diff --git a/core/application.go b/core/application.go
deleted file mode 100644
index e4efbdd0ab93..000000000000
--- a/core/application.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-package core
-
-import (
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
-)
-
-// The purpose of this structure is to hold pointers to all initialized services, to make plumbing easy
-// Perhaps a proper DI system is worth it in the future, but for now keep things simple.
-type Application struct {
-
-	// Application-Level Config
-	ApplicationConfig *config.ApplicationConfig
-	// ApplicationState *ApplicationState
-
-	// Core Low-Level Services
-	BackendConfigLoader *config.BackendConfigLoader
-	ModelLoader         *model.ModelLoader
-
-	// Backend Services
-	// EmbeddingsBackendService      *backend.EmbeddingsBackendService
-	// ImageGenerationBackendService *backend.ImageGenerationBackendService
-	// LLMBackendService             *backend.LLMBackendService
-	// TranscriptionBackendService *backend.TranscriptionBackendService
-	// TextToSpeechBackendService  *backend.TextToSpeechBackendService
-
-	// LocalAI System Services
-	BackendMonitorService *services.BackendMonitorService
-	GalleryService        *services.GalleryService
-	LocalAIMetricsService *services.LocalAIMetricsService
-	// OpenAIService         *services.OpenAIService
-}
-
-// TODO [NEXT PR?]: Break up ApplicationConfig.
-// Migrate over stuff that is not set via config at all - especially runtime stuff
-type ApplicationState struct {
-}
diff --git a/core/application/application.go b/core/application/application.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6e8d6204094e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/application/application.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package application
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
+)
+
+type Application struct {
+	backendLoader      *config.BackendConfigLoader
+	modelLoader        *model.ModelLoader
+	applicationConfig  *config.ApplicationConfig
+	templatesEvaluator *templates.Evaluator
+}
+
+func newApplication(appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) *Application {
+	return &Application{
+		backendLoader:      config.NewBackendConfigLoader(appConfig.ModelPath),
+		modelLoader:        model.NewModelLoader(appConfig.ModelPath),
+		applicationConfig:  appConfig,
+		templatesEvaluator: templates.NewEvaluator(appConfig.ModelPath),
+	}
+}
+
+func (a *Application) BackendLoader() *config.BackendConfigLoader {
+	return a.backendLoader
+}
+
+func (a *Application) ModelLoader() *model.ModelLoader {
+	return a.modelLoader
+}
+
+func (a *Application) ApplicationConfig() *config.ApplicationConfig {
+	return a.applicationConfig
+}
+
+func (a *Application) TemplatesEvaluator() *templates.Evaluator {
+	return a.templatesEvaluator
+}
diff --git a/core/startup/config_file_watcher.go b/core/application/config_file_watcher.go
similarity index 96%
rename from core/startup/config_file_watcher.go
rename to core/application/config_file_watcher.go
index df72483f7512..46f29b101acb 100644
--- a/core/startup/config_file_watcher.go
+++ b/core/application/config_file_watcher.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package startup
+package application
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify"
 	"dario.cat/mergo"
+	"github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
diff --git a/core/startup/startup.go b/core/application/startup.go
similarity index 62%
rename from core/startup/startup.go
rename to core/application/startup.go
index 0eb5fa585585..cd52d37ae962 100644
--- a/core/startup/startup.go
+++ b/core/application/startup.go
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
-package startup
+package application
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/backend"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/internal"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/assets"
+
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/library"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 	pkgStartup "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/startup"
@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
 
-func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.ModelLoader, *config.ApplicationConfig, error) {
+func New(opts ...config.AppOption) (*Application, error) {
 	options := config.NewApplicationConfig(opts...)
+	application := newApplication(options)
 
 	log.Info().Msgf("Starting LocalAI using %d threads, with models path: %s", options.Threads, options.ModelPath)
 	log.Info().Msgf("LocalAI version: %s", internal.PrintableVersion())
@@ -36,28 +37,28 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 
 	// Make sure directories exists
 	if options.ModelPath == "" {
-		return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("options.ModelPath cannot be empty")
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("options.ModelPath cannot be empty")
 	}
 	err = os.MkdirAll(options.ModelPath, 0750)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create ModelPath: %q", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create ModelPath: %q", err)
 	}
 	if options.ImageDir != "" {
 		err := os.MkdirAll(options.ImageDir, 0750)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create ImageDir: %q", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create ImageDir: %q", err)
 		}
 	}
 	if options.AudioDir != "" {
 		err := os.MkdirAll(options.AudioDir, 0750)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create AudioDir: %q", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create AudioDir: %q", err)
 		}
 	}
 	if options.UploadDir != "" {
 		err := os.MkdirAll(options.UploadDir, 0750)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create UploadDir: %q", err)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to create UploadDir: %q", err)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -65,39 +66,36 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("error installing models")
 	}
 
-	cl := config.NewBackendConfigLoader(options.ModelPath)
-	ml := model.NewModelLoader(options.ModelPath)
-
 	configLoaderOpts := options.ToConfigLoaderOptions()
 
-	if err := cl.LoadBackendConfigsFromPath(options.ModelPath, configLoaderOpts...); err != nil {
+	if err := application.BackendLoader().LoadBackendConfigsFromPath(options.ModelPath, configLoaderOpts...); err != nil {
 		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("error loading config files")
 	}
 
 	if options.ConfigFile != "" {
-		if err := cl.LoadMultipleBackendConfigsSingleFile(options.ConfigFile, configLoaderOpts...); err != nil {
+		if err := application.BackendLoader().LoadMultipleBackendConfigsSingleFile(options.ConfigFile, configLoaderOpts...); err != nil {
 			log.Error().Err(err).Msg("error loading config file")
 		}
 	}
 
-	if err := cl.Preload(options.ModelPath); err != nil {
+	if err := application.BackendLoader().Preload(options.ModelPath); err != nil {
 		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("error downloading models")
 	}
 
 	if options.PreloadJSONModels != "" {
 		if err := services.ApplyGalleryFromString(options.ModelPath, options.PreloadJSONModels, options.EnforcePredownloadScans, options.Galleries); err != nil {
-			return nil, nil, nil, err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 
 	if options.PreloadModelsFromPath != "" {
 		if err := services.ApplyGalleryFromFile(options.ModelPath, options.PreloadModelsFromPath, options.EnforcePredownloadScans, options.Galleries); err != nil {
-			return nil, nil, nil, err
+			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
 
 	if options.Debug {
-		for _, v := range cl.GetAllBackendConfigs() {
+		for _, v := range application.BackendLoader().GetAllBackendConfigs() {
 			log.Debug().Msgf("Model: %s (config: %+v)", v.Name, v)
 		}
 	}
@@ -123,7 +121,7 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 	go func() {
 		<-options.Context.Done()
 		log.Debug().Msgf("Context canceled, shutting down")
-		err := ml.StopAllGRPC()
+		err := application.ModelLoader().StopAllGRPC()
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error().Err(err).Msg("error while stopping all grpc backends")
 		}
@@ -131,12 +129,12 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 
 	if options.WatchDog {
 		wd := model.NewWatchDog(
-			ml,
+			application.ModelLoader(),
 			options.WatchDogBusyTimeout,
 			options.WatchDogIdleTimeout,
 			options.WatchDogBusy,
 			options.WatchDogIdle)
-		ml.SetWatchDog(wd)
+		application.ModelLoader().SetWatchDog(wd)
 		go wd.Run()
 		go func() {
 			<-options.Context.Done()
@@ -147,7 +145,7 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 
 	if options.LoadToMemory != nil {
 		for _, m := range options.LoadToMemory {
-			cfg, err := cl.LoadBackendConfigFileByName(m, options.ModelPath,
+			cfg, err := application.BackendLoader().LoadBackendConfigFileByName(m, options.ModelPath,
 				config.LoadOptionDebug(options.Debug),
 				config.LoadOptionThreads(options.Threads),
 				config.LoadOptionContextSize(options.ContextSize),
@@ -155,7 +153,7 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 				config.ModelPath(options.ModelPath),
 			)
 			if err != nil {
-				return nil, nil, nil, err
+				return nil, err
 			}
 
 			log.Debug().Msgf("Auto loading model %s into memory from file: %s", m, cfg.Model)
@@ -163,9 +161,9 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 			o := backend.ModelOptions(*cfg, options)
 
 			var backendErr error
-			_, backendErr = ml.Load(o...)
+			_, backendErr = application.ModelLoader().Load(o...)
 			if backendErr != nil {
-				return nil, nil, nil, err
+				return nil, err
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -174,7 +172,7 @@ func Startup(opts ...config.AppOption) (*config.BackendConfigLoader, *model.Mode
 	startWatcher(options)
 
 	log.Info().Msg("core/startup process completed!")
-	return cl, ml, options, nil
+	return application, nil
 }
 
 func startWatcher(options *config.ApplicationConfig) {
@@ -201,32 +199,3 @@ func startWatcher(options *config.ApplicationConfig) {
 		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("failed creating watcher")
 	}
 }
-
-// In Lieu of a proper DI framework, this function wires up the Application manually.
-// This is in core/startup rather than core/state.go to keep package references clean!
-func createApplication(appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) *core.Application {
-	app := &core.Application{
-		ApplicationConfig:   appConfig,
-		BackendConfigLoader: config.NewBackendConfigLoader(appConfig.ModelPath),
-		ModelLoader:         model.NewModelLoader(appConfig.ModelPath),
-	}
-
-	var err error
-
-	// app.EmbeddingsBackendService = backend.NewEmbeddingsBackendService(app.ModelLoader, app.BackendConfigLoader, app.ApplicationConfig)
-	// app.ImageGenerationBackendService = backend.NewImageGenerationBackendService(app.ModelLoader, app.BackendConfigLoader, app.ApplicationConfig)
-	// app.LLMBackendService = backend.NewLLMBackendService(app.ModelLoader, app.BackendConfigLoader, app.ApplicationConfig)
-	// app.TranscriptionBackendService = backend.NewTranscriptionBackendService(app.ModelLoader, app.BackendConfigLoader, app.ApplicationConfig)
-	// app.TextToSpeechBackendService = backend.NewTextToSpeechBackendService(app.ModelLoader, app.BackendConfigLoader, app.ApplicationConfig)
-
-	app.BackendMonitorService = services.NewBackendMonitorService(app.ModelLoader, app.BackendConfigLoader, app.ApplicationConfig)
-	app.GalleryService = services.NewGalleryService(app.ApplicationConfig)
-	// app.OpenAIService = services.NewOpenAIService(app.ModelLoader, app.BackendConfigLoader, app.ApplicationConfig, app.LLMBackendService)
-
-	app.LocalAIMetricsService, err = services.NewLocalAIMetricsService()
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("encountered an error initializing metrics service, startup will continue but metrics will not be tracked.")
-	}
-
-	return app
-}
diff --git a/core/cli/run.go b/core/cli/run.go
index b2d439a05b9f..a0e16155e2c6 100644
--- a/core/cli/run.go
+++ b/core/cli/run.go
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/application"
 	cli_api "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/cli/api"
 	cliContext "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/cli/context"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/http"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/p2p"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/startup"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
@@ -186,16 +186,16 @@ func (r *RunCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	if r.PreloadBackendOnly {
-		_, _, _, err := startup.Startup(opts...)
+		_, err := application.New(opts...)
 		return err
 	}
 
-	cl, ml, options, err := startup.Startup(opts...)
+	app, err := application.New(opts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed basic startup tasks with error %s", err.Error())
 	}
 
-	appHTTP, err := http.App(cl, ml, options)
+	appHTTP, err := http.API(app)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("error during HTTP App construction")
 		return err
diff --git a/core/config/backend_config.go b/core/config/backend_config.go
index 0ff347699932..f07ec3d3dcd3 100644
--- a/core/config/backend_config.go
+++ b/core/config/backend_config.go
@@ -206,6 +206,8 @@ type TemplateConfig struct {
 	JoinChatMessagesByCharacter *string `yaml:"join_chat_messages_by_character"`
 
 	Multimodal string `yaml:"multimodal"`
+
+	JinjaTemplate bool `yaml:"jinja_template"`
 }
 
 func (c *BackendConfig) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
diff --git a/core/config/guesser.go b/core/config/guesser.go
index b63dd051a32a..f562746199d6 100644
--- a/core/config/guesser.go
+++ b/core/config/guesser.go
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ const (
 type settingsConfig struct {
 	StopWords      []string
 	TemplateConfig TemplateConfig
-	RepeatPenalty float64
+	RepeatPenalty  float64
 }
 
 // default settings to adopt with a given model family
 var defaultsSettings map[familyType]settingsConfig = map[familyType]settingsConfig{
 	Gemma: {
 		RepeatPenalty: 1.0,
-		StopWords: []string{"<|im_end|>", "<end_of_turn>", "<start_of_turn>"},
+		StopWords:     []string{"<|im_end|>", "<end_of_turn>", "<start_of_turn>"},
 		TemplateConfig: TemplateConfig{
 			Chat:        "{{.Input }}\n<start_of_turn>model\n",
 			ChatMessage: "<start_of_turn>{{if eq .RoleName \"assistant\" }}model{{else}}{{ .RoleName }}{{end}}\n{{ if .Content -}}\n{{.Content -}}\n{{ end -}}<end_of_turn>",
@@ -200,6 +200,18 @@ func guessDefaultsFromFile(cfg *BackendConfig, modelPath string) {
 	} else {
 		log.Debug().Any("family", family).Msgf("guessDefaultsFromFile: no template found for family")
 	}
+
+	if cfg.HasTemplate() {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// identify from well known templates first, otherwise use the raw jinja template
+	chatTemplate, found := f.Header.MetadataKV.Get("tokenizer.chat_template")
+	if found {
+		// try to use the jinja template
+		cfg.TemplateConfig.JinjaTemplate = true
+		cfg.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage = chatTemplate.ValueString()
+	}
 }
 
 func identifyFamily(f *gguf.GGUFFile) familyType {
diff --git a/core/http/app.go b/core/http/app.go
index 2ba2c2b99535..a2d8b87a2f73 100644
--- a/core/http/app.go
+++ b/core/http/app.go
@@ -14,10 +14,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/http/middleware"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/http/routes"
 
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/application"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 
 	"github.com/gofiber/contrib/fiberzerolog"
 	"github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
@@ -49,18 +48,18 @@ var embedDirStatic embed.FS
 // @in header
 // @name Authorization
 
-func App(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) (*fiber.App, error) {
+func API(application *application.Application) (*fiber.App, error) {
 
 	fiberCfg := fiber.Config{
 		Views:     renderEngine(),
-		BodyLimit: appConfig.UploadLimitMB * 1024 * 1024, // this is the default limit of 4MB
+		BodyLimit: application.ApplicationConfig().UploadLimitMB * 1024 * 1024, // this is the default limit of 4MB
 		// We disable the Fiber startup message as it does not conform to structured logging.
 		// We register a startup log line with connection information in the OnListen hook to keep things user friendly though
 		DisableStartupMessage: true,
 		// Override default error handler
 	}
 
-	if !appConfig.OpaqueErrors {
+	if !application.ApplicationConfig().OpaqueErrors {
 		// Normally, return errors as JSON responses
 		fiberCfg.ErrorHandler = func(ctx *fiber.Ctx, err error) error {
 			// Status code defaults to 500
@@ -86,9 +85,9 @@ func App(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, appConfig *confi
 		}
 	}
 
-	app := fiber.New(fiberCfg)
+	router := fiber.New(fiberCfg)
 
-	app.Hooks().OnListen(func(listenData fiber.ListenData) error {
+	router.Hooks().OnListen(func(listenData fiber.ListenData) error {
 		scheme := "http"
 		if listenData.TLS {
 			scheme = "https"
@@ -99,82 +98,82 @@ func App(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, appConfig *confi
 
 	// Have Fiber use zerolog like the rest of the application rather than it's built-in logger
 	logger := log.Logger
-	app.Use(fiberzerolog.New(fiberzerolog.Config{
+	router.Use(fiberzerolog.New(fiberzerolog.Config{
 		Logger: &logger,
 	}))
 
 	// Default middleware config
 
-	if !appConfig.Debug {
-		app.Use(recover.New())
+	if !application.ApplicationConfig().Debug {
+		router.Use(recover.New())
 	}
 
-	if !appConfig.DisableMetrics {
+	if !application.ApplicationConfig().DisableMetrics {
 		metricsService, err := services.NewLocalAIMetricsService()
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
 		if metricsService != nil {
-			app.Use(localai.LocalAIMetricsAPIMiddleware(metricsService))
-			app.Hooks().OnShutdown(func() error {
+			router.Use(localai.LocalAIMetricsAPIMiddleware(metricsService))
+			router.Hooks().OnShutdown(func() error {
 				return metricsService.Shutdown()
 			})
 		}
 
 	}
 	// Health Checks should always be exempt from auth, so register these first
-	routes.HealthRoutes(app)
+	routes.HealthRoutes(router)
 
-	kaConfig, err := middleware.GetKeyAuthConfig(appConfig)
+	kaConfig, err := middleware.GetKeyAuthConfig(application.ApplicationConfig())
 	if err != nil || kaConfig == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create key auth config: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Auth is applied to _all_ endpoints. No exceptions. Filtering out endpoints to bypass is the role of the Filter property of the KeyAuth Configuration
-	app.Use(v2keyauth.New(*kaConfig))
+	router.Use(v2keyauth.New(*kaConfig))
 
-	if appConfig.CORS {
+	if application.ApplicationConfig().CORS {
 		var c func(ctx *fiber.Ctx) error
-		if appConfig.CORSAllowOrigins == "" {
+		if application.ApplicationConfig().CORSAllowOrigins == "" {
 			c = cors.New()
 		} else {
-			c = cors.New(cors.Config{AllowOrigins: appConfig.CORSAllowOrigins})
+			c = cors.New(cors.Config{AllowOrigins: application.ApplicationConfig().CORSAllowOrigins})
 		}
 
-		app.Use(c)
+		router.Use(c)
 	}
 
-	if appConfig.CSRF {
+	if application.ApplicationConfig().CSRF {
 		log.Debug().Msg("Enabling CSRF middleware. Tokens are now required for state-modifying requests")
-		app.Use(csrf.New())
+		router.Use(csrf.New())
 	}
 
 	// Load config jsons
-	utils.LoadConfig(appConfig.UploadDir, openai.UploadedFilesFile, &openai.UploadedFiles)
-	utils.LoadConfig(appConfig.ConfigsDir, openai.AssistantsConfigFile, &openai.Assistants)
-	utils.LoadConfig(appConfig.ConfigsDir, openai.AssistantsFileConfigFile, &openai.AssistantFiles)
-
-	galleryService := services.NewGalleryService(appConfig)
-	galleryService.Start(appConfig.Context, cl)
-
-	routes.RegisterElevenLabsRoutes(app, cl, ml, appConfig)
-	routes.RegisterLocalAIRoutes(app, cl, ml, appConfig, galleryService)
-	routes.RegisterOpenAIRoutes(app, cl, ml, appConfig)
-	if !appConfig.DisableWebUI {
-		routes.RegisterUIRoutes(app, cl, ml, appConfig, galleryService)
+	utils.LoadConfig(application.ApplicationConfig().UploadDir, openai.UploadedFilesFile, &openai.UploadedFiles)
+	utils.LoadConfig(application.ApplicationConfig().ConfigsDir, openai.AssistantsConfigFile, &openai.Assistants)
+	utils.LoadConfig(application.ApplicationConfig().ConfigsDir, openai.AssistantsFileConfigFile, &openai.AssistantFiles)
+
+	galleryService := services.NewGalleryService(application.ApplicationConfig())
+	galleryService.Start(application.ApplicationConfig().Context, application.BackendLoader())
+
+	routes.RegisterElevenLabsRoutes(router, application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig())
+	routes.RegisterLocalAIRoutes(router, application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig(), galleryService)
+	routes.RegisterOpenAIRoutes(router, application)
+	if !application.ApplicationConfig().DisableWebUI {
+		routes.RegisterUIRoutes(router, application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig(), galleryService)
 	}
-	routes.RegisterJINARoutes(app, cl, ml, appConfig)
+	routes.RegisterJINARoutes(router, application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig())
 
 	httpFS := http.FS(embedDirStatic)
 
-	app.Use(favicon.New(favicon.Config{
+	router.Use(favicon.New(favicon.Config{
 		URL:        "/favicon.ico",
 		FileSystem: httpFS,
 		File:       "static/favicon.ico",
 	}))
 
-	app.Use("/static", filesystem.New(filesystem.Config{
+	router.Use("/static", filesystem.New(filesystem.Config{
 		Root:       httpFS,
 		PathPrefix: "static",
 		Browse:     true,
@@ -182,7 +181,7 @@ func App(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, appConfig *confi
 
 	// Define a custom 404 handler
 	// Note: keep this at the bottom!
-	app.Use(notFoundHandler)
+	router.Use(notFoundHandler)
 
-	return app, nil
+	return router, nil
 }
diff --git a/core/http/app_test.go b/core/http/app_test.go
index 83fb0e73bc74..34ebacf74408 100644
--- a/core/http/app_test.go
+++ b/core/http/app_test.go
@@ -12,15 +12,14 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/application"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
 	. "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/http"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/startup"
 
 	"github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/gallery"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/downloader"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
@@ -252,9 +251,6 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 	var cancel context.CancelFunc
 	var tmpdir string
 	var modelDir string
-	var bcl *config.BackendConfigLoader
-	var ml *model.ModelLoader
-	var applicationConfig *config.ApplicationConfig
 
 	commonOpts := []config.AppOption{
 		config.WithDebug(true),
@@ -300,7 +296,7 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 				},
 			}
 
-			bcl, ml, applicationConfig, err = startup.Startup(
+			application, err := application.New(
 				append(commonOpts,
 					config.WithContext(c),
 					config.WithGalleries(galleries),
@@ -310,7 +306,7 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 					config.WithBackendAssetsOutput(backendAssetsDir))...)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
-			app, err = App(bcl, ml, applicationConfig)
+			app, err = API(application)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
 			go app.Listen("127.0.0.1:9090")
@@ -539,7 +535,7 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 				var res map[string]string
 				err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(resp2.Choices[0].Message.FunctionCall.Arguments), &res)
 				Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(res["location"]).To(Equal("San Francisco"), fmt.Sprint(res))
+				Expect(res["location"]).To(ContainSubstring("San Francisco"), fmt.Sprint(res))
 				Expect(res["unit"]).To(Equal("celcius"), fmt.Sprint(res))
 				Expect(string(resp2.Choices[0].FinishReason)).To(Equal("function_call"), fmt.Sprint(resp2.Choices[0].FinishReason))
 
@@ -641,7 +637,7 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 				},
 			}
 
-			bcl, ml, applicationConfig, err = startup.Startup(
+			application, err := application.New(
 				append(commonOpts,
 					config.WithContext(c),
 					config.WithAudioDir(tmpdir),
@@ -652,7 +648,7 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 					config.WithBackendAssetsOutput(tmpdir))...,
 			)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-			app, err = App(bcl, ml, applicationConfig)
+			app, err = API(application)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
 			go app.Listen("127.0.0.1:9090")
@@ -772,14 +768,14 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 
 			var err error
 
-			bcl, ml, applicationConfig, err = startup.Startup(
+			application, err := application.New(
 				append(commonOpts,
 					config.WithExternalBackend("huggingface", os.Getenv("HUGGINGFACE_GRPC")),
 					config.WithContext(c),
 					config.WithModelPath(modelPath),
 				)...)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-			app, err = App(bcl, ml, applicationConfig)
+			app, err = API(application)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 			go app.Listen("127.0.0.1:9090")
 
@@ -990,14 +986,14 @@ var _ = Describe("API test", func() {
 			c, cancel = context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 
 			var err error
-			bcl, ml, applicationConfig, err = startup.Startup(
+			application, err := application.New(
 				append(commonOpts,
 					config.WithContext(c),
 					config.WithModelPath(modelPath),
 					config.WithConfigFile(os.Getenv("CONFIG_FILE")))...,
 			)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-			app, err = App(bcl, ml, applicationConfig)
+			app, err = API(application)
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
 			go app.Listen("127.0.0.1:9090")
diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/openai/chat.go b/core/http/endpoints/openai/chat.go
index b03b18bd1d18..21e71d352ba5 100644
--- a/core/http/endpoints/openai/chat.go
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/openai/chat.go
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/functions"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
+
 	model "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/valyala/fasthttp"
@@ -24,7 +26,7 @@ import (
 // @Param request body schema.OpenAIRequest true "query params"
 // @Success 200 {object} schema.OpenAIResponse "Response"
 // @Router /v1/chat/completions [post]
-func ChatEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, startupOptions *config.ApplicationConfig) func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
+func ChatEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, evaluator *templates.Evaluator, startupOptions *config.ApplicationConfig) func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
 	var id, textContentToReturn string
 	var created int
 
@@ -298,148 +300,10 @@ func ChatEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, startup
 		// If we are using the tokenizer template, we don't need to process the messages
 		// unless we are processing functions
 		if !config.TemplateConfig.UseTokenizerTemplate || shouldUseFn {
-			suppressConfigSystemPrompt := false
-			mess := []string{}
-			for messageIndex, i := range input.Messages {
-				var content string
-				role := i.Role
-
-				// if function call, we might want to customize the role so we can display better that the "assistant called a json action"
-				// if an "assistant_function_call" role is defined, we use it, otherwise we use the role that is passed by in the request
-				if (i.FunctionCall != nil || i.ToolCalls != nil) && i.Role == "assistant" {
-					roleFn := "assistant_function_call"
-					r := config.Roles[roleFn]
-					if r != "" {
-						role = roleFn
-					}
-				}
-				r := config.Roles[role]
-				contentExists := i.Content != nil && i.StringContent != ""
-
-				fcall := i.FunctionCall
-				if len(i.ToolCalls) > 0 {
-					fcall = i.ToolCalls
-				}
-
-				// First attempt to populate content via a chat message specific template
-				if config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage != "" {
-					chatMessageData := model.ChatMessageTemplateData{
-						SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
-						Role:         r,
-						RoleName:     role,
-						Content:      i.StringContent,
-						FunctionCall: fcall,
-						FunctionName: i.Name,
-						LastMessage:  messageIndex == (len(input.Messages) - 1),
-						Function:     config.Grammar != "" && (messageIndex == (len(input.Messages) - 1)),
-						MessageIndex: messageIndex,
-					}
-					templatedChatMessage, err := ml.EvaluateTemplateForChatMessage(config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage, chatMessageData)
-					if err != nil {
-						log.Error().Err(err).Interface("message", chatMessageData).Str("template", config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage).Msg("error processing message with template, skipping")
-					} else {
-						if templatedChatMessage == "" {
-							log.Warn().Msgf("template \"%s\" produced blank output for %+v. Skipping!", config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage, chatMessageData)
-							continue // TODO: This continue is here intentionally to skip over the line `mess = append(mess, content)` below, and to prevent the sprintf
-						}
-						log.Debug().Msgf("templated message for chat: %s", templatedChatMessage)
-						content = templatedChatMessage
-					}
-				}
-
-				marshalAnyRole := func(f any) {
-					j, err := json.Marshal(f)
-					if err == nil {
-						if contentExists {
-							content += "\n" + fmt.Sprint(r, " ", string(j))
-						} else {
-							content = fmt.Sprint(r, " ", string(j))
-						}
-					}
-				}
-				marshalAny := func(f any) {
-					j, err := json.Marshal(f)
-					if err == nil {
-						if contentExists {
-							content += "\n" + string(j)
-						} else {
-							content = string(j)
-						}
-					}
-				}
-				// If this model doesn't have such a template, or if that template fails to return a value, template at the message level.
-				if content == "" {
-					if r != "" {
-						if contentExists {
-							content = fmt.Sprint(r, i.StringContent)
-						}
-
-						if i.FunctionCall != nil {
-							marshalAnyRole(i.FunctionCall)
-						}
-						if i.ToolCalls != nil {
-							marshalAnyRole(i.ToolCalls)
-						}
-					} else {
-						if contentExists {
-							content = fmt.Sprint(i.StringContent)
-						}
-						if i.FunctionCall != nil {
-							marshalAny(i.FunctionCall)
-						}
-						if i.ToolCalls != nil {
-							marshalAny(i.ToolCalls)
-						}
-					}
-					// Special Handling: System. We care if it was printed at all, not the r branch, so check seperately
-					if contentExists && role == "system" {
-						suppressConfigSystemPrompt = true
-					}
-				}
-
-				mess = append(mess, content)
-			}
-
-			joinCharacter := "\n"
-			if config.TemplateConfig.JoinChatMessagesByCharacter != nil {
-				joinCharacter = *config.TemplateConfig.JoinChatMessagesByCharacter
-			}
-
-			predInput = strings.Join(mess, joinCharacter)
-			log.Debug().Msgf("Prompt (before templating): %s", predInput)
-
-			templateFile := ""
-
-			// A model can have a "file.bin.tmpl" file associated with a prompt template prefix
-			if ml.ExistsInModelPath(fmt.Sprintf("%s.tmpl", config.Model)) {
-				templateFile = config.Model
-			}
-
-			if config.TemplateConfig.Chat != "" && !shouldUseFn {
-				templateFile = config.TemplateConfig.Chat
-			}
-
-			if config.TemplateConfig.Functions != "" && shouldUseFn {
-				templateFile = config.TemplateConfig.Functions
-			}
-
-			if templateFile != "" {
-				templatedInput, err := ml.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(model.ChatPromptTemplate, templateFile, model.PromptTemplateData{
-					SystemPrompt:         config.SystemPrompt,
-					SuppressSystemPrompt: suppressConfigSystemPrompt,
-					Input:                predInput,
-					Functions:            funcs,
-				})
-				if err == nil {
-					predInput = templatedInput
-					log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", predInput)
-				} else {
-					log.Debug().Msgf("Template failed loading: %s", err.Error())
-				}
-			}
+			predInput = evaluator.TemplateMessages(input.Messages, config, funcs, shouldUseFn)
 
 			log.Debug().Msgf("Prompt (after templating): %s", predInput)
-			if shouldUseFn && config.Grammar != "" {
+			if config.Grammar != "" {
 				log.Debug().Msgf("Grammar: %+v", config.Grammar)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/openai/completion.go b/core/http/endpoints/openai/completion.go
index e5de1b3f0296..04ebc847905f 100644
--- a/core/http/endpoints/openai/completion.go
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/openai/completion.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/functions"
 	model "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 	"github.com/valyala/fasthttp"
 )
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ import (
 // @Param request body schema.OpenAIRequest true "query params"
 // @Success 200 {object} schema.OpenAIResponse "Response"
 // @Router /v1/completions [post]
-func CompletionEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
+func CompletionEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, evaluator *templates.Evaluator, appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
 	id := uuid.New().String()
 	created := int(time.Now().Unix())
 
@@ -94,17 +95,6 @@ func CompletionEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, a
 			c.Set("Transfer-Encoding", "chunked")
 		}
 
-		templateFile := ""
-
-		// A model can have a "file.bin.tmpl" file associated with a prompt template prefix
-		if ml.ExistsInModelPath(fmt.Sprintf("%s.tmpl", config.Model)) {
-			templateFile = config.Model
-		}
-
-		if config.TemplateConfig.Completion != "" {
-			templateFile = config.TemplateConfig.Completion
-		}
-
 		if input.Stream {
 			if len(config.PromptStrings) > 1 {
 				return errors.New("cannot handle more than 1 `PromptStrings` when Streaming")
@@ -112,15 +102,13 @@ func CompletionEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, a
 
 			predInput := config.PromptStrings[0]
 
-			if templateFile != "" {
-				templatedInput, err := ml.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(model.CompletionPromptTemplate, templateFile, model.PromptTemplateData{
-					Input:        predInput,
-					SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
-				})
-				if err == nil {
-					predInput = templatedInput
-					log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", predInput)
-				}
+			templatedInput, err := evaluator.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(templates.CompletionPromptTemplate, *config, templates.PromptTemplateData{
+				Input:        predInput,
+				SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
+			})
+			if err == nil {
+				predInput = templatedInput
+				log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", predInput)
 			}
 
 			responses := make(chan schema.OpenAIResponse)
@@ -165,16 +153,13 @@ func CompletionEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, a
 		totalTokenUsage := backend.TokenUsage{}
 
 		for k, i := range config.PromptStrings {
-			if templateFile != "" {
-				// A model can have a "file.bin.tmpl" file associated with a prompt template prefix
-				templatedInput, err := ml.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(model.CompletionPromptTemplate, templateFile, model.PromptTemplateData{
-					SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
-					Input:        i,
-				})
-				if err == nil {
-					i = templatedInput
-					log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", i)
-				}
+			templatedInput, err := evaluator.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(templates.CompletionPromptTemplate, *config, templates.PromptTemplateData{
+				SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
+				Input:        i,
+			})
+			if err == nil {
+				i = templatedInput
+				log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", i)
 			}
 
 			r, tokenUsage, err := ComputeChoices(
diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/openai/edit.go b/core/http/endpoints/openai/edit.go
index 12fb40352552..a6d609fbfeb3 100644
--- a/core/http/endpoints/openai/edit.go
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/openai/edit.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
 	model "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
@@ -21,7 +22,8 @@ import (
 // @Param request body schema.OpenAIRequest true "query params"
 // @Success 200 {object} schema.OpenAIResponse "Response"
 // @Router /v1/edits [post]
-func EditEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
+func EditEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, evaluator *templates.Evaluator, appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
+
 	return func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
 		modelFile, input, err := readRequest(c, cl, ml, appConfig, true)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -35,31 +37,18 @@ func EditEndpoint(cl *config.BackendConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, appConf
 
 		log.Debug().Msgf("Parameter Config: %+v", config)
 
-		templateFile := ""
-
-		// A model can have a "file.bin.tmpl" file associated with a prompt template prefix
-		if ml.ExistsInModelPath(fmt.Sprintf("%s.tmpl", config.Model)) {
-			templateFile = config.Model
-		}
-
-		if config.TemplateConfig.Edit != "" {
-			templateFile = config.TemplateConfig.Edit
-		}
-
 		var result []schema.Choice
 		totalTokenUsage := backend.TokenUsage{}
 
 		for _, i := range config.InputStrings {
-			if templateFile != "" {
-				templatedInput, err := ml.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(model.EditPromptTemplate, templateFile, model.PromptTemplateData{
-					Input:        i,
-					Instruction:  input.Instruction,
-					SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
-				})
-				if err == nil {
-					i = templatedInput
-					log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", i)
-				}
+			templatedInput, err := evaluator.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(templates.EditPromptTemplate, *config, templates.PromptTemplateData{
+				Input:        i,
+				Instruction:  input.Instruction,
+				SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
+			})
+			if err == nil {
+				i = templatedInput
+				log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", i)
 			}
 
 			r, tokenUsage, err := ComputeChoices(input, i, config, appConfig, ml, func(s string, c *[]schema.Choice) {
diff --git a/core/http/routes/localai.go b/core/http/routes/localai.go
index e7097741aa16..2ea9896a2ec8 100644
--- a/core/http/routes/localai.go
+++ b/core/http/routes/localai.go
@@ -11,62 +11,62 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 )
 
-func RegisterLocalAIRoutes(app *fiber.App,
+func RegisterLocalAIRoutes(router *fiber.App,
 	cl *config.BackendConfigLoader,
 	ml *model.ModelLoader,
 	appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig,
 	galleryService *services.GalleryService) {
 
-	app.Get("/swagger/*", swagger.HandlerDefault) // default
+	router.Get("/swagger/*", swagger.HandlerDefault) // default
 
 	// LocalAI API endpoints
 	if !appConfig.DisableGalleryEndpoint {
 		modelGalleryEndpointService := localai.CreateModelGalleryEndpointService(appConfig.Galleries, appConfig.ModelPath, galleryService)
-		app.Post("/models/apply", modelGalleryEndpointService.ApplyModelGalleryEndpoint())
-		app.Post("/models/delete/:name", modelGalleryEndpointService.DeleteModelGalleryEndpoint())
+		router.Post("/models/apply", modelGalleryEndpointService.ApplyModelGalleryEndpoint())
+		router.Post("/models/delete/:name", modelGalleryEndpointService.DeleteModelGalleryEndpoint())
 
-		app.Get("/models/available", modelGalleryEndpointService.ListModelFromGalleryEndpoint())
-		app.Get("/models/galleries", modelGalleryEndpointService.ListModelGalleriesEndpoint())
-		app.Post("/models/galleries", modelGalleryEndpointService.AddModelGalleryEndpoint())
-		app.Delete("/models/galleries", modelGalleryEndpointService.RemoveModelGalleryEndpoint())
-		app.Get("/models/jobs/:uuid", modelGalleryEndpointService.GetOpStatusEndpoint())
-		app.Get("/models/jobs", modelGalleryEndpointService.GetAllStatusEndpoint())
+		router.Get("/models/available", modelGalleryEndpointService.ListModelFromGalleryEndpoint())
+		router.Get("/models/galleries", modelGalleryEndpointService.ListModelGalleriesEndpoint())
+		router.Post("/models/galleries", modelGalleryEndpointService.AddModelGalleryEndpoint())
+		router.Delete("/models/galleries", modelGalleryEndpointService.RemoveModelGalleryEndpoint())
+		router.Get("/models/jobs/:uuid", modelGalleryEndpointService.GetOpStatusEndpoint())
+		router.Get("/models/jobs", modelGalleryEndpointService.GetAllStatusEndpoint())
 	}
 
-	app.Post("/tts", localai.TTSEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/vad", localai.VADEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	router.Post("/tts", localai.TTSEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	router.Post("/vad", localai.VADEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
 
 	// Stores
 	sl := model.NewModelLoader("")
-	app.Post("/stores/set", localai.StoresSetEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/stores/delete", localai.StoresDeleteEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/stores/get", localai.StoresGetEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/stores/find", localai.StoresFindEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
+	router.Post("/stores/set", localai.StoresSetEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
+	router.Post("/stores/delete", localai.StoresDeleteEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
+	router.Post("/stores/get", localai.StoresGetEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
+	router.Post("/stores/find", localai.StoresFindEndpoint(sl, appConfig))
 
 	if !appConfig.DisableMetrics {
-		app.Get("/metrics", localai.LocalAIMetricsEndpoint())
+		router.Get("/metrics", localai.LocalAIMetricsEndpoint())
 	}
 
 	// Experimental Backend Statistics Module
 	backendMonitorService := services.NewBackendMonitorService(ml, cl, appConfig) // Split out for now
-	app.Get("/backend/monitor", localai.BackendMonitorEndpoint(backendMonitorService))
-	app.Post("/backend/shutdown", localai.BackendShutdownEndpoint(backendMonitorService))
+	router.Get("/backend/monitor", localai.BackendMonitorEndpoint(backendMonitorService))
+	router.Post("/backend/shutdown", localai.BackendShutdownEndpoint(backendMonitorService))
 
 	// p2p
 	if p2p.IsP2PEnabled() {
-		app.Get("/api/p2p", localai.ShowP2PNodes(appConfig))
-		app.Get("/api/p2p/token", localai.ShowP2PToken(appConfig))
+		router.Get("/api/p2p", localai.ShowP2PNodes(appConfig))
+		router.Get("/api/p2p/token", localai.ShowP2PToken(appConfig))
 	}
 
-	app.Get("/version", func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
+	router.Get("/version", func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
 		return c.JSON(struct {
 			Version string `json:"version"`
 		}{Version: internal.PrintableVersion()})
 	})
 
-	app.Get("/system", localai.SystemInformations(ml, appConfig))
+	router.Get("/system", localai.SystemInformations(ml, appConfig))
 
 	// misc
-	app.Post("/v1/tokenize", localai.TokenizeEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	router.Post("/v1/tokenize", localai.TokenizeEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
 
 }
diff --git a/core/http/routes/openai.go b/core/http/routes/openai.go
index 081daf70d80c..5ff301b673bc 100644
--- a/core/http/routes/openai.go
+++ b/core/http/routes/openai.go
@@ -2,84 +2,134 @@ package routes
 
 import (
 	"github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/application"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/http/endpoints/localai"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/http/endpoints/openai"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 )
 
 func RegisterOpenAIRoutes(app *fiber.App,
-	cl *config.BackendConfigLoader,
-	ml *model.ModelLoader,
-	appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) {
+	application *application.Application) {
 	// openAI compatible API endpoint
 
 	// chat
-	app.Post("/v1/chat/completions", openai.ChatEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/chat/completions", openai.ChatEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	app.Post("/v1/chat/completions",
+		openai.ChatEndpoint(
+			application.BackendLoader(),
+			application.ModelLoader(),
+			application.TemplatesEvaluator(),
+			application.ApplicationConfig(),
+		),
+	)
+
+	app.Post("/chat/completions",
+		openai.ChatEndpoint(
+			application.BackendLoader(),
+			application.ModelLoader(),
+			application.TemplatesEvaluator(),
+			application.ApplicationConfig(),
+		),
+	)
 
 	// edit
-	app.Post("/v1/edits", openai.EditEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/edits", openai.EditEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	app.Post("/v1/edits",
+		openai.EditEndpoint(
+			application.BackendLoader(),
+			application.ModelLoader(),
+			application.TemplatesEvaluator(),
+			application.ApplicationConfig(),
+		),
+	)
+
+	app.Post("/edits",
+		openai.EditEndpoint(
+			application.BackendLoader(),
+			application.ModelLoader(),
+			application.TemplatesEvaluator(),
+			application.ApplicationConfig(),
+		),
+	)
 
 	// assistant
-	app.Get("/v1/assistants", openai.ListAssistantsEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/assistants", openai.ListAssistantsEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/v1/assistants", openai.CreateAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/assistants", openai.CreateAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Delete("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.DeleteAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Delete("/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.DeleteAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.GetAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.GetAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.ModifyAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.ModifyAssistantEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.ListAssistantFilesEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.ListAssistantFilesEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.CreateAssistantFileEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.CreateAssistantFileEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Delete("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteAssistantFileEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Delete("/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteAssistantFileEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.GetAssistantFileEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.GetAssistantFileEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	app.Get("/v1/assistants", openai.ListAssistantsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/assistants", openai.ListAssistantsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/v1/assistants", openai.CreateAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/assistants", openai.CreateAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Delete("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.DeleteAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Delete("/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.DeleteAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.GetAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.GetAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.ModifyAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/assistants/:assistant_id", openai.ModifyAssistantEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.ListAssistantFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.ListAssistantFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.CreateAssistantFileEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/assistants/:assistant_id/files", openai.CreateAssistantFileEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Delete("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteAssistantFileEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Delete("/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteAssistantFileEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/v1/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.GetAssistantFileEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/assistants/:assistant_id/files/:file_id", openai.GetAssistantFileEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
 
 	// files
-	app.Post("/v1/files", openai.UploadFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/files", openai.UploadFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/v1/files", openai.ListFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/files", openai.ListFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/v1/files/:file_id", openai.GetFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/files/:file_id", openai.GetFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Delete("/v1/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Delete("/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteFilesEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/v1/files/:file_id/content", openai.GetFilesContentsEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
-	app.Get("/files/:file_id/content", openai.GetFilesContentsEndpoint(cl, appConfig))
+	app.Post("/v1/files", openai.UploadFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/files", openai.UploadFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/v1/files", openai.ListFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/files", openai.ListFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/v1/files/:file_id", openai.GetFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/files/:file_id", openai.GetFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Delete("/v1/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Delete("/files/:file_id", openai.DeleteFilesEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/v1/files/:file_id/content", openai.GetFilesContentsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Get("/files/:file_id/content", openai.GetFilesContentsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
 
 	// completion
-	app.Post("/v1/completions", openai.CompletionEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/completions", openai.CompletionEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/v1/engines/:model/completions", openai.CompletionEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	app.Post("/v1/completions",
+		openai.CompletionEndpoint(
+			application.BackendLoader(),
+			application.ModelLoader(),
+			application.TemplatesEvaluator(),
+			application.ApplicationConfig(),
+		),
+	)
+
+	app.Post("/completions",
+		openai.CompletionEndpoint(
+			application.BackendLoader(),
+			application.ModelLoader(),
+			application.TemplatesEvaluator(),
+			application.ApplicationConfig(),
+		),
+	)
+
+	app.Post("/v1/engines/:model/completions",
+		openai.CompletionEndpoint(
+			application.BackendLoader(),
+			application.ModelLoader(),
+			application.TemplatesEvaluator(),
+			application.ApplicationConfig(),
+		),
+	)
 
 	// embeddings
-	app.Post("/v1/embeddings", openai.EmbeddingsEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/embeddings", openai.EmbeddingsEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/v1/engines/:model/embeddings", openai.EmbeddingsEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	app.Post("/v1/embeddings", openai.EmbeddingsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/embeddings", openai.EmbeddingsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/v1/engines/:model/embeddings", openai.EmbeddingsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
 
 	// audio
-	app.Post("/v1/audio/transcriptions", openai.TranscriptEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
-	app.Post("/v1/audio/speech", localai.TTSEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	app.Post("/v1/audio/transcriptions", openai.TranscriptEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
+	app.Post("/v1/audio/speech", localai.TTSEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
 
 	// images
-	app.Post("/v1/images/generations", openai.ImageEndpoint(cl, ml, appConfig))
+	app.Post("/v1/images/generations", openai.ImageEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader(), application.ApplicationConfig()))
 
-	if appConfig.ImageDir != "" {
-		app.Static("/generated-images", appConfig.ImageDir)
+	if application.ApplicationConfig().ImageDir != "" {
+		app.Static("/generated-images", application.ApplicationConfig().ImageDir)
 	}
 
-	if appConfig.AudioDir != "" {
-		app.Static("/generated-audio", appConfig.AudioDir)
+	if application.ApplicationConfig().AudioDir != "" {
+		app.Static("/generated-audio", application.ApplicationConfig().AudioDir)
 	}
 
 	// List models
-	app.Get("/v1/models", openai.ListModelsEndpoint(cl, ml))
-	app.Get("/models", openai.ListModelsEndpoint(cl, ml))
+	app.Get("/v1/models", openai.ListModelsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader()))
+	app.Get("/models", openai.ListModelsEndpoint(application.BackendLoader(), application.ModelLoader()))
 }
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 3bc625acaf69..e9bcf3eca1d4 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ require (
 	cloud.google.com/go/auth v0.4.1 // indirect
 	cloud.google.com/go/auth/oauth2adapt v0.2.2 // indirect
 	cloud.google.com/go/compute/metadata v0.3.0 // indirect
+	github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1 // indirect
 	github.com/envoyproxy/protoc-gen-validate v1.0.4 // indirect
 	github.com/fasthttp/websocket v1.5.3 // indirect
 	github.com/felixge/httpsnoop v1.0.4 // indirect
@@ -84,8 +85,12 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/s2a-go v0.1.7 // indirect
 	github.com/googleapis/enterprise-certificate-proxy v0.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/googleapis/gax-go/v2 v2.12.4 // indirect
+	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 // indirect
 	github.com/moby/docker-image-spec v1.3.1 // indirect
+	github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd // indirect
+	github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822 // indirect
+	github.com/nikolalohinski/gonja/v2 v2.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/pion/datachannel v1.5.8 // indirect
 	github.com/pion/dtls/v2 v2.2.12 // indirect
 	github.com/pion/ice/v2 v2.3.34 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 11b87fa95af9..f1628f7a5962 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -140,6 +140,8 @@ github.com/dsnet/compress v0.0.2-0.20210315054119-f66993602bf5 h1:iFaUwBSo5Svw6L
 github.com/dsnet/compress v0.0.2-0.20210315054119-f66993602bf5/go.mod h1:qssHWj60/X5sZFNxpG4HBPDHVqxNm4DfnCKgrbZOT+s=
 github.com/dsnet/golib v0.0.0-20171103203638-1ea166775780/go.mod h1:Lj+Z9rebOhdfkVLjJ8T6VcRQv3SXugXy999NBtR9aFY=
 github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.0/go.mod h1:HtrtbFcZ19U5GC7JDqmcUSB87Iq5E25KnS6fMYU6eOk=
+github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1 h1:GzkhY7T5VNhEkwH0PVJgjz+fX1rhBrR7pRT3mDkpeCY=
+github.com/dustin/go-humanize v1.0.1/go.mod h1:Mu1zIs6XwVuF/gI1OepvI0qD18qycQx+mFykh5fBlto=
 github.com/elastic/gosigar v0.12.0/go.mod h1:iXRIGg2tLnu7LBdpqzyQfGDEidKCfWcCMS0WKyPWoMs=
 github.com/elastic/gosigar v0.14.3 h1:xwkKwPia+hSfg9GqrCUKYdId102m9qTJIIr7egmK/uo=
 github.com/elastic/gosigar v0.14.3/go.mod h1:iXRIGg2tLnu7LBdpqzyQfGDEidKCfWcCMS0WKyPWoMs=
@@ -268,6 +270,7 @@ github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.19.2 h1:TannFKE1QSajsP6hPWb5oJNgKe1IKj
 github.com/google/go-containerregistry v0.19.2/go.mod h1:YCMFNQeeXeLF+dnhhWkqDItx/JSkH01j1Kis4PsjzFI=
 github.com/google/go-github v17.0.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:zLgOLi98H3fifZn+44m+umXrS52loVEgC2AApnigrVQ=
 github.com/google/go-querystring v1.0.0/go.mod h1:odCYkC5MyYFN7vkCjXpyrEuKhc/BUO6wN/zVPAxq5ck=
+github.com/google/gofuzz v1.0.0/go.mod h1:dBl0BpW6vV/+mYPU4Po3pmUjxk6FQPldtuIdl/M65Eg=
 github.com/google/gopacket v1.1.19 h1:ves8RnFZPGiFnTS0uPQStjwru6uO6h+nlr9j6fL7kF8=
 github.com/google/gopacket v1.1.19/go.mod h1:iJ8V8n6KS+z2U1A8pUwu8bW5SyEMkXJB8Yo/Vo+TKTo=
 github.com/google/martian v2.1.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:9I4somxYTbIHy5NJKHRl3wXiIaQGbYVAs8BPL6v8lEs=
@@ -353,6 +356,8 @@ github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1/go.mod h1:f4LDr5Voq0i2e/R5DDNOoa2zzDfwtkZa6DnEwA
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 h1:vlS4z54oSdjm0bgjRigI+G1HpF+tI+9rE5LLzOg8HmY=
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0/go.mod h1:5DoeVV0s6jJacbCEi61lwdGj/aVlrQvzHFFd8Hwg//Y=
 github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.6/go.mod h1:+SdeFBvtyEkXs7REEP0seUULqWtbJapLOCVDaaPEHmU=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 h1:PV8peI4a0ysnczrg+LtxykD8LfKY9ML6u2jnxaEnrnM=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12/go.mod h1:e30LSqwooZae/UwlEbR2852Gd8hjQvJoHmT4TnhNGBo=
 github.com/jstemmer/go-junit-report v0.0.0-20190106144839-af01ea7f8024/go.mod h1:6v2b51hI/fHJwM22ozAgKL4VKDeJcHhJFhtBdhmNjmU=
 github.com/jtolds/gls v4.20.0+incompatible h1:xdiiI2gbIgH/gLH7ADydsJ1uDOEzR8yvV7C0MuV77Wo=
 github.com/jtolds/gls v4.20.0+incompatible/go.mod h1:QJZ7F/aHp+rZTRtaJ1ow/lLfFfVYBRgL+9YlvaHOwJU=
@@ -474,8 +479,12 @@ github.com/moby/sys/sequential v0.5.0 h1:OPvI35Lzn9K04PBbCLW0g4LcFAJgHsvXsRyewg5
 github.com/moby/sys/sequential v0.5.0/go.mod h1:tH2cOOs5V9MlPiXcQzRC+eEyab644PWKGRYaaV5ZZlo=
 github.com/moby/term v0.5.0 h1:xt8Q1nalod/v7BqbG21f8mQPqH+xAaC9C3N3wfWbVP0=
 github.com/moby/term v0.5.0/go.mod h1:8FzsFHVUBGZdbDsJw/ot+X+d5HLUbvklYLJ9uGfcI3Y=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd h1:TRLaZ9cD/w8PVh93nsPXa1VrQ6jlwL5oN8l14QlcNfg=
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
 github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.1/go.mod h1:bx2lNnkwVCuqBIxFjflWJWanXIb3RllmbCylyMrvgv0=
+github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 h1:xBagoLtFs94CBntxluKeaWgTMpvLxC4ur3nMaC9Gz0M=
+github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2/go.mod h1:yWuevngMOJpCy52FWWMvUC8ws7m/LJsjYzDa0/r8luk=
 github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.1.2/go.mod h1:BinMc/sQntlIE1frQmRFPUoPA1Zkr8VRgBdjWI2mNwc=
 github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.2.0 h1:T/HDJBh4ZCPbU39/+c3rRvE0uKBQlU27+QI8LJ4t64o=
 github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.2.0/go.mod h1:BinMc/sQntlIE1frQmRFPUoPA1Zkr8VRgBdjWI2mNwc=
@@ -519,6 +528,9 @@ github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822 h1:C3w9PqII01/Oq
 github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822/go.mod h1:+n7T8mK8HuQTcFwEeznm/DIxMOiR9yIdICNftLE1DvQ=
 github.com/neelance/astrewrite v0.0.0-20160511093645-99348263ae86/go.mod h1:kHJEU3ofeGjhHklVoIGuVj85JJwZ6kWPaJwCIxgnFmo=
 github.com/neelance/sourcemap v0.0.0-20151028013722-8c68805598ab/go.mod h1:Qr6/a/Q4r9LP1IltGz7tA7iOK1WonHEYhu1HRBA7ZiM=
+github.com/nikolalohinski/gonja v1.5.3 h1:GsA+EEaZDZPGJ8JtpeGN78jidhOlxeJROpqMT9fTj9c=
+github.com/nikolalohinski/gonja/v2 v2.3.2 h1:UgLFfqi7L9XfX0PEcE4eUpvGojVQL5KhBfJJaBp7ZxY=
+github.com/nikolalohinski/gonja/v2 v2.3.2/go.mod h1:1Wcc/5huTu6y36e0sOFR1XQoFlylw3c3H3L5WOz0RDg=
 github.com/nwaples/rardecode v1.1.0 h1:vSxaY8vQhOcVr4mm5e8XllHWTiM4JF507A0Katqw7MQ=
 github.com/nwaples/rardecode v1.1.0/go.mod h1:5DzqNKiOdpKKBH87u8VlvAnPZMXcGRhxWkRpHbbfGS0=
 github.com/nxadm/tail v1.4.11 h1:8feyoE3OzPrcshW5/MJ4sGESc5cqmGkGCWlco4l0bqY=
diff --git a/pkg/model/loader.go b/pkg/model/loader.go
index b32e3745efc9..d62f52b23855 100644
--- a/pkg/model/loader.go
+++ b/pkg/model/loader.go
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
-
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
 
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
@@ -23,7 +21,6 @@ type ModelLoader struct {
 	ModelPath string
 	mu        sync.Mutex
 	models    map[string]*Model
-	templates *templates.TemplateCache
 	wd        *WatchDog
 }
 
@@ -31,7 +28,6 @@ func NewModelLoader(modelPath string) *ModelLoader {
 	nml := &ModelLoader{
 		ModelPath: modelPath,
 		models:    make(map[string]*Model),
-		templates: templates.NewTemplateCache(modelPath),
 	}
 
 	return nml
diff --git a/pkg/model/template.go b/pkg/model/template.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 3dc850cf2ecc..000000000000
--- a/pkg/model/template.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-package model
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/functions"
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
-)
-
-// Rather than pass an interface{} to the prompt template:
-// These are the definitions of all possible variables LocalAI will currently populate for use in a prompt template file
-// Please note: Not all of these are populated on every endpoint - your template should either be tested for each endpoint you map it to, or tolerant of zero values.
-type PromptTemplateData struct {
-	SystemPrompt         string
-	SuppressSystemPrompt bool // used by chat specifically to indicate that SystemPrompt above should be _ignored_
-	Input                string
-	Instruction          string
-	Functions            []functions.Function
-	MessageIndex         int
-}
-
-type ChatMessageTemplateData struct {
-	SystemPrompt string
-	Role         string
-	RoleName     string
-	FunctionName string
-	Content      string
-	MessageIndex int
-	Function     bool
-	FunctionCall interface{}
-	LastMessage  bool
-}
-
-const (
-	ChatPromptTemplate templates.TemplateType = iota
-	ChatMessageTemplate
-	CompletionPromptTemplate
-	EditPromptTemplate
-	FunctionsPromptTemplate
-)
-
-func (ml *ModelLoader) EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(templateType templates.TemplateType, templateName string, in PromptTemplateData) (string, error) {
-	// TODO: should this check be improved?
-	if templateType == ChatMessageTemplate {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid templateType: ChatMessage")
-	}
-	return ml.templates.EvaluateTemplate(templateType, templateName, in)
-}
-
-func (ml *ModelLoader) EvaluateTemplateForChatMessage(templateName string, messageData ChatMessageTemplateData) (string, error) {
-	return ml.templates.EvaluateTemplate(ChatMessageTemplate, templateName, messageData)
-}
diff --git a/pkg/model/template_test.go b/pkg/model/template_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 1142ed0c529b..000000000000
--- a/pkg/model/template_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,197 +0,0 @@
-package model_test
-
-import (
-	. "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
-
-	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
-	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
-)
-
-const chatML = `<|im_start|>{{if eq .RoleName "assistant"}}assistant{{else if eq .RoleName "system"}}system{{else if eq .RoleName "tool"}}tool{{else if eq .RoleName "user"}}user{{end}}
-{{- if .FunctionCall }}
-<tool_call>
-{{- else if eq .RoleName "tool" }}
-<tool_response>
-{{- end }}
-{{- if .Content}}
-{{.Content }}
-{{- end }}
-{{- if .FunctionCall}}
-{{toJson .FunctionCall}}
-{{- end }}
-{{- if .FunctionCall }}
-</tool_call>
-{{- else if eq .RoleName "tool" }}
-</tool_response>
-{{- end }}<|im_end|>`
-
-const llama3 = `<|start_header_id|>{{if eq .RoleName "assistant"}}assistant{{else if eq .RoleName "system"}}system{{else if eq .RoleName "tool"}}tool{{else if eq .RoleName "user"}}user{{end}}<|end_header_id|>
-
-{{ if .FunctionCall -}}
-Function call:
-{{ else if eq .RoleName "tool" -}}
-Function response:
-{{ end -}}
-{{ if .Content -}}
-{{.Content -}}
-{{ else if .FunctionCall -}}
-{{ toJson .FunctionCall -}}
-{{ end -}}
-<|eot_id|>`
-
-var llama3TestMatch map[string]map[string]interface{} = map[string]map[string]interface{}{
-	"user": {
-		"template": llama3,
-		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>user<|end_header_id|>\n\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|eot_id|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "user",
-			RoleName:     "user",
-			Content:      "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
-			FunctionCall: nil,
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-	"assistant": {
-		"template": llama3,
-		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>assistant<|end_header_id|>\n\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|eot_id|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "assistant",
-			RoleName:     "assistant",
-			Content:      "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
-			FunctionCall: nil,
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-	"function_call": {
-		"template": llama3,
-		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>assistant<|end_header_id|>\n\nFunction call:\n{\"function\":\"test\"}<|eot_id|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "assistant",
-			RoleName:     "assistant",
-			Content:      "",
-			FunctionCall: map[string]string{"function": "test"},
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-	"function_response": {
-		"template": llama3,
-		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>tool<|end_header_id|>\n\nFunction response:\nResponse from tool<|eot_id|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "tool",
-			RoleName:     "tool",
-			Content:      "Response from tool",
-			FunctionCall: nil,
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-}
-
-var chatMLTestMatch map[string]map[string]interface{} = map[string]map[string]interface{}{
-	"user": {
-		"template": chatML,
-		"expected": "<|im_start|>user\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|im_end|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "user",
-			RoleName:     "user",
-			Content:      "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
-			FunctionCall: nil,
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-	"assistant": {
-		"template": chatML,
-		"expected": "<|im_start|>assistant\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|im_end|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "assistant",
-			RoleName:     "assistant",
-			Content:      "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
-			FunctionCall: nil,
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-	"function_call": {
-		"template": chatML,
-		"expected": "<|im_start|>assistant\n<tool_call>\n{\"function\":\"test\"}\n</tool_call><|im_end|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "assistant",
-			RoleName:     "assistant",
-			Content:      "",
-			FunctionCall: map[string]string{"function": "test"},
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-	"function_response": {
-		"template": chatML,
-		"expected": "<|im_start|>tool\n<tool_response>\nResponse from tool\n</tool_response><|im_end|>",
-		"data": ChatMessageTemplateData{
-			SystemPrompt: "",
-			Role:         "tool",
-			RoleName:     "tool",
-			Content:      "Response from tool",
-			FunctionCall: nil,
-			FunctionName: "",
-			LastMessage:  false,
-			Function:     false,
-			MessageIndex: 0,
-		},
-	},
-}
-
-var _ = Describe("Templates", func() {
-	Context("chat message ChatML", func() {
-		var modelLoader *ModelLoader
-		BeforeEach(func() {
-			modelLoader = NewModelLoader("")
-		})
-		for key := range chatMLTestMatch {
-			foo := chatMLTestMatch[key]
-			It("renders correctly `"+key+"`", func() {
-				templated, err := modelLoader.EvaluateTemplateForChatMessage(foo["template"].(string), foo["data"].(ChatMessageTemplateData))
-				Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(templated).To(Equal(foo["expected"]), templated)
-			})
-		}
-	})
-	Context("chat message llama3", func() {
-		var modelLoader *ModelLoader
-		BeforeEach(func() {
-			modelLoader = NewModelLoader("")
-		})
-		for key := range llama3TestMatch {
-			foo := llama3TestMatch[key]
-			It("renders correctly `"+key+"`", func() {
-				templated, err := modelLoader.EvaluateTemplateForChatMessage(foo["template"].(string), foo["data"].(ChatMessageTemplateData))
-				Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(templated).To(Equal(foo["expected"]), templated)
-			})
-		}
-	})
-})
diff --git a/pkg/templates/cache.go b/pkg/templates/cache.go
index e48019465a65..1efce6606e8f 100644
--- a/pkg/templates/cache.go
+++ b/pkg/templates/cache.go
@@ -11,62 +11,89 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
 
 	"github.com/Masterminds/sprig/v3"
+
+	"github.com/nikolalohinski/gonja/v2"
+	"github.com/nikolalohinski/gonja/v2/exec"
 )
 
 // Keep this in sync with config.TemplateConfig. Is there a more idiomatic way to accomplish this in go?
 // Technically, order doesn't _really_ matter, but the count must stay in sync, see tests/integration/reflect_test.go
 type TemplateType int
 
-type TemplateCache struct {
-	mu            sync.Mutex
-	templatesPath string
-	templates     map[TemplateType]map[string]*template.Template
+type templateCache struct {
+	mu             sync.Mutex
+	templatesPath  string
+	templates      map[TemplateType]map[string]*template.Template
+	jinjaTemplates map[TemplateType]map[string]*exec.Template
 }
 
-func NewTemplateCache(templatesPath string) *TemplateCache {
-	tc := &TemplateCache{
-		templatesPath: templatesPath,
-		templates:     make(map[TemplateType]map[string]*template.Template),
+func newTemplateCache(templatesPath string) *templateCache {
+	tc := &templateCache{
+		templatesPath:  templatesPath,
+		templates:      make(map[TemplateType]map[string]*template.Template),
+		jinjaTemplates: make(map[TemplateType]map[string]*exec.Template),
 	}
 	return tc
 }
 
-func (tc *TemplateCache) initializeTemplateMapKey(tt TemplateType) {
+func (tc *templateCache) initializeTemplateMapKey(tt TemplateType) {
 	if _, ok := tc.templates[tt]; !ok {
 		tc.templates[tt] = make(map[string]*template.Template)
 	}
 }
 
-func (tc *TemplateCache) EvaluateTemplate(templateType TemplateType, templateName string, in interface{}) (string, error) {
-	tc.mu.Lock()
-	defer tc.mu.Unlock()
+func (tc *templateCache) existsInModelPath(s string) bool {
+	return utils.ExistsInPath(tc.templatesPath, s)
+}
+func (tc *templateCache) loadTemplateIfExists(templateType TemplateType, templateName string) error {
 
-	tc.initializeTemplateMapKey(templateType)
-	m, ok := tc.templates[templateType][templateName]
-	if !ok {
-		// return "", fmt.Errorf("template not loaded: %s", templateName)
-		loadErr := tc.loadTemplateIfExists(templateType, templateName)
-		if loadErr != nil {
-			return "", loadErr
-		}
-		m = tc.templates[templateType][templateName] // ok is not important since we check m on the next line, and wealready checked
+	// Check if the template was already loaded
+	if _, ok := tc.templates[templateType][templateName]; ok {
+		return nil
 	}
-	if m == nil {
-		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed loading a template for %s", templateName)
+
+	// Check if the model path exists
+	// skip any error here - we run anyway if a template does not exist
+	modelTemplateFile := fmt.Sprintf("%s.tmpl", templateName)
+
+	dat := ""
+	file := filepath.Join(tc.templatesPath, modelTemplateFile)
+
+	// Security check
+	if err := utils.VerifyPath(modelTemplateFile, tc.templatesPath); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("template file outside path: %s", file)
 	}
 
-	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	// can either be a file in the system or a string with the template
+	if tc.existsInModelPath(modelTemplateFile) {
+		d, err := os.ReadFile(file)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		dat = string(d)
+	} else {
+		dat = templateName
+	}
 
-	if err := m.Execute(&buf, in); err != nil {
-		return "", err
+	// Parse the template
+	tmpl, err := template.New("prompt").Funcs(sprig.FuncMap()).Parse(dat)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
-	return buf.String(), nil
+	tc.templates[templateType][templateName] = tmpl
+
+	return nil
 }
 
-func (tc *TemplateCache) loadTemplateIfExists(templateType TemplateType, templateName string) error {
+func (tc *templateCache) initializeJinjaTemplateMapKey(tt TemplateType) {
+	if _, ok := tc.jinjaTemplates[tt]; !ok {
+		tc.jinjaTemplates[tt] = make(map[string]*exec.Template)
+	}
+}
 
+func (tc *templateCache) loadJinjaTemplateIfExists(templateType TemplateType, templateName string) error {
 	// Check if the template was already loaded
-	if _, ok := tc.templates[templateType][templateName]; ok {
+	if _, ok := tc.jinjaTemplates[templateType][templateName]; ok {
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -93,12 +120,65 @@ func (tc *TemplateCache) loadTemplateIfExists(templateType TemplateType, templat
 		dat = templateName
 	}
 
-	// Parse the template
-	tmpl, err := template.New("prompt").Funcs(sprig.FuncMap()).Parse(dat)
+	tmpl, err := gonja.FromString(dat)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	tc.templates[templateType][templateName] = tmpl
+	tc.jinjaTemplates[templateType][templateName] = tmpl
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (tc *templateCache) evaluateJinjaTemplate(templateType TemplateType, templateNameOrContent string, in map[string]interface{}) (string, error) {
+	tc.mu.Lock()
+	defer tc.mu.Unlock()
+
+	tc.initializeJinjaTemplateMapKey(templateType)
+	m, ok := tc.jinjaTemplates[templateType][templateNameOrContent]
+	if !ok {
+		// return "", fmt.Errorf("template not loaded: %s", templateName)
+		loadErr := tc.loadJinjaTemplateIfExists(templateType, templateNameOrContent)
+		if loadErr != nil {
+			return "", loadErr
+		}
+		m = tc.jinjaTemplates[templateType][templateNameOrContent] // ok is not important since we check m on the next line, and wealready checked
+	}
+	if m == nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed loading a template for %s", templateNameOrContent)
+	}
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+
+	data := exec.NewContext(in)
+
+	if err := m.Execute(&buf, data); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return buf.String(), nil
+}
+
+func (tc *templateCache) evaluateTemplate(templateType TemplateType, templateNameOrContent string, in interface{}) (string, error) {
+	tc.mu.Lock()
+	defer tc.mu.Unlock()
+
+	tc.initializeTemplateMapKey(templateType)
+	m, ok := tc.templates[templateType][templateNameOrContent]
+	if !ok {
+		// return "", fmt.Errorf("template not loaded: %s", templateName)
+		loadErr := tc.loadTemplateIfExists(templateType, templateNameOrContent)
+		if loadErr != nil {
+			return "", loadErr
+		}
+		m = tc.templates[templateType][templateNameOrContent] // ok is not important since we check m on the next line, and wealready checked
+	}
+	if m == nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed loading a template for %s", templateNameOrContent)
+	}
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+
+	if err := m.Execute(&buf, in); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	return buf.String(), nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/templates/cache_test.go b/pkg/templates/cache_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 8bb50766abe7..000000000000
--- a/pkg/templates/cache_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,73 +0,0 @@
-package templates_test
-
-import (
-	"os"
-	"path/filepath"
-
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates" // Update with your module path
-	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
-	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
-)
-
-var _ = Describe("TemplateCache", func() {
-	var (
-		templateCache *templates.TemplateCache
-		tempDir       string
-	)
-
-	BeforeEach(func() {
-		var err error
-		tempDir, err = os.MkdirTemp("", "templates")
-		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-
-		// Writing example template files
-		err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(tempDir, "example.tmpl"), []byte("Hello, {{.Name}}!"), 0600)
-		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-		err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(tempDir, "empty.tmpl"), []byte(""), 0600)
-		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-
-		templateCache = templates.NewTemplateCache(tempDir)
-	})
-
-	AfterEach(func() {
-		os.RemoveAll(tempDir) // Clean up
-	})
-
-	Describe("EvaluateTemplate", func() {
-		Context("when template is loaded successfully", func() {
-			It("should evaluate the template correctly", func() {
-				result, err := templateCache.EvaluateTemplate(1, "example", map[string]string{"Name": "Gopher"})
-				Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(result).To(Equal("Hello, Gopher!"))
-			})
-		})
-
-		Context("when template isn't a file", func() {
-			It("should parse from string", func() {
-				result, err := templateCache.EvaluateTemplate(1, "{{.Name}}", map[string]string{"Name": "Gopher"})
-				Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(result).To(Equal("Gopher"))
-			})
-		})
-
-		Context("when template is empty", func() {
-			It("should return an empty string", func() {
-				result, err := templateCache.EvaluateTemplate(1, "empty", nil)
-				Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-				Expect(result).To(Equal(""))
-			})
-		})
-	})
-
-	Describe("concurrency", func() {
-		It("should handle multiple concurrent accesses", func(done Done) {
-			go func() {
-				_, _ = templateCache.EvaluateTemplate(1, "example", map[string]string{"Name": "Gopher"})
-			}()
-			go func() {
-				_, _ = templateCache.EvaluateTemplate(1, "example", map[string]string{"Name": "Gopher"})
-			}()
-			close(done)
-		}, 0.1) // timeout in seconds
-	})
-})
diff --git a/pkg/templates/evaluator.go b/pkg/templates/evaluator.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aedf7b41bfec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/templates/evaluator.go
@@ -0,0 +1,295 @@
+package templates
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/functions"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+)
+
+// Rather than pass an interface{} to the prompt template:
+// These are the definitions of all possible variables LocalAI will currently populate for use in a prompt template file
+// Please note: Not all of these are populated on every endpoint - your template should either be tested for each endpoint you map it to, or tolerant of zero values.
+type PromptTemplateData struct {
+	SystemPrompt         string
+	SuppressSystemPrompt bool // used by chat specifically to indicate that SystemPrompt above should be _ignored_
+	Input                string
+	Instruction          string
+	Functions            []functions.Function
+	MessageIndex         int
+}
+
+type ChatMessageTemplateData struct {
+	SystemPrompt string
+	Role         string
+	RoleName     string
+	FunctionName string
+	Content      string
+	MessageIndex int
+	Function     bool
+	FunctionCall interface{}
+	LastMessage  bool
+}
+
+const (
+	ChatPromptTemplate TemplateType = iota
+	ChatMessageTemplate
+	CompletionPromptTemplate
+	EditPromptTemplate
+	FunctionsPromptTemplate
+)
+
+type Evaluator struct {
+	cache *templateCache
+}
+
+func NewEvaluator(modelPath string) *Evaluator {
+	return &Evaluator{
+		cache: newTemplateCache(modelPath),
+	}
+}
+
+func (e *Evaluator) EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(templateType TemplateType, config config.BackendConfig, in PromptTemplateData) (string, error) {
+	template := ""
+
+	// A model can have a "file.bin.tmpl" file associated with a prompt template prefix
+	if e.cache.existsInModelPath(fmt.Sprintf("%s.tmpl", config.Model)) {
+		template = config.Model
+	}
+
+	switch templateType {
+	case CompletionPromptTemplate:
+		if config.TemplateConfig.Completion != "" {
+			template = config.TemplateConfig.Completion
+		}
+	case EditPromptTemplate:
+		if config.TemplateConfig.Edit != "" {
+			template = config.TemplateConfig.Edit
+		}
+	case ChatPromptTemplate:
+		if config.TemplateConfig.Chat != "" {
+			template = config.TemplateConfig.Chat
+		}
+	case FunctionsPromptTemplate:
+		if config.TemplateConfig.Functions != "" {
+			template = config.TemplateConfig.Functions
+		}
+	}
+
+	if template == "" {
+		return in.Input, nil
+	}
+
+	if config.TemplateConfig.JinjaTemplate {
+		return e.evaluateJinjaTemplateForPrompt(templateType, template, in)
+	}
+
+	return e.cache.evaluateTemplate(templateType, template, in)
+}
+
+func (e *Evaluator) evaluateTemplateForChatMessage(templateName string, messageData ChatMessageTemplateData) (string, error) {
+	return e.cache.evaluateTemplate(ChatMessageTemplate, templateName, messageData)
+}
+
+func (e *Evaluator) templateJinjaChat(templateName string, messageData []ChatMessageTemplateData, funcs []functions.Function) (string, error) {
+
+	conversation := make(map[string]interface{})
+	messages := make([]map[string]interface{}, len(messageData))
+
+	// convert from ChatMessageTemplateData to what the jinja template expects
+
+	for _, message := range messageData {
+		// TODO: this seems to cover minimum text templates. Can be expanded to cover more complex interactions
+		var data []byte
+		data, _ = json.Marshal(message.FunctionCall)
+		messages = append(messages, map[string]interface{}{
+			"role":      message.RoleName,
+			"content":   message.Content,
+			"tool_call": string(data),
+		})
+	}
+
+	conversation["messages"] = messages
+
+	// if tools are detected, add these
+	if len(funcs) > 0 {
+		conversation["tools"] = funcs
+	}
+
+	return e.cache.evaluateJinjaTemplate(ChatMessageTemplate, templateName, conversation)
+}
+
+func (e *Evaluator) evaluateJinjaTemplateForPrompt(templateType TemplateType, templateName string, in PromptTemplateData) (string, error) {
+
+	conversation := make(map[string]interface{})
+
+	conversation["system_prompt"] = in.SystemPrompt
+	conversation["content"] = in.Input
+
+	return e.cache.evaluateJinjaTemplate(templateType, templateName, conversation)
+}
+
+func (e *Evaluator) TemplateMessages(messages []schema.Message, config *config.BackendConfig, funcs []functions.Function, shouldUseFn bool) string {
+
+	if config.TemplateConfig.JinjaTemplate {
+		var messageData []ChatMessageTemplateData
+		for messageIndex, i := range messages {
+			fcall := i.FunctionCall
+			if len(i.ToolCalls) > 0 {
+				fcall = i.ToolCalls
+			}
+			messageData = append(messageData, ChatMessageTemplateData{
+				SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
+				Role:         config.Roles[i.Role],
+				RoleName:     i.Role,
+				Content:      i.StringContent,
+				FunctionCall: fcall,
+				FunctionName: i.Name,
+				LastMessage:  messageIndex == (len(messages) - 1),
+				Function:     config.Grammar != "" && (messageIndex == (len(messages) - 1)),
+				MessageIndex: messageIndex,
+			})
+		}
+
+		templatedInput, err := e.templateJinjaChat(config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage, messageData, funcs)
+		if err == nil {
+			return templatedInput
+		}
+	}
+
+	var predInput string
+	suppressConfigSystemPrompt := false
+	mess := []string{}
+	for messageIndex, i := range messages {
+		var content string
+		role := i.Role
+
+		// if function call, we might want to customize the role so we can display better that the "assistant called a json action"
+		// if an "assistant_function_call" role is defined, we use it, otherwise we use the role that is passed by in the request
+		if (i.FunctionCall != nil || i.ToolCalls != nil) && i.Role == "assistant" {
+			roleFn := "assistant_function_call"
+			r := config.Roles[roleFn]
+			if r != "" {
+				role = roleFn
+			}
+		}
+		r := config.Roles[role]
+		contentExists := i.Content != nil && i.StringContent != ""
+
+		fcall := i.FunctionCall
+		if len(i.ToolCalls) > 0 {
+			fcall = i.ToolCalls
+		}
+
+		// First attempt to populate content via a chat message specific template
+		if config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage != "" {
+			chatMessageData := ChatMessageTemplateData{
+				SystemPrompt: config.SystemPrompt,
+				Role:         r,
+				RoleName:     role,
+				Content:      i.StringContent,
+				FunctionCall: fcall,
+				FunctionName: i.Name,
+				LastMessage:  messageIndex == (len(messages) - 1),
+				Function:     config.Grammar != "" && (messageIndex == (len(messages) - 1)),
+				MessageIndex: messageIndex,
+			}
+			templatedChatMessage, err := e.evaluateTemplateForChatMessage(config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage, chatMessageData)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Error().Err(err).Interface("message", chatMessageData).Str("template", config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage).Msg("error processing message with template, skipping")
+			} else {
+				if templatedChatMessage == "" {
+					log.Warn().Msgf("template \"%s\" produced blank output for %+v. Skipping!", config.TemplateConfig.ChatMessage, chatMessageData)
+					continue // TODO: This continue is here intentionally to skip over the line `mess = append(mess, content)` below, and to prevent the sprintf
+				}
+				log.Debug().Msgf("templated message for chat: %s", templatedChatMessage)
+				content = templatedChatMessage
+			}
+		}
+
+		marshalAnyRole := func(f any) {
+			j, err := json.Marshal(f)
+			if err == nil {
+				if contentExists {
+					content += "\n" + fmt.Sprint(r, " ", string(j))
+				} else {
+					content = fmt.Sprint(r, " ", string(j))
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		marshalAny := func(f any) {
+			j, err := json.Marshal(f)
+			if err == nil {
+				if contentExists {
+					content += "\n" + string(j)
+				} else {
+					content = string(j)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		// If this model doesn't have such a template, or if that template fails to return a value, template at the message level.
+		if content == "" {
+			if r != "" {
+				if contentExists {
+					content = fmt.Sprint(r, i.StringContent)
+				}
+
+				if i.FunctionCall != nil {
+					marshalAnyRole(i.FunctionCall)
+				}
+				if i.ToolCalls != nil {
+					marshalAnyRole(i.ToolCalls)
+				}
+			} else {
+				if contentExists {
+					content = fmt.Sprint(i.StringContent)
+				}
+				if i.FunctionCall != nil {
+					marshalAny(i.FunctionCall)
+				}
+				if i.ToolCalls != nil {
+					marshalAny(i.ToolCalls)
+				}
+			}
+			// Special Handling: System. We care if it was printed at all, not the r branch, so check seperately
+			if contentExists && role == "system" {
+				suppressConfigSystemPrompt = true
+			}
+		}
+
+		mess = append(mess, content)
+	}
+
+	joinCharacter := "\n"
+	if config.TemplateConfig.JoinChatMessagesByCharacter != nil {
+		joinCharacter = *config.TemplateConfig.JoinChatMessagesByCharacter
+	}
+
+	predInput = strings.Join(mess, joinCharacter)
+	log.Debug().Msgf("Prompt (before templating): %s", predInput)
+
+	promptTemplate := ChatPromptTemplate
+
+	if config.TemplateConfig.Functions != "" && shouldUseFn {
+		promptTemplate = FunctionsPromptTemplate
+	}
+
+	templatedInput, err := e.EvaluateTemplateForPrompt(promptTemplate, *config, PromptTemplateData{
+		SystemPrompt:         config.SystemPrompt,
+		SuppressSystemPrompt: suppressConfigSystemPrompt,
+		Input:                predInput,
+		Functions:            funcs,
+	})
+	if err == nil {
+		predInput = templatedInput
+		log.Debug().Msgf("Template found, input modified to: %s", predInput)
+	} else {
+		log.Debug().Msgf("Template failed loading: %s", err.Error())
+	}
+
+	return predInput
+}
diff --git a/pkg/templates/evaluator_test.go b/pkg/templates/evaluator_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b58dd40ba985
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/templates/evaluator_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,253 @@
+package templates_test
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/functions"
+	. "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+const toolCallJinja = `{{ '<|begin_of_text|>' }}{% if messages[0]['role'] == 'system' %}{% set system_message = messages[0]['content'] %}{% endif %}{% if system_message is defined %}{{ '<|start_header_id|>system<|end_header_id|>
+
+' + system_message + '<|eot_id|>' }}{% endif %}{% for message in messages %}{% set content = message['content'] %}{% if message['role'] == 'user' %}{{ '<|start_header_id|>user<|end_header_id|>
+
+' + content + '<|eot_id|><|start_header_id|>assistant<|end_header_id|>
+
+' }}{% elif message['role'] == 'assistant' %}{{ content + '<|eot_id|>' }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}`
+
+const chatML = `<|im_start|>{{if eq .RoleName "assistant"}}assistant{{else if eq .RoleName "system"}}system{{else if eq .RoleName "tool"}}tool{{else if eq .RoleName "user"}}user{{end}}
+{{- if .FunctionCall }}
+<tool_call>
+{{- else if eq .RoleName "tool" }}
+<tool_response>
+{{- end }}
+{{- if .Content}}
+{{.Content }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- if .FunctionCall}}
+{{toJson .FunctionCall}}
+{{- end }}
+{{- if .FunctionCall }}
+</tool_call>
+{{- else if eq .RoleName "tool" }}
+</tool_response>
+{{- end }}<|im_end|>`
+
+const llama3 = `<|start_header_id|>{{if eq .RoleName "assistant"}}assistant{{else if eq .RoleName "system"}}system{{else if eq .RoleName "tool"}}tool{{else if eq .RoleName "user"}}user{{end}}<|end_header_id|>
+
+{{ if .FunctionCall -}}
+Function call:
+{{ else if eq .RoleName "tool" -}}
+Function response:
+{{ end -}}
+{{ if .Content -}}
+{{.Content -}}
+{{ else if .FunctionCall -}}
+{{ toJson .FunctionCall -}}
+{{ end -}}
+<|eot_id|>`
+
+var llama3TestMatch map[string]map[string]interface{} = map[string]map[string]interface{}{
+	"user": {
+		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>user<|end_header_id|>\n\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|eot_id|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: llama3,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions":   []functions.Function{},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:          "user",
+				StringContent: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
+			},
+		},
+	},
+	"assistant": {
+		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>assistant<|end_header_id|>\n\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|eot_id|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: llama3,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions": []functions.Function{},
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:          "assistant",
+				StringContent: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
+			},
+		},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+	},
+	"function_call": {
+
+		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>assistant<|end_header_id|>\n\nFunction call:\n{\"function\":\"test\"}<|eot_id|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: llama3,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions": []functions.Function{},
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:         "assistant",
+				FunctionCall: map[string]string{"function": "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+	},
+	"function_response": {
+		"expected": "<|start_header_id|>tool<|end_header_id|>\n\nFunction response:\nResponse from tool<|eot_id|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: llama3,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions": []functions.Function{},
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:          "tool",
+				StringContent: "Response from tool",
+			},
+		},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+	},
+}
+
+var chatMLTestMatch map[string]map[string]interface{} = map[string]map[string]interface{}{
+	"user": {
+		"expected": "<|im_start|>user\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|im_end|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: chatML,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions":   []functions.Function{},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:          "user",
+				StringContent: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
+			},
+		},
+	},
+	"assistant": {
+		"expected": "<|im_start|>assistant\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|im_end|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: chatML,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions": []functions.Function{},
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:          "assistant",
+				StringContent: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
+			},
+		},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+	},
+	"function_call": {
+		"expected": "<|im_start|>assistant\n<tool_call>\n{\"function\":\"test\"}\n</tool_call><|im_end|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: chatML,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions": []functions.Function{
+			{
+				Name:        "test",
+				Description: "test",
+				Parameters:  nil,
+			},
+		},
+		"shouldUseFn": true,
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:         "assistant",
+				FunctionCall: map[string]string{"function": "test"},
+			},
+		},
+	},
+	"function_response": {
+		"expected": "<|im_start|>tool\n<tool_response>\nResponse from tool\n</tool_response><|im_end|>",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage: chatML,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions":   []functions.Function{},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:          "tool",
+				StringContent: "Response from tool",
+			},
+		},
+	},
+}
+
+var jinjaTest map[string]map[string]interface{} = map[string]map[string]interface{}{
+	"user": {
+		"expected": "<|begin_of_text|><|start_header_id|>user<|end_header_id|>\n\nA long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...<|eot_id|><|start_header_id|>assistant<|end_header_id|>\n\n",
+		"config": &config.BackendConfig{
+			TemplateConfig: config.TemplateConfig{
+				ChatMessage:   toolCallJinja,
+				JinjaTemplate: true,
+			},
+		},
+		"functions":   []functions.Function{},
+		"shouldUseFn": false,
+		"messages": []schema.Message{
+			{
+				Role:          "user",
+				StringContent: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...",
+			},
+		},
+	},
+}
+var _ = Describe("Templates", func() {
+	Context("chat message ChatML", func() {
+		var evaluator *Evaluator
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			evaluator = NewEvaluator("")
+		})
+		for key := range chatMLTestMatch {
+			foo := chatMLTestMatch[key]
+			It("renders correctly `"+key+"`", func() {
+				templated := evaluator.TemplateMessages(foo["messages"].([]schema.Message), foo["config"].(*config.BackendConfig), foo["functions"].([]functions.Function), foo["shouldUseFn"].(bool))
+				Expect(templated).To(Equal(foo["expected"]), templated)
+			})
+		}
+	})
+	Context("chat message llama3", func() {
+		var evaluator *Evaluator
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			evaluator = NewEvaluator("")
+		})
+		for key := range llama3TestMatch {
+			foo := llama3TestMatch[key]
+			It("renders correctly `"+key+"`", func() {
+				templated := evaluator.TemplateMessages(foo["messages"].([]schema.Message), foo["config"].(*config.BackendConfig), foo["functions"].([]functions.Function), foo["shouldUseFn"].(bool))
+				Expect(templated).To(Equal(foo["expected"]), templated)
+			})
+		}
+	})
+	Context("chat message jinja", func() {
+		var evaluator *Evaluator
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			evaluator = NewEvaluator("")
+		})
+		for key := range jinjaTest {
+			foo := jinjaTest[key]
+			It("renders correctly `"+key+"`", func() {
+				templated := evaluator.TemplateMessages(foo["messages"].([]schema.Message), foo["config"].(*config.BackendConfig), foo["functions"].([]functions.Function), foo["shouldUseFn"].(bool))
+				Expect(templated).To(Equal(foo["expected"]), templated)
+			})
+		}
+	})
+})