diff --git a/docs/tutorials/defining_input_params.ipynb b/docs/tutorials/defining_input_params.ipynb
index 7b3f7f36..e852da88 100644
--- a/docs/tutorials/defining_input_params.ipynb
+++ b/docs/tutorials/defining_input_params.ipynb
@@ -692,7 +692,7 @@
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": 30,
+   "execution_count": null,
    "id": "0635b285",
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [
@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@
     }
    ],
    "source": [
-    "inputs_read = p21c.InputParameters.from_template(tomlfile, random_seed=1)\n",
+    "inputs_read = p21c.InputParameters.from_template(tomlfile)\n",
     "\n",
     "print(\"Original == New?  \", inputs==inputs_read)"
    ]
@@ -734,13 +734,17 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
     "By default, the `write_template` function creates a **full** TOML file with all \n",
-    "of the possible parameters specified in it. In fact, you can create a TOML file listing\n",
-    "all of the default parameters very easily:"
+    "of the possible parameters specified in it, including the `random_seed` and `node_redshifts`. This is why we didn't have to specify the `random_seed` when loading\n",
+    "`inputs_read` from our template.\n",
+    "\n",
+    "In fact, you can create a TOML file listing all of the default parameters very easily,\n",
+    "and avoid writing the `random_seed` so that you are reminded to be explicit about the \n",
+    "seed when reading:"
    ]
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": 32,
+   "execution_count": null,
    "id": "dba550e0",
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
@@ -749,7 +753,7 @@
     "\n",
     "# For the sake of the tutorial, write the custom toml into a temporary directory\n",
     "tomlfile = Path(mkdtemp()) / 'default_parameters.toml'\n",
-    "p21c.write_template(inputs, tomlfile)"
+    "p21c.write_template(inputs, tomlfile, only_structs=True)"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/src/py21cmfast/_templates.py b/src/py21cmfast/_templates.py
index ac512abd..9908a614 100644
--- a/src/py21cmfast/_templates.py
+++ b/src/py21cmfast/_templates.py
@@ -13,12 +13,12 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Any, Literal
+from typing import Literal
 
 import tomlkit
 
 from .input_serialization import deserialize_inputs, prepare_inputs_for_serialization
-from .wrapper.inputs import InputParameters
+from .wrapper.inputs import InputParameters, InputStruct
 
 TEMPLATE_PATH = Path(__file__).parent / "templates/"
 MANIFEST = TEMPLATE_PATH / "manifest.toml"
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def load_template_file(template_name: str | Path):
 
 def create_params_from_template(
     template_name: str | Path | Sequence[str | Path], **kwargs
-) -> dict[str, dict[str, Any]]:
+) -> dict[str, InputStruct]:
     """
     Construct the required InputStruct instances for a run from a given template.
 
@@ -105,15 +105,32 @@ def create_params_from_template(
         templates = template_name
 
     full_template = defaultdict(dict)
+
+    random_seed = None
+    node_redshifts = None
+
     for tmpl in templates:
         thist = load_template_file(tmpl)
         for k, v in thist.items():
-            full_template[k] |= v
-    return deserialize_inputs(full_template, **kwargs)
+            if k == "random_seed":
+                random_seed = v
+            elif k == "node_redshifts":
+                node_redshifts = v
+            else:
+                full_template[k] |= v
+    out = deserialize_inputs(full_template, **kwargs)
+    if random_seed is not None:
+        out["random_seed"] = random_seed
+    if node_redshifts is not None:
+        out["node_redshifts"] = node_redshifts
+    return out
 
 
 def write_template(
-    inputs: InputParameters, template_file: Path | str, mode: TOMLMode = "full"
+    inputs: InputParameters,
+    template_file: Path | str,
+    mode: TOMLMode = "full",
+    only_structs: bool | None = None,
 ):
     """Write a set of input parameters to a template file.
 
@@ -124,7 +141,14 @@ def write_template(
     template_file
         The path of the output.
     """
-    inputs_dct = prepare_inputs_for_serialization(inputs, mode=mode)
+    assert mode in ("full", "minimal"), "mode must be 'full' or 'minimal'"
+
+    if only_structs is None:
+        only_structs = mode == "minimal"
+
+    inputs_dct = prepare_inputs_for_serialization(
+        inputs, mode=mode, only_structs=only_structs
+    )
     inputs_dct.pop("CosmoTables", None)
 
     template_file = Path(template_file)
diff --git a/src/py21cmfast/input_serialization.py b/src/py21cmfast/input_serialization.py
index 06d8762a..26db8a47 100644
--- a/src/py21cmfast/input_serialization.py
+++ b/src/py21cmfast/input_serialization.py
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ def prepare_inputs_for_serialization(
     # we can simply leave it out of the written TOML (or HDF5) when its value is None,
     # and it will anyway be set to its own default if read back in.
     out = {}
+    if "random_seed" in dct:
+        out["random_seed"] = dct.pop("random_seed")
+    if "node_redshifts" in dct:
+        out["node_redshifts"] = dct.pop("node_redshifts")
+
     for structname, structvals in dct.items():
         this = {}
         clsname = snake_to_camel(structname)
diff --git a/src/py21cmfast/wrapper/inputs.py b/src/py21cmfast/wrapper/inputs.py
index 69d9073c..3386316e 100644
--- a/src/py21cmfast/wrapper/inputs.py
+++ b/src/py21cmfast/wrapper/inputs.py
@@ -1799,7 +1799,7 @@ def evolve_input_structs(self, **kwargs):
     def from_template(
         cls,
         name: str | Path | Sequence[str | Path],
-        random_seed: int,
+        random_seed: int | None = None,
         node_redshifts: tuple[float] | None = None,
         **kwargs,
     ):
@@ -1827,13 +1827,15 @@ def from_template(
         """
         from .._templates import create_params_from_template
 
-        cls_kw = {"random_seed": random_seed}
-        if node_redshifts is not None:
-            cls_kw["node_redshifts"] = node_redshifts
-
         dct = create_params_from_template(name, **kwargs)
         dct.pop("cosmo_tables")
-        return cls(**dct, **cls_kw)
+
+        if random_seed is not None:
+            dct["random_seed"] = random_seed
+        if node_redshifts is not None:
+            dct["node_redshifts"] = node_redshifts
+
+        return cls(**dct)
 
     def clone(self, **kwargs):
         """Generate a copy of the InputParameter structure with specified changes."""
diff --git a/tests/test_templates.py b/tests/test_templates.py
index 8fe158cb..e95e6b9b 100644
--- a/tests/test_templates.py
+++ b/tests/test_templates.py
@@ -120,3 +120,18 @@ def test_roundtrip(self, template, tmp_path: Path, mode: str):
 
         new = InputParameters.from_template(pth, random_seed=1, K_MAX_FOR_CLASS=1.0)
         assert new == inputs
+
+    def test_writing_non_structs(self, tmp_path):
+        """Test that writing with only_structs=False does include non-struct parameters."""
+        inputs = InputParameters.from_template("simple", random_seed=1)
+        pth = tmp_path / "tmp.toml"
+        tmpl.write_template(inputs, pth, mode="full", only_structs=False)
+
+        with pth.open("r") as fl:
+            contents = fl.read()
+
+        assert "random_seed" in contents
+        assert "node_redshifts" in contents
+
+        new = InputParameters.from_template(pth)
+        assert new == inputs
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bda02073
--- /dev/null
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+version = 1
+revision = 3
+requires-python = ">=3.13"