diff --git a/core/config/backend_config.go b/core/config/backend_config.go
index 8db94f7cded0..79e134d8b93c 100644
--- a/core/config/backend_config.go
+++ b/core/config/backend_config.go
@@ -196,6 +196,10 @@ type TemplateConfig struct {
 	// JoinChatMessagesByCharacter is a string that will be used to join chat messages together.
 	// It defaults to \n
 	JoinChatMessagesByCharacter *string `yaml:"join_chat_messages_by_character"`
+
+	Video string `yaml:"video"`
+	Image string `yaml:"image"`
+	Audio string `yaml:"audio"`
 }
 
 func (c *BackendConfig) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/openai/request.go b/core/http/endpoints/openai/request.go
index d6182a391fe8..a418433ed959 100644
--- a/core/http/endpoints/openai/request.go
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/openai/request.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/functions"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
 	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
@@ -168,8 +169,13 @@ func updateRequestConfig(config *config.BackendConfig, input *schema.OpenAIReque
 						continue CONTENT
 					}
 					input.Messages[i].StringVideos = append(input.Messages[i].StringVideos, base64) // TODO: make sure that we only return base64 stuff
+
+					t := "[vid-{{.ID}}]{{.Text}}"
+					if config.TemplateConfig.Video != "" {
+						t = config.TemplateConfig.Video
+					}
 					// set a placeholder for each image
-					input.Messages[i].StringContent = fmt.Sprintf("[vid-%d]", vidIndex) + input.Messages[i].StringContent
+					input.Messages[i].StringContent, _ = templates.TemplateMultiModal(t, vidIndex, input.Messages[i].StringContent)
 					vidIndex++
 				case "audio_url", "audio":
 					// Decode content as base64 either if it's an URL or base64 text
@@ -180,7 +186,11 @@ func updateRequestConfig(config *config.BackendConfig, input *schema.OpenAIReque
 					}
 					input.Messages[i].StringAudios = append(input.Messages[i].StringAudios, base64) // TODO: make sure that we only return base64 stuff
 					// set a placeholder for each image
-					input.Messages[i].StringContent = fmt.Sprintf("[audio-%d]", audioIndex) + input.Messages[i].StringContent
+					t := "[audio-{{.ID}}]{{.Text}}"
+					if config.TemplateConfig.Audio != "" {
+						t = config.TemplateConfig.Audio
+					}
+					input.Messages[i].StringContent, _ = templates.TemplateMultiModal(t, audioIndex, input.Messages[i].StringContent)
 					audioIndex++
 				case "image_url", "image":
 					// Decode content as base64 either if it's an URL or base64 text
@@ -189,9 +199,14 @@ func updateRequestConfig(config *config.BackendConfig, input *schema.OpenAIReque
 						log.Error().Msgf("Failed encoding image: %s", err)
 						continue CONTENT
 					}
+
+					t := "[img-{{.ID}}]{{.Text}}"
+					if config.TemplateConfig.Image != "" {
+						t = config.TemplateConfig.Image
+					}
 					input.Messages[i].StringImages = append(input.Messages[i].StringImages, base64) // TODO: make sure that we only return base64 stuff
 					// set a placeholder for each image
-					input.Messages[i].StringContent = fmt.Sprintf("[img-%d]", imgIndex) + input.Messages[i].StringContent
+					input.Messages[i].StringContent, _ = templates.TemplateMultiModal(t, imgIndex, input.Messages[i].StringContent)
 					imgIndex++
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/model/initializers.go b/pkg/model/initializers.go
index 9ecd77a61a58..1171de4d9418 100644
--- a/pkg/model/initializers.go
+++ b/pkg/model/initializers.go
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ func (ml *ModelLoader) grpcModel(backend string, o *Options) func(string, string
 
 				client = NewModel(modelID, serverAddress, process)
 			} else {
-				log.Debug().Msg("external backend is uri")
+				log.Debug().Msg("external backend is a uri")
 				// address
 				client = NewModel(modelID, uri, nil)
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/templates/multimodal.go b/pkg/templates/multimodal.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cc56c4920534
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/templates/multimodal.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package templates
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"text/template"
+)
+
+func TemplateMultiModal(templateString string, templateID int, text string) (string, error) {
+	// compile the template
+	tmpl, err := template.New("template").Parse(templateString)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+	result := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	// execute the template
+	err = tmpl.Execute(result, struct {
+		ID   int
+		Text string
+	}{
+		ID:   templateID,
+		Text: text,
+	})
+	return result.String(), err
+}
diff --git a/pkg/templates/multimodal_test.go b/pkg/templates/multimodal_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d1a8bd5bb1e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/templates/multimodal_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package templates_test
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/templates" // Update with your module path
+
+	// Update with your module path
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("EvaluateTemplate", func() {
+	Context("templating simple strings for multimodal chat", func() {
+		It("should template messages correctly", func() {
+			result, err := TemplateMultiModal("[img-{{.ID}}]{{.Text}}", 1, "bar")
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(result).To(Equal("[img-1]bar"))
+		})
+	})
+})