stops it, it waits for you instead: the client page says why, with Apply now and the new total.

Real facts are never placeholders

Whichever you choose, anything that has a home in the client's details, Business Info or site collections fills in from their data: their name, address, phone, email and hours, their services and service descriptions, service areas, team, review link, social links, logo and brand colors. Only written wording with no home there (headlines, intro paragraphs, email and text bodies, button words) becomes placeholder text or Zeus's words.

How to apply an Archetype to a client you already have

1. Open the client and click … → Apply an Archetype. Or open the Archetype in Custom assets → Archetypes and click Apply to a client, then pick the client.

2. Pick the Archetype and its Version (the latest is picked for you).

3. Each part shows what the client has now, like "Lakeside Roofing Co. has: 9 automations, 7 on". Untick any part you don't want, and choose Merge or Replace for each:

   • Website. Merge: Made as a new draft site beside theirs. The live site isn't touched. Publish the new one when it's ready (the redirects tool helps). Replace isn't offered: the live site is never overwritten.
   • Pipelines and stages. Merge: Same-named pipelines are reused; missing stages are added at the end. Replace: The Archetype's stages replace the pipeline's, only if no open deal sits in a stage that would go. Otherwise choose Move them to… (below).
   • Automations. Merge: Added as new, switched off. A same name gets "(from Archetype)" added, like "Review request (from Archetype)". Replace: The same-named automation gets the new steps as a new draft. What's running keeps running until you publish it.
   • Email and text templates. Merge: Added. Where a name matches, both are kept. Replace: The same-named template's layout and words are replaced.
   • Tags, fields and business values. Merge: Same names (and the same type for fields) are reused, the rest added. Replace isn't offered: removing tags or fields would lose data.
   • Booking services, calendars and rules. Merge: Added, hidden from booking. Same-named services are reused and their settings left alone. Replace: Same-named services take the Archetype's settings. Booked appointments never change.
   • Invoice and estimate settings. Merge: Only empty settings are filled. Replace: All settings are replaced. Invoice and estimate numbers carry on from where they are.
   • The Assistant's settings. Merge: Added. A same-named Assistant is reused and left alone. Replace isn't offered.
   • Portal settings. Merge: Only the switches nobody changed take the Archetype's value. Replace: All switches are replaced.
   • Zeus settings and keywords. Merge: Keywords from the patterns are added; existing ones are kept. Zeus's switches are set only where nothing is set. Replace: Zeus's switches are replaced. Keywords are still only added.
   • Client credit allowances. Merge: Kept when they're already set. Replace: Replaced. Balances are never touched, and no credits are moved.
   • Store and memberships. Merge: Added. Same names are reused. Replace: Same-named member groups and the store settings are replaced. Members and orders are never touched.

4. Words for the new things: choose Placeholder text or Fill with Zeus, or click Choose per part. Only new things (and the ones you replace) get words, so only they cost credits. Wording on things the client already has is never replaced. The total shows below.

5. Follow updates is off unless you switch it on.

6. Click See every change. The preview lists every change, part by part: what it Adds, Reuses, Changes and Keeps, like "Adds 6 automations, switched off" or "Reuses tag “New lead”". If a name was cleared when the Archetype was saved, Name this first asks for it only when one of the parts you ticked makes it. For example, with only Pipelines and stages ticked, a cleared tag isn't asked for. A tag, field or stage that a ticked automation or template uses still comes along, so its name is asked for. Lost reasons come with Pipelines and stages.

7. Click Apply. Progress shows per part, and the review appears on the client page.

What never happens: nothing is deleted, the live website isn't touched, and nothing is switched on. Anything a person changed is kept when you merge. If the client's Business Hub was off, it's switched on to hold the setup (the preview says so), but nothing inside it is switched on.

Move the open deals

When Replace on Pipelines and stages would remove stages that still hold open deals, the part shows how many, like "3 stages in “Sales” would go, and 7 open deals sit in them". Click Move them to…, choose a stage for each group of deals, and click Use these moves. {Pipeline} after applying shows the stages in the order they'll be in: the open stages, then Won, then Lost. The deals keep their history and contacts. Or switch Pipelines back to Merge, which only adds the missing stages. You can't apply until every open deal has somewhere to go.

Applying the same Archetype again

Applying an Archetype a second time to the same client reuses what the first time made, so nothing is made twice. The draft site, automations and templates it made last time are left as they are, with any changes you made to them. Applying always applies all of the Archetype: anything it has that isn't there now is added, including something the last apply made that was deleted since (like an automation now in Recently deleted). The preview and the result always agree.

After applying

The review card shows at the top of Client → Details. It lists every part: what Zeus wrote, where placeholder text is left, and links to each part. There is no Archetypes tab on the client page. Save as Archetype and Apply an Archetype are in the client's … menu, and your Archetypes live at Custom assets → Archetypes.

Nothing goes live by itself. The site is a draft, every automation is off, and nothing with placeholder text can be sent. An email template that still has placeholder text shows Still has placeholder text under Fix the problems first, and Send a test to me stays off until it's replaced. Click Write this with Zeus · 1 credit to have Zeus write it from the notes. An automation with placeholder text can't be switched on or published until it's replaced.

Set up this client gets a Finish setting up list with what's left, each with a button to the right screen: connect payments, set up the email sender, get a phone number, choose people in automations, add staff to calendars, check these prices, set product prices, fill in anything else that didn't come along (like a webhook address), review placeholder text and switch on automations. Review placeholder text has a link for each place that still has placeholders (Website, Automations, Email templates, Saved replies, Booking, Invoices, Portal), each with its count, and each opens where they are. It also shows what's done, like the keywords Zeus added and the first monthly credits.

Check these prices

Booking services and member groups keep the Archetype's prices, because those came from another client. Each booking service stays hidden from booking until its price is checked.

1. In Finish setting up, click Check … prices.
2. Each box starts with the service's price as it is now (the one the booking page would show). A service set to Price varies or Free shows those words instead of a price, like in the booking service settings. Change any price that's different for this client. To give a Price varies or Free service a set price, click the words and type the price.
3. Click Looks right on each row, or All look right. The price in the box is saved, and the booking service shows on booking again with that price. A Price varies or Free service stays that way.

If you switch a service on yourself in Booking settings, it counts as checked.

Versions and updates

Every Archetype has numbered versions. Saving a change makes the next version with a short what changed note (required). Older versions stay as they are, and clients already set up keep what they got.

Make a new version

1. Open the Archetype (Custom assets → Archetypes) and click New version.
2. Pick how:
   • Update from {client}: saves the same parts again from the client it was saved from.
   • Edit directly: opens a copy to change. Edit the website opens it in Mount Olympus. Open the Business Hub workspace opens a Business Hub that isn't a real client: automations there never run and nothing is sent.
3. Write what changed, like "Added a missed-call text back and a Financing page. Follow-up email 2 now waits 3 days."
4. Click Save version … (or Save as version … when you edited directly). Throw away removes the copy without saving.

Follow updates

Follow updates is off by default, per client. Switch it on when applying, on the client page (under the Archetype's review) or in Clients using it on the Archetype's page. Clients using it has one row per client (its latest apply), and its count is the number of clients. A client that doesn't follow updates never hears about new versions.

Review update

When a new version is saved, your bell shows "{Archetype} version 5 is out", and each following client gets Review update in Set up this client and on the client page.

1. Click Review update. You see what changed and the version's note, in cards (Business Hub, Booking, Website …).
2. Tick what to take:
   • Add: something new, like an automation (added switched off) or a tag.
   • Change: a changed setting, like a wait of 3 days instead of 2.
   • Changed for this client: someone changed it on this client after it was applied. It's unticked. Click Show both sides to compare what they got, what they have now and what's new, then keep theirs (the default) or take the new version.
   • Removed from the Archetype: never deleted from the client. Tick it to switch theirs off.
3. Click Take … changes. Later keeps the review for another time.

Nothing goes live from an update. A changed automation becomes a new draft: the running version keeps running until you publish. New things are added switched off. Website changes stay unpublished.

Their words stay. Wording on things the client already has is only replaced where you tick it (Also replace its wording). Words for new things follow the choice made when the Archetype was applied: Zeus's words (credits shown before you take it) or placeholder text.

Websites: an update can add new pages (as drafts, hidden from the menu; a page whose address is taken gets "-2"), change the design (colors, fonts, buttons, spacing, shown before and after) and change the header and footer layout. It never overwrites a page.

Apply to all following clients

In a Review update, click Review once for all … clients (or on the Archetype's page, Review once for all). Your ticks apply to every following client you leave ticked. Where something was changed for a client, it's left unticked and stays on that client's Review update for you to decide. The total credits show before you click Apply to … clients. Afterward you see how many clients were updated, and any client that wasn't, with the reason (for example, not enough credits).

Ask Zeus to apply one

In Zeus chat (on the Zeus page, in the Zeus button on any page, or in the ContentForge phone app), say something like "Set up Bright Smile Dental like our dental Archetype".

1. Zeus works out what it would set up and shows a card: the parts, the word choice (Placeholder text, or Fill with Zeus) and the credits, with who pays. Nothing is changed or charged yet. If you didn't say how the words should be filled, Zeus asks first.
2. Click Apply to set the client up, or Cancel. The card works once and expires after 15 minutes.
3. Zeus links the review on the client page.

A client with nothing set up yet gets everything new, like Start from an Archetype. A client that's already set up gets each part merged in, like Apply an Archetype with Merge: nothing is deleted or switched on, and the website is a new draft site. To use Replace, apply it from the client page. The client must already be in ContentForge.

When you add a client whose industry matches one of your Archetypes, Zeus can suggest it. Zeus never saves an Archetype, never takes an update for a client and never shares one. People do those in the app.

With your own AI assistant (MCP)

If you've connected your AI assistant to ContentForge, it can use your Archetypes too:

• list_archetypes and get_archetype read them: parts, what each sets up, versions, the clients using it and updates waiting.
• save_archetype saves a client's setup as a new Archetype with the parts you choose (Owners and Admins, free). Names that mention the client are listed for you to rename first.
• apply_archetype sets a client up from one. The first call only shows every change, the word choice and the credits. Your assistant shows you that and only applies once you agree.
• preview_archetype_update and apply_archetype_update review and take a newer version for a client that follows an Archetype, the same way: first the changes and the credits, then your okay.

Sharing and importing Archetypes stay in the app.

On the ContentForge phone app

• Clients → Add client → Start from an Archetype works the same as on the web: pick the Archetype, add the client's details, choose the parts and the words, see the total and click Apply.
• A client that follows an Archetype shows Review update on its page when a new version is out. Tick what to take, see the credits and click Take … changes.
• Saving and editing Archetypes stays on the web.

Credits

• Saving, applying with placeholder text, and filling in the client's real details are free.
• Fill with Zeus, at Zeus's usual prices:
  • the website: 2 credits a page, like Fill a template with Zeus;
  • each email or text in an automation: 1 credit, at most 3 for a whole automation;
  • each email template and saved reply or text: 1 credit;
  • short wording (form buttons and thank-you messages, booking wording, invoice and estimate notes and terms, portal text): 1 credit per part for all of it together.
• Contract templates keep their wording (with the source client's details swapped for merge fields), so Zeus doesn't write them and there's no charge for them.
• The first monthly credits of a credit allowance move from your agency's credits to the client, like every monthly refill.
• Zeus images are off by default. Zeus uses the client's own photos first; switch them on to have Zeus make images for the rest, 1 credit each, added to the total.
• Let Zeus read their website costs 1 credit and shows in the total.
• Credits come from your agency, or from the client's Zeus credits when you set the client's automations to use their own credits.
• If a part can't finish, the credits for it are given back.

Share an Archetype with another agency

1. Go to Custom assets → Archetypes, open the Archetype's … menu and click Share (or Share at the top of the Archetype's page).
2. Pick the version to share, when the link and code expire (never, 7 days or 30 days) and how many imports (one or unlimited).
3. If the website uses your own custom widgets, tick Include our custom widgets to send a copy of them. Unticked, the other agency gets the site without them and a note where each one was.
4. Click Make link and code. Copy the link (like …/dashboard/archetypes/import/…) or the code (like ARCH-7Q2K-91XM) and send it.

The window lists Imports ("Imported by Acme Digital, Nov 3, 2026") and Earlier shares. Click Turn off sharing at any time: the link and code stop working at once. Making a new link and code turns off the one before. Sharing is free, and your later edits never reach their copy.

What we take out before anyone else gets it: your agency's name, people, emails and branding; the client it was saved from; people picked in automations, senders and phone numbers; webhook addresses, chat widget keys, tracking codes and site code with keys in it; your client credit prices. Uploaded fonts are never shared (font licenses are per buyer): each falls back to the nearest Google font, with a note on their copy.

Import an Archetype

1. Go to Custom assets → Archetypes and click Import, then paste the code. Or open the link while you're logged in.
2. Check the preview: the website's pages (shown with placeholder text), what it sets up, and any notes (fonts swapped, custom widgets left out, parts your plan doesn't have).
3. Click Import · free. It's your own independent copy: rename it, edit it or Apply to a new client. It shows Imported in your list. The sharing agency never sees your clients, and their later changes don't reach it.

ContentForge Archetypes

The ContentForge tab lists Archetypes ContentForge publishes for every agency (for example "Roofing contractor"). Click one to see the preview, then Add · free to put your own copy in Yours. Apply it from there. Adding the same version again opens the copy you already have.

Business Hub templates are Archetypes now

Settings → Business Hub templates is gone from the Settings menu. An old link to it now opens Custom assets → Archetypes. Your saved templates were moved into Archetypes with only The Pantheon part, the first time you opened Custom assets → Archetypes.

Examples

• A home services starter: set up one plumber with a 13-page site, a lead pipeline, a review request automation and a quote follow-up. Save it as "Home Services Starter" and start every new plumbing or HVAC client from it with Fill with Zeus.
• Write some of it yourself: choose Zeus for the website and automations, placeholders for the saved replies. The saved replies show "Still has placeholder text" until you write them.

Limits and what it can't do

• Booking zones keep their names but not their map: draw them for the new client in Booking settings.
• Default permissions for client people aren't part of an Archetype: your agency's defaults apply to every client.
• An imported Archetype is a copy at the version shared. It never follows the sharing agency's later versions; make your own versions of it instead.
• Photos never come along. The new client's photos fill the photo spots when Zeus fills the site; the rest show a neutral placeholder.
• Team members, senders, phone numbers and payment connections never come along: they belong to the client's own accounts.

Who can use it

• Agency Owners and Admins save, edit (new versions), share, import and delete Archetypes.
• Owners, Admins and team members with the Apply Archetypes tool and the Clients tool apply them and review updates, for clients they can see. Team members have Apply Archetypes unless an Owner or Admin switches it off in Settings → Team members. Apply to all following clients needs access to every client. The Pantheon part needs your plan to include The Pantheon (Growth and Agency).
• Client people never see Archetypes.

Troubleshooting

• "Rename or clear these names first": a name still mentions the client (a team member, the street, phone, email, website or a town; the business name is fine). Type a new name or click Clear.
• "“Referral” is the name of two tags in this Archetype": a new name on Check names matches another of the same kind. Give it a different name.
• Apply stays off with "Name this first": the Archetype has names cleared when it was saved. Type a name in each box.
• The total changed: prices or the client's details changed since you looked. Check the new total and click Apply again.
• Not enough credits: buy credits, or choose Placeholder text for some parts.
• A part shows "couldn't finish": click Try … again for that part. Its credits were given back.
• An email won't send: it still has placeholder text in [square brackets]. Replace it, or click Write this with Zeus · 1 credit.
• "Say what changed in this version": the note is required on every new version.
• A change shows "Changed for this client": someone changed it on this client after it was applied. Click Show both sides to choose.
• A booking service doesn't show on booking: its price isn't checked yet. Open Finish setting up → Check … prices and click Looks right.
• No keywords were added: the client has no services or service areas yet. Add them on the client's Details tab; the patterns are on the Archetype.
• "This link or code has expired" / "was turned off" / "has already been used": ask the agency that shared it for a new link or code.
• "No Archetype has that code": check the code with the agency that shared it. Spaces, dashes and capitals don't matter.
• "You're going too fast" when importing: too many codes were tried. Wait a few minutes and try again.
• "Move them to…" won't let you apply: Replace on Pipelines and stages would remove a stage that still has open deals. Choose a stage for each, or switch Pipelines to Merge.
• An automation is called "… (from Archetype)": the client already had one with that name, and Merge never changes theirs. Rename either, or use Replace to give theirs the new steps as a draft.
• A booking service from the Archetype doesn't show on booking: everything added to a client you already have starts switched off. Switch it on in Booking settings when it's ready.
• "… is waiting for you" on a client page: their onboarding form came back, but the Archetype didn't apply by itself (the reason is shown). Click Apply now.