diff --git a/common/chaton.hpp b/common/chaton.hpp
index da2834668..91b3d4802 100644
--- a/common/chaton.hpp
+++ b/common/chaton.hpp
@@ -6,30 +6,33 @@
 #include "llama.h"
 #include "log.h"
 
-inline std::string llama_chat_apply_template_simple(
+// Tag the passed message suitabley as expected by the specified chat handshake template
+// and the role. If the specified template is not supported logic will return false.
+inline bool llama_chat_apply_template_simple(
             const std::string &tmpl,
             const std::string &role,
             const std::string &content,
+            std::string &dst,
             bool add_ass) {
     llama_chat_message msg = { role.c_str(), content.c_str() };
-    //std::vector<llama_chat_message> msgs{ msg };
-    std::vector<char> buf(content.size() * 2);
+    std::vector<char> buf(content.size() * 2); // This may under allot for small messages and over allot for large messages
 
     int32_t slen =  llama_chat_apply_template(nullptr, tmpl.c_str(), &msg, 1, add_ass, buf.data(), buf.size());
-    LOG_TEELN("DBUG:%s:AA:%s:LengthNeeded:%d:BufSizeWas:%zu", __func__, role.c_str(), slen, buf.size());
     if (slen == -1) {
-        LOG_TEELN("WARN:%s:Unknown template [%s] encounted", __func__, tmpl.c_str());
-        return "";
+        LOG_TEELN("WARN:%s:Unknown template [%s] requested", __func__, tmpl.c_str());
+        dst = "";
+        return false;
     }
     if ((size_t) slen > buf.size()) {
+        LOGLN("INFO:%s:%s:LengthNeeded:%d:BufSizeWas:%zu", __func__, role.c_str(), slen, buf.size());
         buf.resize(slen);
         slen = llama_chat_apply_template(nullptr, tmpl.c_str(), &msg, 1, add_ass, buf.data(), buf.size());
-        LOG_TEELN("DBUG:%s:BB:%s:LengthNeeded:%d:BufSizeWas:%zu", __func__, role.c_str(), slen, buf.size());
     }
 
     const std::string tagged_msg(buf.data(), slen);
-    LOGLN("INFO:%s:%s", __func__, tagged_msg.c_str());
-    return tagged_msg;
+    LOGLN("INFO:%s:%s:%s", __func__, role.c_str(), tagged_msg.c_str());
+    dst = tagged_msg;
+    return true;
 }
 
 // return what should be the reverse prompt for the given template id
diff --git a/examples/main/main.cpp b/examples/main/main.cpp
index e04b26d36..dfd16670e 100644
--- a/examples/main/main.cpp
+++ b/examples/main/main.cpp
@@ -258,9 +258,10 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
             params.prompt = "<|im_start|>system\n" + params.prompt + "<|im_end|>";
         }
         if (params.chaton) {
-            LOG_TEELN("DBUG:%s:AA:%s", __func__, params.prompt.c_str());
-            params.prompt = llama_chat_apply_template_simple(params.chaton_template_id, "system", params.prompt, false);
-            LOG_TEELN("DBUG:%s:BB:%s", __func__, params.prompt.c_str());
+            if (!llama_chat_apply_template_simple(params.chaton_template_id, "system", params.prompt, params.prompt, false)) {
+                LOG_TEELN("ERRR:%s:Wrt:%s:%s:%s", __func__, params.chaton_template_id.c_str(), "system", params.prompt.c_str());
+                exit(2);
+            }
         }
         embd_inp = ::llama_tokenize(ctx, params.prompt, true, true);
     } else {
@@ -897,7 +898,11 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
 
                     std::vector<int> line_inp;
                     if (params.chaton) {
-                        std::string f_chat = llama_chat_apply_template_simple(params.chaton_template_id, "user", buffer.c_str(), true);
+                        std::string f_chat;
+                        if (!llama_chat_apply_template_simple(params.chaton_template_id, "user", buffer.c_str(), f_chat, true)) {
+                            LOG_TEELN("ERRR:%s:Wrt:%s:%s:%s", __func__, params.chaton_template_id.c_str(), "user", params.prompt.c_str());
+                            exit(2);
+                        }
                         line_inp = ::llama_tokenize(ctx, f_chat, false, true);
                         LOG("formatted input tokens: %s\n", LOG_TOKENS_TOSTR_PRETTY(ctx, line_inp).c_str());
                         embd_inp.insert(embd_inp.end(), line_inp.begin(), line_inp.end());