diff --git a/.changeset/breezy-zoos-heal.md b/.changeset/breezy-zoos-heal.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c85ba74e73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/breezy-zoos-heal.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+'@kadena/kadena-cli': patch
+---
+
+fix a bug where a template filename is passed to createAndWriteTransaction
+instead of the actual template string
diff --git a/packages/tools/kadena-cli/src/commands/tx/commands/txCreateTransaction.ts b/packages/tools/kadena-cli/src/commands/tx/commands/txCreateTransaction.ts
index 6669de519e..f8904ac268 100644
--- a/packages/tools/kadena-cli/src/commands/tx/commands/txCreateTransaction.ts
+++ b/packages/tools/kadena-cli/src/commands/tx/commands/txCreateTransaction.ts
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ export const createTransactionCommandNew = createCommand(
     const result = await createAndWriteTransaction(
       templateVariables.templateVariables,
       outputFile.outFile,
-      template.template,
+      template.templateConfig.template,
     );
 
     assertCommandError(result);