# What is the difference between utter message template and response

**URL:** <https://forum.rasa.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-utter-message-template-and-response/47193>\
**Category:** Rasa Open Source\
**Created:** [August 25, 2021, 12:06pm UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-utter-message-template-and-response/47193 "2021-08-25T12:06:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![athulvingt](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forum.rasa.com/athulvingt/32/16181_2.png) [@athulvingt](https://forum.rasa.com/u/athulvingt)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 12:06pm UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-utter-message-template-and-response/47193/1 "2021-08-25T12:06:21Z")

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what is the difference between these two dispatcher.utter\_message(template=“utter\_hi”) and dispatcher.utter\_message(response=“utter\_hi”)

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**Author:** ![nik202](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forum.rasa.com/nik202/32/16098_2.png) [@nik202](https://forum.rasa.com/u/nik202)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-utter-message-template-and-response/47193/2 "2021-08-25T13:47:22Z")

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@athulvingt Heya!

Good and logical question from you side. Why we use template and soon we will use response. I guess before 1.7.X we need to use Template in domain.yml and now we are using responses.

**Note:** The below information and explanation is my own observations over the period of time, and I can be fully wrong, if you have any doubt please discuss with me or with rasa team.

**Template:**

Templates are messages the bot will send back to the user. Either automatically by an action with the same name as the utterance or by an action with custom code.

```auto
templates:
  utter_greet:
    - text: "hey there {name}!"

```

**Ref:** [Responses](https://legacy-docs-v1.rasa.com/1.2.9/core/responses/)

**Response:**

Responses are messages that your assistant sends to the user. A response is usually only text, but can also include content like images and buttons.

```auto
responses:
  utter_greet:
  - text: "Hi there!"

```

So summary is this both are same just the representation is changed over the period of time.

**Ref:** [Responses](https://rasa.com/docs/rasa/responses)

**Change logs:**

- The property `templates` is deprecated. Use `responses` instead. It will be removed in Rasa Open Source 3.0.0.

- [#8223](https://github.com/rasahq/rasa/issues/8223): In Rasa 2.4.0, support for using `template` in `utter_message` when handling a custom action was wrongly deprecated. Both `template` and `response` are now supported, though note that `template` will be deprecated at Rasa 3.0.0.

- The terminology `template` is deprecated and replaced by `response`. Support for `template` from the NLG response will be removed in Rasa Open Source 3.0.0. Please see [here](https://rasa.com/docs/rasa/nlg) for more details.

**Ref:** [Rasa Open Source Change Log](https://rasa.com/docs/rasa/changelog/#240---2021-03-11)

I hope this will give you better understanding and clarity. If you agree then please close this thread as solution for others. Good Luck!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nik202](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forum.rasa.com/nik202/32/16098_2.png) [@nik202](https://forum.rasa.com/u/nik202)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 11:12am UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-utter-message-template-and-response/47193/3 "2021-08-26T11:12:52Z")

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@athulvingt If it solved you doubt or topic, I’d like to request close this thread or discuss some points.

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**Author:** ![athulvingt](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forum.rasa.com/athulvingt/32/16181_2.png) [@athulvingt](https://forum.rasa.com/u/athulvingt)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 11:15am UTC](https://forum.rasa.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-utter-message-template-and-response/47193/4 "2021-08-26T11:15:43Z")

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I got a warning to replace template with response, i think in the latest version they are using only response