diff --git a/cmd/error-pages/main.go b/cmd/error-pages/main.go
index 852576e..0b9a42d 100644
--- a/cmd/error-pages/main.go
+++ b/cmd/error-pages/main.go
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"syscall"
 
-	"github.com/fatih/color"
 	"go.uber.org/automaxprocs/maxprocs"
 
 	"gh.tarampamp.am/error-pages/internal/cli"
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func main() {
 	_, _ = maxprocs.Set(maxprocs.Min(1), maxprocs.Logger(func(_ string, _ ...any) {}))
 
 	if err := run(); err != nil {
-		_, _ = color.New(color.FgHiRed, color.Bold).Fprintln(os.Stderr, err.Error())
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err.Error())
 
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/template/props.go b/internal/template/props.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..719ee82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/template/props.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package template
+
+import "reflect"
+
+//nolint:lll
+type Props struct {
+	Code               string `token:"code"`          // http status code
+	Message            string `token:"message"`       // status message
+	Description        string `token:"description"`   // status description
+	OriginalURI        string `token:"original_uri"`  // (ingress-nginx) URI that caused the error
+	Namespace          string `token:"namespace"`     // (ingress-nginx) namespace where the backend Service is located
+	IngressName        string `token:"ingress_name"`  // (ingress-nginx) name of the Ingress where the backend is defined
+	ServiceName        string `token:"service_name"`  // (ingress-nginx) name of the Service backing the backend
+	ServicePort        string `token:"service_port"`  // (ingress-nginx) port number of the Service backing the backend
+	RequestID          string `token:"request_id"`    // (ingress-nginx) unique ID that identifies the request - same as for backend service
+	ForwardedFor       string `token:"forwarded_for"` // the value of the `X-Forwarded-For` header
+	Host               string `token:"host"`          // the value of the `Host` header
+	ShowRequestDetails bool   `token:"show_details"`  // (config) show request details?
+	L10nDisabled       bool   `token:"l10n_disabled"` // (config) disable localization feature?
+}
+
+// Values convert the Props struct into a map where each key is a token associated with its corresponding value.
+func (p Props) Values() map[string]any {
+	var result = make(map[string]any, reflect.ValueOf(p).NumField())
+
+	for i, v := 0, reflect.ValueOf(p); i < v.NumField(); i++ {
+		if token, tagExists := v.Type().Field(i).Tag.Lookup("token"); tagExists {
+			result[token] = v.Field(i).Interface()
+		}
+	}
+
+	return result
+}
diff --git a/internal/template/props_test.go b/internal/template/props_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b073f76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/template/props_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package template_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"gh.tarampamp.am/error-pages/internal/template"
+)
+
+func TestProps_Values(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	assert.Equal(t, template.Props{
+		Code:               "a",
+		Message:            "b",
+		Description:        "c",
+		OriginalURI:        "d",
+		Namespace:          "e",
+		IngressName:        "f",
+		ServiceName:        "g",
+		ServicePort:        "h",
+		RequestID:          "i",
+		ForwardedFor:       "j",
+		L10nDisabled:       true,
+		ShowRequestDetails: false,
+	}.Values(), map[string]any{
+		"code":          "a",
+		"message":       "b",
+		"description":   "c",
+		"original_uri":  "d",
+		"namespace":     "e",
+		"ingress_name":  "f",
+		"service_name":  "g",
+		"service_port":  "h",
+		"request_id":    "i",
+		"forwarded_for": "j",
+		"host":          "", // empty because it's not set
+		"l10n_disabled": true,
+		"show_details":  false,
+	})
+}
diff --git a/internal/template/template.go b/internal/template/template.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e89ecee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/template/template.go
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+package template
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"maps"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"text/template"
+	"time"
+
+	"gh.tarampamp.am/error-pages/internal/appmeta"
+)
+
+var builtInFunctions = template.FuncMap{ //nolint:gochecknoglobals
+	// current time:
+	//	`{{ now.Unix }}`	// `1631610000`
+	//	`{{ now.Hour }}:{{ now.Minute }}:{{ now.Second }}`	// `15:4:5`
+	"now": time.Now,
+
+	// current hostname:
+	//	`{{ hostname }}`	// `localhost`
+	"hostname": func() string { h, _ := os.Hostname(); return h }, //nolint:nlreturn
+
+	// json-serialized value (safe to use with any type):
+	//	`{{ json "test" }}`	// `"test"`
+	//	`{{ json 42 }}`	// `42`
+	"json": func(v any) string { b, _ := json.Marshal(v); return string(b) }, //nolint:nlreturn,errchkjson
+
+	// cast any type to int, or return 0 if it's not possible:
+	//	`{{ int "42" }}`	// `42`
+	//	`{{ int 42 }}`	// `42`
+	//	`{{ int 3.14 }}`	// `3`
+	//	`{{ int "test" }}`	// `0`
+	//	`{{ int "42test" }}`	// `0`
+	"int": func(v any) int { // cast any type to int, or return 0 if it's not possible
+		switch v := v.(type) {
+		case string:
+			if i, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimSpace(v)); err == nil {
+				return i
+			}
+		case int:
+			return v
+		case int8, int16, int32, int64, uint, uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64:
+			if i, err := strconv.Atoi(fmt.Sprintf("%d", v)); err == nil { // not effective, but safe
+				return i
+			}
+		case float32, float64:
+			if i, err := strconv.ParseFloat(fmt.Sprintf("%f", v), 32); err == nil { // not effective, but safe
+				return int(i)
+			}
+		case fmt.Stringer:
+			if i, err := strconv.Atoi(v.String()); err == nil {
+				return i
+			}
+		}
+
+		return 0
+	},
+
+	// current application version:
+	//	`{{ version }}`	// `1.0.0`
+	"version": appmeta.Version,
+
+	// counts the number of non-overlapping instances of substr in s:
+	//	`{{ strCount "test" "t" }}`	// `2`
+	"strCount": strings.Count,
+
+	// reports whether substr is within s:
+	//	`{{ strContains "test" "es" }}`	// `true`
+	//	`{{ strContains "test" "ez" }}`	// `false`
+	"strContains": strings.Contains,
+
+	// returns a slice of the string s, with all leading and trailing white space removed:
+	//	`{{ strTrimSpace "  test  " }}`	// `test`
+	"strTrimSpace": strings.TrimSpace,
+
+	// returns s without the provided leading prefix string:
+	//	`{{ strTrimPrefix "test" "te" }}`	// `st`
+	"strTrimPrefix": strings.TrimPrefix,
+
+	// returns s without the provided trailing suffix string:
+	//	`{{ strTrimSuffix "test" "st" }}`	// `te`
+	"strTrimSuffix": strings.TrimSuffix,
+
+	// returns a copy of the string s with all non-overlapping instances of old replaced by new:
+	//	`{{ strReplace "test" "t" "z" }}`	// `zesz`
+	"strReplace": strings.ReplaceAll,
+
+	// returns the index of the first instance of substr in s, or -1 if substr is not present in s:
+	//	`{{ strIndex "barfoobaz" "foo" }}`	// `3`
+	"strIndex": strings.Index,
+
+	// splits the string s around each instance of one or more consecutive white space characters:
+	//	`{{ strFields "foo bar baz" }}`	// `[foo bar baz]`
+	"strFields": strings.Fields,
+
+	// retrieves the value of the environment variable named by the key:
+	//	`{{ env "SHELL" }}`	// `/bin/bash`
+	"env": os.Getenv,
+}
+
+func Render(content string, props Props) (string, error) {
+	var fns = maps.Clone(builtInFunctions)
+
+	maps.Copy(fns, template.FuncMap{ // add custom functions
+		"hide_details": func() bool { return !props.ShowRequestDetails }, // inverted logic
+		"l10n_enabled": func() bool { return !props.L10nDisabled },       // inverted logic
+	})
+
+	// allow the direct access to the properties tokens, e.g. `{{ service_port | json }}`
+	// instead of `{{ .service_port | json }}`
+	for k, v := range props.Values() {
+		fns[k] = func() any { return v }
+	}
+
+	tmpl, tErr := template.New("template").Funcs(fns).Parse(content)
+	if tErr != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("failed to parse template: %w", tErr)
+	}
+
+	var buf strings.Builder
+
+	if err := tmpl.Execute(&buf, props); err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return buf.String(), nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/template/template_test.go b/internal/template/template_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..332b439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/template/template_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,231 @@
+package template_test
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"gh.tarampamp.am/error-pages/internal/appmeta"
+	"gh.tarampamp.am/error-pages/internal/template"
+)
+
+func TestRender_BuiltInFunction(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	var hostname, hErr = os.Hostname()
+
+	require.NoError(t, hErr)
+
+	for name, tt := range map[string]struct {
+		giveTemplate string
+		wantResult   string
+		wantErrMsg   string
+	}{
+		"now (unix)": {
+			giveTemplate: `{{ now.Unix }}`,
+			wantResult:   strconv.Itoa(int(time.Now().Unix())),
+		},
+		"now (time)": {
+			giveTemplate: `{{ now.Hour }}:{{ now.Minute }}:{{ now.Second }}`,
+			wantResult:   time.Now().Format("15:4:5"),
+		},
+		"hostname":                  {giveTemplate: `{{ hostname }}`, wantResult: hostname},
+		"json (string)":             {giveTemplate: `{{ json "test" }}`, wantResult: `"test"`},
+		"json (int)":                {giveTemplate: `{{ json 42 }}`, wantResult: `42`},
+		"json (func result)":        {giveTemplate: `{{ json hostname }}`, wantResult: `"` + hostname + `"`},
+		"int (string)":              {giveTemplate: `{{ int "42" }}`, wantResult: `42`},
+		"int (int)":                 {giveTemplate: `{{ int 42 }}`, wantResult: `42`},
+		"int (float)":               {giveTemplate: `{{ int 3.14 }}`, wantResult: `3`},
+		"int (wrong string)":        {giveTemplate: `{{ int "test" }}`, wantResult: `0`},
+		"int (string with numbers)": {giveTemplate: `{{ int "42test" }}`, wantResult: `0`},
+		"version":                   {giveTemplate: `{{ version }}`, wantResult: appmeta.Version()},
+		"strCount":                  {giveTemplate: `{{ strCount "test" "t" }}`, wantResult: `2`},
+		"strContains (true)":        {giveTemplate: `{{ strContains "test" "es" }}`, wantResult: `true`},
+		"strContains (false)":       {giveTemplate: `{{ strContains "test" "ez" }}`, wantResult: `false`},
+		"strTrimSpace":              {giveTemplate: `{{ strTrimSpace "  test  " }}`, wantResult: `test`},
+		"strTrimPrefix":             {giveTemplate: `{{ strTrimPrefix "test" "te" }}`, wantResult: `st`},
+		"strTrimSuffix":             {giveTemplate: `{{ strTrimSuffix "test" "st" }}`, wantResult: `te`},
+		"strReplace":                {giveTemplate: `{{ strReplace "test" "t" "z" }}`, wantResult: `zesz`},
+		"strIndex":                  {giveTemplate: `{{ strIndex "barfoobaz" "foo" }}`, wantResult: `3`},
+		"strFields":                 {giveTemplate: `{{ strFields "foo bar baz" }}`, wantResult: `[foo bar baz]`},
+		"env (ok)":                  {giveTemplate: `{{ env "TEST_ENV_VAR" }}`, wantResult: "unit-test"},
+		"env (not found)":           {giveTemplate: `{{ env "NOT_FOUND_ENV_VAR" }}`, wantResult: ""},
+	} {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			require.NoError(t, os.Setenv("TEST_ENV_VAR", "unit-test"))
+
+			defer func() { require.NoError(t, os.Unsetenv("TEST_ENV_VAR")) }()
+
+			var result, err = template.Render(tt.giveTemplate, template.Props{})
+
+			if tt.wantErrMsg != "" {
+				assert.ErrorContains(t, err, tt.wantErrMsg)
+				assert.Empty(t, result)
+			} else {
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.wantResult, result)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRender(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	for name, tt := range map[string]struct {
+		giveTemplate string
+		giveProps    template.Props
+		wantResult   string
+		wantErrMsg   string
+	}{
+		"common case": {
+			giveTemplate: "{{code}}: {{ message }} {{description}}",
+			giveProps:    template.Props{Code: "404", Message: "Not found", Description: "Blah"},
+			wantResult:   "404: Not found Blah",
+		},
+		"html markup": {
+			giveTemplate: "<!-- comment --><html><body>{{code}}: {{ message }} {{description}}</body></html>",
+			giveProps:    template.Props{Code: "201", Message: "lorem ipsum"},
+			wantResult:   "<!-- comment --><html><body>201: lorem ipsum </body></html>",
+		},
+		"with line breakers": {
+			giveTemplate: "\t {{code}}: {{ message }} {{description}}\n",
+			giveProps:    template.Props{},
+			wantResult:   "\t :  \n",
+		},
+		"golang template": {
+			giveTemplate: "\t {{code}} {{ .Code }}{{ if .Message }} Yeah {{end}}",
+			giveProps:    template.Props{Code: "201", Message: "lorem ipsum"},
+			wantResult:   "\t 201 201 Yeah ",
+		},
+
+		"json common case": {
+			giveTemplate: `{"code": {{code | json}}, "message": {"here":[ {{ message | json }} ]}, "desc": "{{description}}"}`,
+			giveProps:    template.Props{Code: `404'"{`, Message: "Not found\t\r\n"},
+			wantResult:   `{"code": "404'\"{", "message": {"here":[ "Not found\t\r\n" ]}, "desc": ""}`,
+		},
+		"json golang template": {
+			giveTemplate: `{"code": "{{code}}", "message": {"here":[ "{{ if .Message }} Yeah {{end}}" ]}}`,
+			giveProps:    template.Props{Code: "201", Message: "lorem ipsum"},
+			wantResult:   `{"code": "201", "message": {"here":[ " Yeah " ]}}`,
+		},
+
+		"fn l10n_enabled": {
+			giveTemplate: "{{ if l10n_enabled }}Y{{ else }}N{{ end }}",
+			giveProps:    template.Props{L10nDisabled: true},
+			wantResult:   "N",
+		},
+		"fn l10n_disabled": {
+			giveTemplate: "{{ if l10n_disabled }}Y{{ else }}N{{ end }}",
+			giveProps:    template.Props{L10nDisabled: true},
+			wantResult:   "Y",
+		},
+
+		"complete example with every property and function": {
+			giveProps: template.Props{
+				Code:               "404",
+				Message:            "Not found",
+				Description:        "Blah",
+				OriginalURI:        "/test",
+				Namespace:          "default",
+				IngressName:        "test-ingress",
+				ServiceName:        "test-service",
+				ServicePort:        "80",
+				RequestID:          "123456",
+				ForwardedFor:       "123.123.123.123:321",
+				Host:               "test-host",
+				ShowRequestDetails: true,
+				L10nDisabled:       false,
+			},
+			giveTemplate: `
+				== Props as functions ==
+				code: {{code}}
+				message: {{message}}
+				description: {{description}}
+				original_uri: {{original_uri}}
+				namespace: {{namespace}}
+				ingress_name: {{ingress_name}}
+				service_name: {{service_name}}
+				service_port: {{service_port}}
+				request_id: {{request_id}}
+				forwarded_for: {{forwarded_for}}
+				host: {{host}}
+				show_details: {{show_details}}
+				l10n_disabled: {{l10n_disabled}}
+
+				== Props as properties ==
+				.Code: {{ .Code }}
+				.Message: {{ .Message }}
+				.Description: {{ .Description }}
+				.OriginalURI: {{ .OriginalURI }}
+				.Namespace: {{ .Namespace }}
+				.IngressName: {{ .IngressName }}
+				.ServiceName: {{ .ServiceName }}
+				.ServicePort: {{ .ServicePort }}
+				.RequestID: {{ .RequestID }}
+				.ForwardedFor: {{ .ForwardedFor }}
+				.Host: {{ .Host }}
+				.ShowRequestDetails: {{ .ShowRequestDetails }}
+				.L10nDisabled: {{ .L10nDisabled }}
+
+				== Custom functions ==
+				hide_details: {{ hide_details }}
+				l10n_enabled: {{ l10n_enabled }}
+`,
+			wantResult: `
+				== Props as functions ==
+				code: 404
+				message: Not found
+				description: Blah
+				original_uri: /test
+				namespace: default
+				ingress_name: test-ingress
+				service_name: test-service
+				service_port: 80
+				request_id: 123456
+				forwarded_for: 123.123.123.123:321
+				host: test-host
+				show_details: true
+				l10n_disabled: false
+
+				== Props as properties ==
+				.Code: 404
+				.Message: Not found
+				.Description: Blah
+				.OriginalURI: /test
+				.Namespace: default
+				.IngressName: test-ingress
+				.ServiceName: test-service
+				.ServicePort: 80
+				.RequestID: 123456
+				.ForwardedFor: 123.123.123.123:321
+				.Host: test-host
+				.ShowRequestDetails: true
+				.L10nDisabled: false
+
+				== Custom functions ==
+				hide_details: false
+				l10n_enabled: true
+`,
+		},
+
+		"wrong template":    {giveTemplate: `{{ foo() }}`, wantErrMsg: `function "foo" not defined`},
+		"wrong template #2": {giveTemplate: `{{ fo`, wantErrMsg: "failed to parse template"},
+	} {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var result, err = template.Render(tt.giveTemplate, tt.giveProps)
+
+			if tt.wantErrMsg != "" {
+				assert.ErrorContains(t, err, tt.wantErrMsg)
+				assert.Empty(t, result)
+			} else {
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
+				assert.Equal(t, tt.wantResult, result)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}