Variables

1. Variables

Variables are placeholders that can hold a value and can be used to store user input, data from external systems, or any other relevant information that needs to be saved and used later in the bot conversation. Variables help in creating dynamic and personalized bot conversations.

For example, let's sya that you want to create a chatbot that greets users by name. You can use a variable to store the user's name and then use it later in the conversation.

For example,

Hello {{user_name}}, how can I help you?

The following table consists of various data types that are supported by variables, along with their examples.

Data Type	Description	Example
Number	For storing numbers, including floating-point numbers.	10, 3.14, -15
String	For storing alphanumeric characters.	'Harry', 'PAN9856', '123starbucks'
Object	For storing batch data such as database, API responses, or results from a date prompt.	{"Name": "Ron", "Phone": 9980808080, "Age": 40}
Array	For storing a list of multiple values of different data types.	[1,2,3,"Text"], ["india", "+91"]
Boolean	For storing logical data with true or false values (1/0).	true, false

note

Ensure you add the data type values in the format mentioned here, for example, if you're storing a string value it should be within ''

2. Types of variables

There are 4 different types of variables offered by yellow.ai. They are:

1. Custom variables

• Journey(flow level variables)
• Global(bot level variables)

2. System variables
3. Config variables
4. User properties

2.1 Custom Variables

Custom Variables are variables created by bot builders to meet their specific business requirements. They are further divided into two types: Journey Variables and Global Variables.

• Journey Variable: A Journey Variable is accessible only within the journey for which it was created. It stores values related to a specific user journey and can be used only within that journey.
• Global Variable: A Global Variable, on the other hand, is accessible across journeys and can be used in APIs.

note

These variables store values only within a session. Click here to know more about sessions.

In the following example, Email is stored as a Global Variable (as it remains unchanged throughout the bot). In contrast, the State_ride variable (which stores the departure location) is a Journey Variable because the user is directed to a different flow where this information is no longer needed.

2.2 System Variables

System variables are pre-defined variables that store information about the user session, conversation, and bot configuration. They're available by default in the platform and can be used across bot flows to personalize the conversation and provide relevant information to the user.

note

The variable names cannot be altered, and new variables cannot be added to this category.

The following are the system variables available on the platform:

Variable	Data type	Use
source	string	Returns the channel from which the message was sent.
sender	string	Returns the sender ID. For example: mobile number for WhatsApp.
profile	object	Returns the user’s profile as an object.
pageUrl	string	Returns the URL of the user's current page.
sentiment	object	Returns the sentiment of the user message- positive, negative, or neutral.
sessionMessageLogUrl	string	Returns a URL to the chat’s transcript.
date	object	Returns the current date and time.
channelProfile	string	Returns profile ID of the user in that specific channel.
channelProfileName	string	Returns the profile name of the user in that specific channel.

{{{system_variable_name}}} notation is used to access system variables.

info

You can access the user profile using this syntax: {{{profile.field_name}}}.

The following fields are available in the user profile object:

• city
• country
• country_code
• firstTime (if the user is visiting the bot for the first time)
• ip
• latitude
• longitude
• name (generated user name)
• region

To know more, see System user properties.

2.3 Config Variables

Config variables are used to store a wide range of information, including API keys, URLs, database connection strings, and other configuration settings that are used throughout the bot flow. By storing these values in Config Variables, bot builders can easily update them in the platform without modifying any code.

For example, suppose that a bot needs to connect to a specific external API. Rather than hardcoding the API key directly into the bot's code, bot builders can create a Config Variable called api_key and store the value there. If the API key ever needs to be updated, the bot builder can simply modify the value of the api_key Config Variable in the Yellow.ai platform, without needing to make any changes to the bot's code.

2.4 User Properties

User Properties are variables that store information about each individual user interacting with the bot. These properties are stored directly in User 360 help personalize the user's experience and can be used to make decisions about which messages or actions to display. Examples of User Properties include name, email address, and location.

note

To create new user properties, click here for the steps.

3. Create a Variable

note

Only Custom and Config variables can be added, while System Variables and User Properties are predefined and cannot be modified.

1. Go to Studio and click the variable icon on the left.

2. Click the peferred tab(Custom/Config), if Custom, choose Journey variables or Global variables and click +Add Variable.

3. Enter your preferred Variable name and select the respective Data type for the variable.

5. Based on the chosen data type, the sample Value will be displayed automatically. Custom values to be stored in that variable can also be added.
6. Click +Add.

3.1 Create a Variable via nodes

You can also create global variables through nodes and those variables can be used in any flow or node.

note

You can create variables only from Prompt and Action nodes.

To create a variable via nodes:

note

We recommend using new variables to store data rather than reusing existing ones, as the values may get overwritten.

1. Select Flows > Create flow. To know more about creating flows, click here.
2. While creating a flow, if you want to store a user response in a variable and that variable does not exist, you can create a new variable via node by clicking Store Response in > Select variable.

3. Click Create new variable.

4. Add the variable name and datatype, and click Add. This global variable can be used in any node/flow.

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4. Store and retrieve data using variables

Variables can be used to store data, which can then be retrieved and displayed to end users.

4.1 Store data in variables

Action nodes and Prompt nodes can be used to store the data in variables.

4.1.1 Store the response of a node

1. Click Store Response In option at the bottom of the action/prompt node.
2. A list of journey/global variables and user properties will be displayed, from which you can choose the appropriate variable to store the user's response.
3. Select the variable that you want to use and save the changes.

When the bot asks a question and the user responds, the response will be stored in the selected variable, such as name or phone.

note

1. Only names of the existing variables are displayed on the store response in dropdown.

2. Create a new variable if you want to add more variables to the dropdown.

3. Variables can also be stored with the help of a variable node in the flow.

   

4.2 Retrieve data from variables

A bot variable can be accessed and used inside any node using the notation {{{variables.variable_name}} or by clicking the variables icon.

note

Journey and Global variables get expired after 48 hours of inactivity.

Data entered in a variable is stored in a specific node and can be retrieved using the same variable in another node. The following is a sample screenshot of a Bot that illustrates the use of variables: 

### 4.3 Variable Datatypes

Different prompts and action nodes return responses in various formats and data types. Refer to the tables below to understand what types of variables can be stored in each node.

Prompt

Prompt Nodes	Variable Datatype
Name	string
Email	string
Phone	string
Location	object
Carousel	string
Quick Replies	string
Date	object
Question	string
Feedback	object
Whatsapp List	string
Multiselect	string
Image/file	string

Actions

Action Nodes	Variable Datatype
API	object, array, number, string
Database (search)	array
Function	object, array, number, string
Outbound Notification	object, array, number, string
Notification Status	object, array, number, string
Raise ticket	object, array, number, string
Modifier	object, array, number, string
Document Search	object, array, number, string
Set Language	object, array, number, string
Send OTP	object, array, number, string
Verify OTP	object, array, number, string
Payment	object, array, number, string
Generate PDF	object, array, number, string

5. Access array/object variables

Accessing string and number data types is simple, but it can be slightly different for array and object data types. For instance, in the API action node example, the stored response is not a simple string or number value.

Consider the following response from a weather API , this consists of an object and array with different indexing.

{
  "coord": {
    "lon": 77.2167,
    "lat": 28.6667
  },
  "weather": [
    {
      "id": 761,
      "main": "Dust",
      "description": "dust",
      "icon": "50d"
    }
  ],
  "base": "stations",
  "main": {
    "temp": 32.54,
    "feels_like": 30.55,
    "temp_min": 32,
    "temp_max": 33,
    "pressure": 1002,
    "humidity": 21
  },
  "visibility": 3500,
  "wind": {
    "speed": 3.09,
    "deg": 260,
    "gust": 8.23
  },
  "clouds": {
    "all": 0
  },
  "dt": 1617278187,
  "sys": {
    "type": 1,
    "id": 9161,
    "country": "IN",
    "sunrise": 1617237667,
    "sunset": 1617282517
  },
  "timezone": 19800,
  "id": 1273294,
  "name": "Delhi",
  "cod": 200
}

To access the fields and index of a JSON object or array stored in a variable, follow these steps:

• To access fields, use {{variables.variable_name.field_name}}, which can be nested for deeper fields.

For example, {{variables.API_var.main.temp}} can access the temp field.

• To access array values, use keys.

For instance, to access the weather description from the above response, use {{variables.API_var.weather.0.description}} because the value is inside an array and is the first value (0th index).