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In Reactive Resume, a cover letter is a document of its own. It sits next to your resumes in Documents, under the Letters tab. A letter can take your name, contact details and design from one of your resumes, and its recipient from a job application, so you only write the body.

Create a letter

You can start a letter from an application or from Documents.
Starting from the job you’re applying for is quickest, because the letter is set up for that job.
1

Open the application

In Applications, select the application to open its details.
2

Select Write a letter

Open Apply, then select Write a letter if no letter is linked. The button shows only while the application has no letter. The New document dialog opens with this application already chosen.
Fictional Kiln Studio application page with its preparation next step and seven Work on it rows

Prepare documents from the application’s Apply screen

3

Choose what to start from

Under Start from, choose an earlier letter’s body or keep Blank letter. Enter a Name, then select Create letter.
The new letter uses the Name you entered. It becomes this application’s letter, takes its recipient from the application (the company, and the first contact’s name if there is one), and takes your details and design from the application’s resume, if it has one. Rename the letter to show the company. When you start from an earlier letter, only its body is copied: your new letter keeps this job’s company, name and date, and both letters keep separate History. The earlier letter is never changed.
To bring back a letter you downloaded as JSON from Reactive Resume, import the file from Import on Documents as you would a resume; it comes back as a letter. See Importing resumes.

Fill in the letter

The letter editor looks like the resume editor, with two modes: Write and Design. The panel on the left holds the letter’s details, and the page on the right shows the letter as it will print, updating as you type.
Kiln Studio letter for fictional Alex Morgan with Recipient, Sender, Letter and greeting controls beside the PDF

Write the letter beside its rendered page

1

For: the application

Under For, select Link an application to choose the job the letter is for, or Change to pick another. Closed applications aren’t listed, except the one this letter is already on. Applications with a different letter already recorded as sent are disabled and labeled Letter already sent. A letter recorded as sent keeps its application link. Linking fills the recipient’s company and name. Choose No application to unlink it. Without an application, you fill in the recipient yourself.
2

To: the recipient

Under Recipient, check Name or team, Company and Date. The greeting follows the name: “Dear Priya,” for Priya Shah, or a greeting to the hiring team when the name is empty.
3

From: your details

Under Sender, choose the Resume your details come from. With Use details from that resume turned on, your name, headline, email, phone and location stay linked: when you change them on the resume, the letter changes too, and tells you the next time you open it.Turn the switch off to keep a copy of your details in the letter instead. Below the switch, edit everything the letter’s header prints: Full name, Headline, Email, Phone, Location, Website and the extra contact fields and profile links under Add field. Clear a field, or remove an extra field, to leave it off the letter. If the resume has a photo, turn off Show photo to leave it off this letter; to change the photo itself, edit the resume. These edits change only this letter; your source resume stays unchanged. The copy doesn’t change when the resume does.Choose No resume to write a standalone letter with the same sender fields. Removing a resume keeps the details and design currently shown. Sender edits update the preview, automatic signature and downloads, and save with the letter.Turning Use details from back on replaces the letter’s independent details with the resume’s current details. Choosing a resume for a standalone letter also replaces its sender details and links its design. Changing resumes while the sender switch is off keeps your independent details.
Letter panel showing details of the fictional Kiln Studio letter

Sender and length stay with the letter

Standalone letter with No resume selected, editable headline, website and profile links, fictional Jordan Reyes sender fields and the current Export action

With No resume selected, sender fields belong to this letter. The preview and automatic signature use Jordan's saved details.

4

Letter: the body

Under Letter, select Write it myself and type the body. The greeting and sign-off are added around it in the letter’s language. A letter created from an application starts in the posting’s declared language, so the body, greeting, sign-off and date stay in one language. Design → Language changes the letter’s language at any time, even while its design still mimics the resume: the design link shares template, type and colors, not the language, and your authored greeting, sign-off and words are never rewritten.
Letter Design panel with Match the resume on, a Language field set to German, and a German letter page with Einstellungsteam, 31. Oktober 2026 and Liebes Einstellungsteam

Language is its own Design setting. This letter was created from a German posting, so its greeting, date and sign-off are German while its template, type and colors still match the resume.

Edit Greeting or Sign-off to use your own wording. Sign-off includes your name: edit the whole signature and add your phone, email or other details on lines below it. Custom signatures print exactly as entered, without an extra name appended. Clear either field to omit it, useful when you already wrote a closing in the body. Select Use default to restore the automatic wording and sender name.The body editor has the same formatting tools as the resume; see Formatting text.
Kiln Studio letter for fictional Alex Morgan with Recipient, Sender, Letter and greeting controls beside the PDF

Write the letter beside its rendered page

Below the body, Length counts your words against the 180 to 320 words most recruiters read, and says whether the letter is short, comfortable or getting long. It’s a guide, not a rule.
Kiln Studio letter for fictional Alex Morgan with Recipient, Sender, Letter and greeting controls beside the PDF

Write the letter beside its rendered page

Changes save automatically. The status under the letter’s name in the editor bar shows Saving…, Saved or, if something went wrong, Not saved with Retry. If saving stops with Review saved version, select Reload, then Keep a copy and reload. Your unsaved edits are saved as a separate letter in Documents, with “(mine)” added to its name, before the saved version opens. The copy keeps the text, sender details and design shown in your editor, without links to the resume or application. If copying or reloading fails, your edits stay open for retry. In the native app, Keep both offers the same copy-and-load choice.

Draft the body with AI

If you’ve connected an AI provider, an empty body offers a first draft. See Connecting an AI provider to set one up.
Empty letter draft with manual writing and optional drafting controls for the fictional linked application

Write the body yourself or choose optional AI drafting

1

Start the draft

Select Draft from the posting when the letter is linked to an application, or Draft from your resume when it only has a resume. The draft uses only what the letter is linked to: the posting, your resume, or both, and it is written in the letter’s language. The line beside the button names the provider it sends them to. Select Stop to end it early: what was written so far stays as a draft you can accept and finish yourself.
2

Refine it

When the draft is ready, ask for Shorter or More personal versions, or select Reject to drop it. Earlier versions stay: use the arrows beside “2 of 3” to compare them, then accept or revise the one shown.
3

Accept it

Select Accept to put the draft in the body. Until you do, the draft never replaces anything, and you can edit it freely afterwards. An unkept draft survives a reload in the same tab: it comes back with Accept, Shorter, More personal and Reject, so seeing it again doesn’t cost another request. Leaving the editor with a draft streaming or waiting asks you to keep or discard it first.
After accepting a body draft on an updated server, the body shows its recorded AI request attempts, original connection label, provider and requested model. Choosing an earlier version keeps that version’s sources. A revision also keeps sources from the draft it revised. Stop, recovery, copying a letter and saving don’t add provider requests. The weekly report still includes attempts for drafts you reject. Historical details stay after removing a connection. An AI client using the MCP application tools uses the same letter draft prompt. It receives text for you to review and an empty linked letter. The client must ask before keeping that body; after an approved save, its recorded request sources appear here too. Nothing is sent to the employer.
Fictional services letter body showing one recorded AI request attempt from Fictional Letter AI using letter-model

The accepted body keeps its original request history even after the connection is removed.

Letter History keeps source references with each saved body. Restoring a version restores its references too; an older version without references has unknown history. Export everything includes these private references and request records. A letter’s portable JSON and employer-facing downloads contain its document content, not private request history. To draft, a letter needs a linked resume or application. After you accept a draft, Draft from the posting is gone from the body; to start over, open the Assistant and choose Redraft from the posting, which proposes a new version as edits to accept. In the body, Improve works on one paragraph and offers Tie to the posting (when the letter is linked to an application), Warmer and Shorter. You can also open the Assistant with ⌘ J (Ctrl J on Windows and Linux) to rework the letter; see Using the Assistant.
Web letter Improve review showing one recorded request attempt through the fictional provider and fast model, original paragraph, suggested replacement and explicit Replace and Keep mine controls

Web parity reference: review a paragraph against the linked posting before choosing Replace. Android and iPhone use the same canonical Improve service; this image is from the web editor.

On Android and iPhone, place the caret in a body paragraph and choose Improve selected line in the formatting toolbar. The review panel offers Warmer and Shorter, plus Tie to the posting when the letter has a linked application. It identifies the provider/model and the paragraph, surrounding letter text and linked posting that may be sent. Choose a preset, review the suggestion, then select Replace or Keep mine. A replacement is its own Undo step. A changed paragraph or a closed editor prevents a late replacement; recipient fields keep their formatting tools without AI rewriting. On web and native mobile, the reviewed suggestion also shows its recorded request attempts and original model. Replace keeps those references alongside any earlier body-draft sources. Undo and Redo restore the corresponding wording and references together. Keeping your paragraph, saving, reopening or undoing does not generate another suggestion. Removing the provider does not erase saved request history; an older server may return a usable suggestion with unavailable history.

Match your resume’s design

By default, a letter linked to a resume uses the resume’s template, type and colors, so the two always look like a pair. When you change the resume’s design, the letter follows.
1

Open Design

Select Design in the editor bar, or press 2.
2

Keep it matching, or give it its own design

With Match turned on, the letter follows the resume. Select Change the resume’s design to open the resume in Design.
Letter Design matching Product designer for Kiln Studio, with Template, Typography, Color, Page and a separate Language setting

A letter can follow its resume’s design

Turn Match off to give the letter a design of its own. It keeps the current design as a starting point, and Template, Typography, Color and Page settings appear for the letter alone. Select a template to preview it, then Use this template to apply it.
Letter Design with matching turned off and its own template and design controls

Give a letter its own design

Turn Match back on at any time to follow the resume again. A letter with no resume chosen under From always has its own design. When updating a letter through the API, setting template or metadata gives it its own design and turns matching off. Set designLinked: true in a later update to resume matching.

Download the letter

Select Download PDF in the editor bar, or press ⌘ P (Ctrl P). The PDF includes the header with your name and contact details, and is named after you, for example David-Kowalski-Cover-Letter.pdf. For other formats, select the arrow beside Download PDF, or press ⌘ Shift E (Ctrl Shift E). The download menu opens:
Letter download menu with file name, formats and Print

Choose a letter download format

Review File name, then select a format to download it. Print is in this menu too. In the native app, select Download to open Download & history. On a phone, the icon is labeled Download & history. Letters have no public link. To share one, download it and attach the file. When you download a resume from its download menu and the resume’s application has a letter, you can also tick Also download the … cover letter (the label names the company) to get both files at once. See Downloading your resume.

Letters and applications

For a saved job, Use an existing letter in application details links a letter you already wrote. The Save a job and Edit details forms also offer a letter picker. In Documents, resume and letter menus offer Link to application…; resume menus additionally offer Write a letter… with that resume selected. Builders link back to their application.
The letter editor's application picker with Lumen Labs disabled and labeled Letter already sent

A submitted application keeps its recorded letter. The picker explains why another letter cannot replace it.

  • Each application has one letter. If you link a letter to an application that already has one, the new letter takes its place.
  • When the application moves to Applied or a later stage, the letter as it reads then is saved in its History as the version you sent. The application shows it under What you sent as “Version sent” with the date.
  • In Documents, a letter’s menu has Link to application… to link or unlink it without opening it.
To see earlier versions of a letter, open History in the editor bar (the clock icon) which replaces the current panel. It works like resume history; see Undoing changes and version history. On web and native mobile, restoring a named version keeps its name in the notice and the Restored “…” and Before restoring “…” entries. Unnamed versions keep the general restore labels.

Manage a letter

Use Undo and Redo in the editor bar for letter-wide changes. In a text field, the keyboard shortcuts undo and redo your typing. Select the letter’s name in the editor bar to Rename…, Duplicate, Lock editing or Move to Trash. A locked letter can’t be edited until you select Unlock editing. A letter in Trash can be restored for 30 days; see Using the trash.
In earlier versions, a cover letter could be a section inside a resume. Those letters are now letters of their own in Documents, named after the resume and the letter (for example “Frontend Resume — Cover Letter”), still linked to the resume’s details and design. The resume no longer contains them. These older letters keep their recipient block as you wrote it under To, instead of separate name, company and date fields.

Tailoring a resume for a job

Copy a resume for an application and write its letter.

Managing an application

Track stages, what you sent and next steps.

Choosing a template

Pick the design your resume and letter share.

Checking your resume before you apply

Make sure software can read the resume you send with your letter.