diff --git a/future-plans.md b/future-plans.md
index 3517b89..55cd8b0 100644
--- a/future-plans.md
+++ b/future-plans.md
@@ -222,6 +222,28 @@ views, field parsers, etc.) should use a CodeMirror 6 editor instead of a plain
 `<textarea>`. Gives syntax highlighting, bracket matching, and a proper editing
 experience for JS snippets.
 
+## Template system
+
+### Rich return values from templates
+Currently formatters can only return a plain string. It would be useful to return
+richer output — e.g. styled text, multiple values, or structured data. Options:
+
+- Return an object with named slots: `{ label: "100kΩ", sublabel: "0603", badge: "low stock" }`
+  which the renderer maps to specific DOM locations
+- Return an HTML string rendered via `innerHTML` (simple but XSS risk if data is
+  user-controlled, and ties templates to DOM structure)
+- Return a DOM node or a lightweight virtual-DOM descriptor
+
+The object-with-slots approach is probably the right default — it keeps templates
+declarative, avoids XSS, and lets the UI decide how to present each slot. Slots
+could vary by context (list row vs detail header vs dropdown item).
+
+This also applies to field parsers and custom search views once those exist.
+Any field that accepts JavaScript (name formatter templates, future custom search
+views, field parsers, etc.) should use a CodeMirror 6 editor instead of a plain
+`<textarea>`. Gives syntax highlighting, bracket matching, and a proper editing
+experience for JS snippets.
+
 ## Search & views
 
 ### Custom search views