Variables

Variables let your agent remember and reuse information during a conversation. You can store details like a user’s name and account details, then reference them later to personalize responses or make decisions in your flow. Variables act as your agent’s short-term memory, helping it keep track of what matters from one step to the next.

Variables are set on a per-user basis, based on the user_id variable. This means that even if your agent is having a conversation with ten different users at the same time, the values of their variables are not shared.

Creating variables

Variables can be created and managed from inside Voiceflow's CMS. To access the variables page, click the CMS button at the bottom of your project's sidebar then select Variables. You can create a new variable using the button in the top right, or modify an existing variable by clicking on it.

When creating a new variable, you can optionally set a default value. We recommend doing so, as this provides a fallback for your agent to use.

You can also create a new variable when you try to use a variable in an input by clicking the add button at the bottom of the dropdown that appears.

Using variables during conversations

Variables can be used inside most inputs on Voiceflow, allowing your agent to access the value of the variable. For example, you can use variables in the Agent step's instructions box or as the value of a parameter in a Tool step's API call. To use a variable, simply type { followed by the name of the variable. Then, click the name of the variable in the dropdown list that appears.

If you'd like to add complex logic to your agents, you can use variables inside the Condition step to do so.

Setting a variable's value during a conversation

There are various ways to set a variable during a conversation:

• The Set step or the JavaScript step allow you to set a variable to any text value.
• The response from integration tools can be captured and stored in a variable using the capture response feature.
• Variables can be set agentically using exit conditions on an Agent step.

Built-in variables

Each project created on Voiceflow automatically has access to some built-in variables. These are automatically set when the user begins a conversation with your agent or when certain actions take place.