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Variables Docs Variables let your agent remember and reuse information during a conversation — things like a user’s name, account details, or selections they’ve made. They act as your agent’s short-term memory, letting it personalize responses, make decisions, and pass data between steps. Variables are scoped to individual users via user_id. If ten users are talking to your agent simultaneously, their variable values are completely independent.

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Creating variables

You can create a variable from anywhere your can insert them — type { in most text inputs across Voiceflow to see your existing variables or create a new one inline. Create Var Docs You can also manage variables from the Variables tab in the sidebar. Click New variable in the top right to create one, or click an existing variable to edit it. When creating a variable, you can optionally set a default value — this gives your agent a fallback if the variable hasn’t been set yet during a conversation. By default, variables are initialized automatically and set to 0. Variables Table Docs

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Using variables

Reference a variable by typing { and selecting it from the searchable menu. Variables work inside playbook instructions, API tool URLs and headers, condition steps, response messages, and more. If you’re in a place where you need to use a variable, type { and it the menu will pop up. Using Vars

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Setting variable values

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Persisting variables across sessions

When you create or edit a variable, you can choose whether its value persists across sessions for the same user. This lets you decide, per variable, whether your agent remembers a value when someone returns and starts a new session with the same user_id, or starts fresh each time. To set this, open the Variables tab in the sidebar, create or select a variable, and switch Persist across sessions on or off.
  • On: the variable keeps its value when the same user starts a new session, so your agent can pick up where it left off (eg: greeting a returning customer by name or remembering their plan tier).
  • Off: the variable resets to its default value at the start of each new session, so it only lasts for the duration of a single session.
Turn this off for values that should only apply to the current session, such as a one-time verification code, a temporary selection, or the user’s progress through a flow. Keep it on for long-lived details you want your agent to remember across visits, like a user’s name or their preferences.

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Built-in variables

Every project has access to built-in variables that are automatically set when a conversation begins or when certain events occur.