Best practices for template design

Most templates work. Few feel good. The gap is a handful of design rules that take seconds to follow and save hours of "why is this twitchy" debugging. Every rule on this page exists because someone (often me) shipped a template that violated it and immediately regretted it on stage or in a session.

Naming and scope

• One template, one job. Don't try to be a finger drummer and a VJ in the same file. Split.
• Name like a search query. DAW — Use case is the convention: FL Studio — Channel Rack + Mixer, not my fl thing.
• Keep name under 50 chars. Long names truncate in the dropdown.
• Suffix custom versions with (custom) or (v2) — never overwrite the source name silently.

Deadzone and poll rate

Two settings, big impact. Defaults are conservative; tune them per controller. Here's the table I keep pinned:

Use case	deadzone	poll_hz	Why
Finger drumming	0.05	120	Tight enough to trigger cleanly
DJ scratching	0.03	200	Latency is everything
VJ / clip launching	0.08	60	Triggers don't need sub-frame timing
MPE / aftertouch	0.02	200	Tiny movements matter
Drifty 3rd-party stick	0.10–0.12	100	Filter out resting jitter
Bluetooth on slow link	0.05	60	Don't flood the radio
OSC drone control	0.04	150	Smooth analog beats discrete
Streamer / podcast soundboard	0.05	60	Save CPU for OBS/Riverside

{
  "name": "Live DJ Scratch (custom)",
  "schema_version": 2,
  "midi_channel": 0,
  "deadzone": 0.03,
  "poll_hz": 200,
  "axes": { "0": 1, "1": 11 }
}

Stick corners — hysteresis matters

Set r_exit noticeably lower than r_enter. The gap is what stops chatter when you hover near a zone boundary. A tight gap (0.92 / 0.88) feels precise but jittery. A wide gap (0.92 / 0.70) feels confident.

{
  "left_stick_corners": {
    "enabled": true,
    "n": 8,
    "notes": [60, 62, 64, 65, 67, 69, 71, 72],
    "r_enter": 0.92,
    "r_exit": 0.72
  }
}

Haptics — restraint wins

Adaptive triggers are intoxicating. Resist. Pick one effect per trigger and stick with it. The full effect catalogue is at adaptive effects; the short version:

• trigger_resist for bow-like expression (continuous controllers).
• trigger_click for hard transients (kick triggers, sample one-shots).
• null for everything else — uniform feedback gets exhausting.

{
  "l2_haptic_effect": "trigger_click",
  "r2_haptic_effect": null
}

For marketplace uploads

• Test on a clean install before sharing. The 48 bundled templates set unconscious expectations.
• Document quirks in the description, not in the JSON. Reviewers read descriptions.
• Tag aggressively — three to five tags is the sweet spot.
• Strip _import_meta and any other underscore-prefixed fields; the validator rejects them and they bloat your 64 KB budget.
• Pre-flight against the approval criteria table — every auto-check should pass locally before you upload.

Real-world template patterns that consistently pass review

• Tuned DAW transport — bundled DAW template + remapped face buttons + description naming the DAW version. Clear, useful, low controversy.
• Genre-locked drum kit — 16 buttons mapped to a specific genre's GM drum layout, deadzone tuned, name like "Drill Kit — DualSense + FL Studio".
• Hysteresis-tuned scale corners — both sticks at n: 8, scale-locked notes, wide r_enter/r_exit gap for live-playing confidence.
• Adaptive-trigger MPE rig — l2_haptic_effect: "trigger_resist" with axis routed to channel aftertouch, sticks driving expression CCs.
• Per-controller hardware niche — fills a gap in the bundled set: 8BitDo Pro 2 paddles for transport, Steam Controller trackpads as XY pads.

Cross-references: customize, versioning, share to the marketplace, migrate from another controller.