diff --git a/application/pom.xml b/application/pom.xml
index 819af507..1f5dac81 100644
--- a/application/pom.xml
+++ b/application/pom.xml
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@
             <groupId>it.smartcommunitylabdhub</groupId>
             <artifactId>dh-runtime-base</artifactId>
             <version>${revision}</version>
-        </dependency>        
+        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>it.smartcommunitylabdhub</groupId>
             <artifactId>dh-framework-k8s</artifactId>
@@ -313,6 +313,27 @@
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
+            <plugin>
+                <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>templates package</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>copy-resources</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <phase>generate-sources</phase>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <outputDirectory>${project.build.outputDirectory}/templates</outputDirectory>
+                            <resources>
+                                <resource>
+                                    <directory>${project.basedir}/../templates</directory>
+                                    <filtering>false</filtering>
+                                </resource>
+                            </resources>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+            </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                 <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
diff --git a/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/controllers/v1/base/TemplateController.java b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/controllers/v1/base/TemplateController.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..952bad6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/controllers/v1/base/TemplateController.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.controllers.v1.base;
+
+import io.swagger.v3.oas.annotations.Operation;
+import io.swagger.v3.oas.annotations.tags.Tag;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.template.Template;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.ApplicationKeys;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.annotations.ApiVersion;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.models.queries.filters.abstracts.TemplateFilter;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.models.queries.services.SearchableTemplateService;
+import jakarta.annotation.Nullable;
+import jakarta.validation.Valid;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotNull;
+import org.springdoc.core.annotations.ParameterObject;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.Pageable;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.Sort.Direction;
+import org.springframework.data.web.PageableDefault;
+import org.springframework.data.web.SortDefault;
+import org.springframework.security.access.prepost.PreAuthorize;
+import org.springframework.validation.annotation.Validated;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PathVariable;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
+
+@RestController
+@ApiVersion("v1")
+@RequestMapping("/templates")
+//TODO evaluate permissions for project via lookup in dto
+@PreAuthorize("hasAuthority('ROLE_USER')")
+@Validated
+@Tag(name = "Template base API", description = "Endpoints related to entity templates management")
+public class TemplateController {
+
+    @Autowired
+    SearchableTemplateService templateService;
+
+    @Operation(summary = "List templates", description = "Return a list of all templates")
+    @GetMapping(path = "", produces = "application/json; charset=UTF-8")
+    public Page<Template> listTemplates(
+        @ParameterObject @Valid @Nullable TemplateFilter filter,
+        @ParameterObject @PageableDefault(page = 0, size = ApplicationKeys.DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE) @SortDefault.SortDefaults(
+            { @SortDefault(sort = "id", direction = Direction.ASC) }
+        ) Pageable pageable
+    ) {
+        if (filter == null) filter = new TemplateFilter();
+        return templateService.searchTemplates(pageable, filter);
+    }
+
+    @Operation(summary = "List entity's templates", description = "Return a list of all entity's templates")
+    @GetMapping(path = "/{entity}", produces = "application/json; charset=UTF-8")
+    public Page<Template> getTemplates(
+        @PathVariable @NotNull String entity,
+        @ParameterObject @Valid @Nullable TemplateFilter filter,
+        @ParameterObject @PageableDefault(page = 0, size = ApplicationKeys.DEFAULT_PAGE_SIZE) @SortDefault.SortDefaults(
+            { @SortDefault(sort = "id", direction = Direction.ASC) }
+        ) Pageable pageable
+    ) {
+        if (filter == null) filter = new TemplateFilter();
+        return templateService.searchTemplates(pageable, entity, filter);
+    }
+
+    @Operation(summary = "Get specific template", description = "Return a specific template")
+    @GetMapping(path = "/{entity}/{id}", produces = "application/json; charset=UTF-8")
+    public Template getOne(@PathVariable @NotNull String entity, @PathVariable @NotNull String id) {
+        return templateService.getTemplate(entity, id);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/models/queries/filters/abstracts/TemplateFilter.java b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/models/queries/filters/abstracts/TemplateFilter.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..011e4a90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/models/queries/filters/abstracts/TemplateFilter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.models.queries.filters.abstracts;
+
+import io.swagger.v3.oas.annotations.media.Schema;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.Keys;
+import jakarta.annotation.Nullable;
+import jakarta.validation.Valid;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.Pattern;
+import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.Getter;
+import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.Setter;
+
+@Getter
+@Setter
+@AllArgsConstructor
+@NoArgsConstructor
+@Valid
+public class TemplateFilter {
+
+    @Nullable
+    protected String q;
+
+    @Nullable
+    @Pattern(regexp = Keys.SLUG_PATTERN)
+    @Schema(example = "my-function-1", defaultValue = "", description = "Name identifier")
+    protected String name;
+
+    @Nullable
+    @Pattern(regexp = Keys.SLUG_PATTERN)
+    @Schema(example = "type", defaultValue = "", description = "Type identifier")
+    protected String type;
+
+    @Nullable
+    @Pattern(regexp = Keys.SLUG_PATTERN)
+    @Schema(example = "function", defaultValue = "", description = "Kind identifier")
+    protected String kind;
+}
diff --git a/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/models/queries/services/SearchableTemplateService.java b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/models/queries/services/SearchableTemplateService.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1b5108ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/models/queries/services/SearchableTemplateService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.models.queries.services;
+
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.exceptions.SystemException;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.template.Template;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.models.queries.filters.abstracts.TemplateFilter;
+import jakarta.validation.Valid;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotNull;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.Pageable;
+
+/*
+ * Searchable service for managing function
+ */
+public interface SearchableTemplateService {
+    Page<Template> searchTemplates(Pageable pageable, @Valid TemplateFilter filter) throws SystemException;
+
+    Page<Template> searchTemplates(Pageable pageable, @NotNull String type, @Valid TemplateFilter filter)
+        throws SystemException;
+
+    Template getTemplate(@NotNull String type, @NotNull String id) throws SystemException;
+}
diff --git a/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/services/TemplateServiceImpl.java b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/services/TemplateServiceImpl.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..389adfdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/core/services/TemplateServiceImpl.java
@@ -0,0 +1,259 @@
+package it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.services;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.google.common.cache.CacheBuilder;
+import com.google.common.cache.CacheLoader;
+import com.google.common.cache.LoadingCache;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.exceptions.SystemException;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.jackson.JacksonMapper;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.entities.EntityName;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.metadata.BaseMetadata;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.specs.Spec;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.template.Template;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.services.SpecRegistry;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.components.infrastructure.specs.SpecValidator;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.models.queries.filters.abstracts.TemplateFilter;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.models.queries.services.SearchableTemplateService;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.core.utils.UUIDKeyGenerator;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotNull;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ResourceLoader;
+import org.springframework.core.io.support.ResourcePatternResolver;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.PageImpl;
+import org.springframework.data.domain.Pageable;
+import org.springframework.security.crypto.keygen.StringKeyGenerator;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.MethodArgumentNotValidException;
+
+@Service
+@Slf4j
+public class TemplateServiceImpl implements SearchableTemplateService, InitializingBean {
+
+    private static final int CACHE_TIMEOUT = 60;
+    private static final ObjectMapper mapper = JacksonMapper.YAML_OBJECT_MAPPER;
+    private StringKeyGenerator keyGenerator = new UUIDKeyGenerator();
+
+    @Autowired
+    ResourceLoader resourceLoader;
+
+    @Autowired
+    ResourcePatternResolver resourceResolver;
+
+    @Autowired
+    private SpecRegistry specRegistry;
+
+    @Autowired
+    private SpecValidator validator;
+
+    @Value("${templates.path}")
+    private String templatesPath;
+
+    //loading cache as map type+list
+    LoadingCache<String, List<Template>> templateCache = CacheBuilder
+        .newBuilder()
+        .expireAfterWrite(CACHE_TIMEOUT, TimeUnit.MINUTES)
+        .build(
+            new CacheLoader<String, List<Template>>() {
+                @Override
+                public List<Template> load(String key) throws Exception {
+                    log.debug("reload templates for {} from {}", key);
+                    return readTemplates(templatesPath, key);
+                }
+            }
+        );
+
+    @Override
+    public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
+        log.debug("Initialize template store for all entities...");
+        for (EntityName name : EntityName.values()) {
+            String type = name.name().toLowerCase();
+            List<Template> list = templateCache.get(type);
+            log.debug("Initialized {} templates for {}", list.size(), type);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private List<Template> readTemplates(String path, String key) {
+        if (!StringUtils.hasText(path) || !StringUtils.hasText(key)) {
+            return Collections.emptyList();
+        }
+
+        List<Template> result = new ArrayList<>();
+
+        try {
+            //we will read from a file-like resource where templates are under /<key>/*.yaml
+            String filePath = (path.endsWith("/") ? path : path + "/") + key;
+
+            log.debug("read template resources from {}", filePath);
+            Resource[] resources = resourceResolver.getResources(filePath + "/*.yaml");
+            for (Resource resource : resources) {
+                try {
+                    //read via mapper
+                    Template template = mapper.readValue(resource.getFile(), Template.class);
+                    // force inject type
+                    template.setType(key);
+                    //generate id if missing
+                    if (!StringUtils.hasText(template.getId())) {
+                        template.setId(keyGenerator.generateKey());
+                    }
+
+                    //sanitize content
+                    sanitize(template);
+
+                    //discard invalid
+                    validate(template);
+
+                    result.add(template);
+                } catch (IllegalArgumentException | IOException e1) {
+                    log.error("Error reading template from {}: {}", resource.getFilename(), e1.getMessage());
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (log.isTraceEnabled()) {
+                log.trace("templates: {}", result);
+            }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            log.debug("Error reading from {}:{}", path, key);
+        }
+
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    private void validate(Template template) {
+        //minimal validation: base fields + spec
+        if (!StringUtils.hasText(template.getName())) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid or missing name");
+        }
+        if (!StringUtils.hasText(template.getKind())) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid or missing kind");
+        }
+        if (template.getSpec() == null || template.getSpec().isEmpty()) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid or missing spec");
+        }
+
+        // Parse and validate Spec
+        Spec spec = specRegistry.createSpec(template.getKind(), template.getSpec());
+        if (spec == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid kind");
+        }
+
+        //validate
+        try {
+            validator.validateSpec(spec);
+        } catch (MethodArgumentNotValidException e) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(e.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+
+    private Template sanitize(Template template) {
+        //sanitize metadata to keep only base
+        //TODO evaluate supporting more fields
+        if (template.getMetadata() != null) {
+            BaseMetadata base = BaseMetadata.from(template.getMetadata());
+            BaseMetadata meta = new BaseMetadata();
+            meta.setName(base.getName());
+            meta.setDescription(base.getDescription());
+            meta.setLabels(base.getLabels());
+
+            template.setMetadata(meta.toMap());
+        }
+
+        // Parse and export Spec
+        Spec spec = specRegistry.createSpec(template.getKind(), template.getSpec());
+        if (spec == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid kind");
+        }
+
+        //update spec as exported
+        template.setSpec(spec.toMap());
+
+        return template;
+    }
+
+    private List<Template> filterTemplate(List<Template> list, Pageable pageable, TemplateFilter filter)
+        throws Exception {
+        return list
+            .stream()
+            .filter(f -> {
+                boolean isOk = true;
+                if (StringUtils.hasLength(filter.getName())) {
+                    if (StringUtils.hasLength(f.getName())) {
+                        isOk &= f.getName().toLowerCase().contains(filter.getName().toLowerCase());
+                    } else {
+                        isOk &= false;
+                    }
+                }
+                if (StringUtils.hasLength(filter.getKind())) {
+                    if (StringUtils.hasLength(f.getKind())) {
+                        isOk &= f.getKind().toLowerCase().equals(filter.getKind().toLowerCase());
+                    } else {
+                        isOk &= false;
+                    }
+                }
+                return isOk;
+            })
+            .collect(Collectors.toList());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Page<Template> searchTemplates(Pageable pageable, TemplateFilter filter) throws SystemException {
+        try {
+            List<Template> all = new ArrayList<>();
+            //evaluate type filter first
+            if (filter != null && StringUtils.hasText(filter.getType())) {
+                //exact match
+                EntityName type = EntityName.valueOf(filter.getType().toUpperCase());
+                all = templateCache.get(type.name().toLowerCase());
+            } else {
+                //load all
+                for (EntityName type : EntityName.values()) {
+                    all.addAll(templateCache.get(type.getValue().toLowerCase()));
+                }
+            }
+
+            List<Template> list = filterTemplate(all, pageable, filter);
+            int start = (int) pageable.getOffset();
+            int end = Math.min((start + pageable.getPageSize()), list.size());
+            List<Template> pageContent = list.subList(start, end);
+            return new PageImpl<>(pageContent, pageable, list.size());
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new SystemException("error retrieving templates:" + e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Page<Template> searchTemplates(Pageable pageable, @NotNull String type, TemplateFilter filter)
+        throws SystemException {
+        try {
+            List<Template> templates = templateCache.get(type);
+            List<Template> list = filterTemplate(templates, pageable, filter);
+            int start = (int) pageable.getOffset();
+            int end = Math.min((start + pageable.getPageSize()), list.size());
+            List<Template> pageContent = list.subList(start, end);
+            return new PageImpl<>(pageContent, pageable, list.size());
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new SystemException("error retrieving templates:" + e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Template getTemplate(@NotNull String type, @NotNull String id) throws SystemException {
+        try {
+            List<Template> list = templateCache.get(type);
+            return list.stream().filter(t -> t.getId().equals(id)).findFirst().orElse(null);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new SystemException("error retrieving templates:" + e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/application/src/main/resources/application.yml b/application/src/main/resources/application.yml
index 34fb676b..9e389a94 100644
--- a/application/src/main/resources/application.yml
+++ b/application/src/main/resources/application.yml
@@ -239,4 +239,9 @@ jwt:
     duration: ${JWT_REFRESH_TOKEN_DURATION:}    
   client-id: ${JWT_CLIENT_ID:${security.basic.username}}
   client-secret: ${JWT_CLIENT_SECRET:${security.basic.password}}
-  cache-control: ${JWKS_CACHE_CONTROL:public, max-age=900, must-revalidate, no-transform}      
\ No newline at end of file
+  cache-control: ${JWKS_CACHE_CONTROL:public, max-age=900, must-revalidate, no-transform}      
+
+
+# Templates
+templates:
+  path: ${TEMPLATES_PATH:classpath:/templates}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modules/commons/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/commons/models/template/Template.java b/modules/commons/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/commons/models/template/Template.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e3737cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/commons/src/main/java/it/smartcommunitylabdhub/commons/models/template/Template.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+package it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.template;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonInclude;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonPropertyOrder;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.Keys;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.base.BaseDTO;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.metadata.MetadataDTO;
+import it.smartcommunitylabdhub.commons.models.specs.SpecDTO;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotNull;
+import jakarta.validation.constraints.Pattern;
+import java.io.Serializable;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.Builder;
+import lombok.Getter;
+import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
+import lombok.Setter;
+import lombok.ToString;
+import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
+
+@AllArgsConstructor
+@NoArgsConstructor
+@Getter
+@Setter
+@Builder
+@ToString
+@JsonPropertyOrder(alphabetic = true)
+public class Template implements BaseDTO, MetadataDTO, SpecDTO {
+
+    @Nullable
+    @Pattern(regexp = Keys.SLUG_PATTERN)
+    private String id;
+
+    @NotNull
+    @Pattern(regexp = Keys.SLUG_PATTERN)
+    private String name;
+
+    @NotNull
+    @Pattern(regexp = Keys.SLUG_PATTERN)
+    private String kind;
+
+    private String type;
+
+    @Builder.Default
+    private Map<String, Serializable> metadata = new HashMap<>();
+
+    @Builder.Default
+    @JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
+    private Map<String, Serializable> spec = new HashMap<>();
+
+    @Override
+    public String getKey() {
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        sb.append(Keys.STORE_PREFIX).append(getProject());
+        sb.append(Keys.PATH_DIVIDER).append(type);
+        sb.append(Keys.PATH_DIVIDER).append(getKind());
+        sb.append(Keys.PATH_DIVIDER).append(getName());
+        if (getId() != null) {
+            sb.append(Keys.ID_DIVIDER).append(getId());
+        }
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getProject() {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getUser() {
+        return null;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/templates/function/python-hello-world.yaml b/templates/function/python-hello-world.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1613d9a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/function/python-hello-world.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+kind: python
+metadata:
+  name: hello-world
+  description: "Hello world with python: write a string to stdout"  
+  version: 3d64037407ee4c95989a205bb4674cad
+  labels: []
+name: hello-world
+spec:
+  python_version: PYTHON3_10
+  source:
+    lang: python
+    handler: main
+    base64: ZGVmIG1haW4oKToKICAgIHByaW50KCItLS0gSGVsbG8gd29ybGQgLS0tIikK