diff --git a/features/steps/test_starter/cookiecutter.json b/features/steps/test_starter/cookiecutter.json
index f95cb7ede5..fe41c16853 100644
--- a/features/steps/test_starter/cookiecutter.json
+++ b/features/steps/test_starter/cookiecutter.json
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@
     "repo_name": "{{ cookiecutter.project_name.replace(' ', '-').lower().strip('-') }}",
     "python_package": "{{ cookiecutter.project_name.replace(' ', '_').replace('-', '_').lower() }}",
     "kedro_version": "{{ cookiecutter.kedro_version }}",
-    "tools": "none"
+    "tools": "none",
+    "example_pipeline": "no"
 }
diff --git a/features/steps/test_starter/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/pyproject.toml b/features/steps/test_starter/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/pyproject.toml
index ea5b0d3ef5..bea3ce9dc4 100644
--- a/features/steps/test_starter/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/pyproject.toml	
+++ b/features/steps/test_starter/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/pyproject.toml	
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ namespaces = false
 package_name = "{{ cookiecutter.python_package }}"
 project_name = "{{ cookiecutter.project_name }}"
 kedro_init_version = "{{ cookiecutter.kedro_version }}"
-tools = "{{ cookiecutter.tools | default('') | string | replace('\"', '\\\"') }}"
+tools = {{ cookiecutter.tools | default('') | string | replace('\"', '\\\"') }}
+example_pipeline = "{{ cookiecutter.example_pipeline }}"
 
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 addopts = """