diff --git a/swiftide-agents/src/system_prompt.rs b/swiftide-agents/src/system_prompt.rs
index 738f5ccf..905b8d29 100644
--- a/swiftide-agents/src/system_prompt.rs
+++ b/swiftide-agents/src/system_prompt.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub struct SystemPrompt {
 
     /// The template to use for the system prompt
     #[builder(default = default_prompt_template())]
-    template: Template,
+    template: Template<'static>,
 }
 
 impl SystemPrompt {
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ impl SystemPromptBuilder {
     }
 }
 
-fn default_prompt_template() -> Template {
+fn default_prompt_template() -> Template<'static> {
     include_str!("system_prompt_template.md").into()
 }
 
diff --git a/swiftide-core/src/prompt.rs b/swiftide-core/src/prompt.rs
index 324b99c9..5370ea34 100644
--- a/swiftide-core/src/prompt.rs
+++ b/swiftide-core/src/prompt.rs
@@ -31,18 +31,16 @@
 //! assert_eq!(prompt.render().await.unwrap(), "hello swiftide");
 //! # }
 //! ```
-use anyhow::{Context as _, Result};
-use lazy_static::lazy_static;
-use tera::Tera;
-use tokio::sync::RwLock;
-use uuid::Uuid;
+
+use anyhow::Result;
 
 use crate::{node::Node, template::Template};
 
 /// A Prompt can be used with large language models to prompt.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct Prompt {
-    template: Template,
+    // Should always have an owned template
+    template: Template<'static>,
     context: Option<tera::Context>,
 }
 
@@ -50,7 +48,7 @@ pub struct Prompt {
     since = "0.16.0",
     note = "Use `Template` instead; they serve a more general purpose"
 )]
-pub type PromptTemplate = Template;
+pub type PromptTemplate<'inner> = Template<'inner>;
 
 impl Prompt {
     /// Adds an `ingestion::Node` to the context of the Prompt
@@ -95,7 +93,7 @@ impl Prompt {
 impl From<&'static str> for Prompt {
     fn from(prompt: &'static str) -> Self {
         Prompt {
-            template: Template::Static(prompt),
+            template: Template::OneOff(prompt.into()).to_owned(),
             context: None,
         }
     }
@@ -104,14 +102,14 @@ impl From<&'static str> for Prompt {
 impl From<String> for Prompt {
     fn from(prompt: String) -> Self {
         Prompt {
-            template: Template::String(prompt),
+            template: Template::OneOff(prompt.into()).to_owned(),
             context: None,
         }
     }
 }
 
-impl From<&Template> for Prompt {
-    fn from(template: &Template) -> Self {
+impl From<&Template<'static>> for Prompt {
+    fn from(template: &Template<'static>) -> Self {
         Prompt {
             template: template.clone(),
             context: None,
@@ -119,8 +117,19 @@ impl From<&Template> for Prompt {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<Template<'static>> for Prompt {
+    fn from(template: Template<'static>) -> Self {
+        Prompt {
+            template,
+            context: None,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
+    use tera::Tera;
+
     use super::*;
 
     #[tokio::test]
@@ -160,9 +169,8 @@ mod test {
 
         Template::extend(&custom_tera).await.unwrap();
 
-        let prompt = Template::from_compiled_template_name("hello")
-            .to_prompt()
-            .with_context_value("world", "swiftide");
+        let template = Template::from_compiled_template_name("hello");
+        let prompt = template.to_prompt().with_context_value("world", "swiftide");
 
         assert_eq!(prompt.render().await.unwrap(), "hello swiftide");
     }
diff --git a/swiftide-core/src/template.rs b/swiftide-core/src/template.rs
index 05d61e55..bbeac6a1 100644
--- a/swiftide-core/src/template.rs
+++ b/swiftide-core/src/template.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
+
 use anyhow::{Context as _, Result};
 use tokio::sync::RwLock;
 
@@ -25,20 +27,24 @@ lazy_static! {
 }
 /// A `Template` defines a template for a prompt
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
-pub enum Template {
-    CompiledTemplate(String),
-    String(String),
-    Static(&'static str),
+pub enum Template<'inner> {
+    /// A reference to a compiled template stored in the template repository
+    /// These can also be created on the fly with `Template::try_compiled_from_str`,
+    /// or retrieved at runtime with `Template::from_compiled_template_name`
+    CompiledTemplate(Cow<'inner, str>),
+
+    /// A one-off template that is not stored in the repository
+    OneOff(Cow<'inner, str>),
 }
 
-impl Template {
+impl<'inner> Template<'inner> {
     /// Creates a reference to a template already stored in the repository
-    pub fn from_compiled_template_name(name: impl Into<String>) -> Template {
+    pub fn from_compiled_template_name(name: impl Into<Cow<'inner, str>>) -> Template<'inner> {
         Template::CompiledTemplate(name.into())
     }
 
-    pub fn from_string(template: impl Into<String>) -> Template {
-        Template::String(template.into())
+    pub fn from_string(template: impl Into<Cow<'inner, str>>) -> Template<'inner> {
+        Template::OneOff(template.into())
     }
 
     /// Extends the prompt repository with a custom [`tera::Tera`] instance.
@@ -69,13 +75,13 @@ impl Template {
     /// Errors if the template fails to compile
     pub async fn try_compiled_from_str(
         template: impl AsRef<str> + Send + 'static,
-    ) -> Result<Template> {
+    ) -> Result<Template<'inner>> {
         let id = Uuid::new_v4().to_string();
         let mut lock = TEMPLATE_REPOSITORY.write().await;
         lock.add_raw_template(&id, template.as_ref())
             .context("Failed to add raw template")?;
 
-        Ok(Template::CompiledTemplate(id))
+        Ok(Template::CompiledTemplate(id.into()))
     }
 
     /// Renders a template with an optional `tera::Context`
@@ -86,13 +92,13 @@ impl Template {
     /// - One-off template has errors
     /// - Context is missing that is required by the template
     pub async fn render(&self, context: &tera::Context) -> Result<String> {
-        use Template::{CompiledTemplate, Static, String};
+        use Template::{CompiledTemplate, OneOff};
 
         let template = match self {
             CompiledTemplate(id) => {
                 let lock = TEMPLATE_REPOSITORY.read().await;
                 tracing::debug!(
-                    id,
+                    ?id,
                     available = ?lock.get_template_names().collect::<Vec<_>>(),
                     "Rendering template ..."
                 );
@@ -107,28 +113,40 @@ impl Template {
                 }
                 result.with_context(|| format!("Failed to render template '{id}'"))?
             }
-            String(template) => Tera::one_off(template, context, false)
-                .context("Failed to render one-off template")?,
-            Static(template) => Tera::one_off(template, context, false)
+            OneOff(template) => Tera::one_off(template, context, false)
                 .context("Failed to render one-off template")?,
         };
         Ok(template)
     }
+}
+
+impl Template<'_> {
+    /// Creates an owned version of the template
+    ///
+    // NOTE: std ToOwned and Clone preserve the Cow types, which is not what we want
+    pub fn to_owned(&self) -> Template<'static> {
+        match self {
+            Template::CompiledTemplate(template) => {
+                Template::CompiledTemplate(template.clone().into_owned().into())
+            }
+            Template::OneOff(template) => Template::OneOff(template.clone().into_owned().into()),
+        }
+    }
 
     /// Builds a Prompt from a template with an empty context
     pub fn to_prompt(&self) -> Prompt {
-        self.into()
+        Prompt::from(self.to_owned())
     }
 }
 
-impl From<&'static str> for Template {
-    fn from(template: &'static str) -> Self {
-        Template::Static(template)
+impl<'inner> From<&'inner str> for Template<'inner> {
+    fn from(template: &'inner str) -> Self {
+        Template::OneOff(template.into())
     }
 }
 
-impl From<String> for Template {
+impl From<String> for Template<'_> {
     fn from(template: String) -> Self {
-        Template::String(template)
+        Template::OneOff(template.into())
     }
 }
diff --git a/swiftide-macros/src/indexing_transformer.rs b/swiftide-macros/src/indexing_transformer.rs
index 69b484fe..5752fcab 100644
--- a/swiftide-macros/src/indexing_transformer.rs
+++ b/swiftide-macros/src/indexing_transformer.rs
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ pub(crate) fn indexing_transformer_impl(args: TokenStream, input: ItemStruct) ->
 
     let default_prompt_fn = match &args.default_prompt_file {
         Some(file) => quote! {
-            fn default_prompt() -> hidden::Template {
+            fn default_prompt() -> hidden::Template<'static> {
                 include_str!(#file).into()
             }
         },
diff --git a/swiftide-query/src/query/pipeline.rs b/swiftide-query/src/query/pipeline.rs
index 250bc58d..9b0168eb 100644
--- a/swiftide-query/src/query/pipeline.rs
+++ b/swiftide-query/src/query/pipeline.rs
@@ -248,6 +248,8 @@ impl<'stream: 'static, STRATEGY: SearchStrategy> Pipeline<'stream, STRATEGY, sta
 
 impl<'stream: 'static, STRATEGY: SearchStrategy> Pipeline<'stream, STRATEGY, states::Retrieved> {
     /// Generates an answer based on previous transformations
+    ///
+    /// For a lot of use cases, `answers::Simple` should be sufficient
     #[must_use]
     pub fn then_answer<T: Answer + 'stream>(
         self,
diff --git a/swiftide-query/src/response_transformers/summary.rs b/swiftide-query/src/response_transformers/summary.rs
index c7cea458..78be346f 100644
--- a/swiftide-query/src/response_transformers/summary.rs
+++ b/swiftide-query/src/response_transformers/summary.rs
@@ -8,15 +8,15 @@ use swiftide_core::{
 };
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Builder)]
-pub struct Summary {
+pub struct Summary<'a> {
     #[builder(setter(custom))]
     client: Arc<dyn SimplePrompt>,
     #[builder(default = "default_prompt()")]
-    prompt_template: Template,
+    prompt_template: Template<'a>,
 }
 
-impl Summary {
-    pub fn builder() -> SummaryBuilder {
+impl Summary<'_> {
+    pub fn builder() -> SummaryBuilder<'static> {
         SummaryBuilder::default()
     }
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ impl Summary {
     /// # Panics
     ///
     /// Panics if the build failed
-    pub fn from_client(client: impl SimplePrompt + 'static) -> Summary {
+    pub fn from_client(client: impl SimplePrompt + 'static) -> Self {
         SummaryBuilder::default()
             .client(client)
             .to_owned()
@@ -37,14 +37,14 @@ impl Summary {
     }
 }
 
-impl SummaryBuilder {
+impl SummaryBuilder<'_> {
     pub fn client(&mut self, client: impl SimplePrompt + 'static) -> &mut Self {
         self.client = Some(Arc::new(client) as Arc<dyn SimplePrompt>);
         self
     }
 }
 
-fn default_prompt() -> Template {
+fn default_prompt() -> Template<'static> {
     indoc::indoc!(
         "
     Your job is to help a query tool find the right context.
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ fn default_prompt() -> Template {
 }
 
 #[async_trait]
-impl TransformResponse for Summary {
+impl<'a> TransformResponse for Summary<'a> {
     #[tracing::instrument(skip_all)]
     async fn transform_response(
         &self,