Skip to main content

Variables & Template Strings

ReplyWolf uses {{double curly braces}} to insert dynamic values into messages, prompts, and other text fields. When a flow runs, these placeholders are replaced with real data from your contacts, incoming messages, AI outputs, and more.

Contact Fields​

Any column from your contact table can be used as a variable. If your table has columns called name, phone, and company, you can write:

Hi {{name}}, thanks for choosing {{company}}!

Common contact field variables:

VariableDescription
{{name}}Contact's name
{{phone}}Contact's phone number
{{email}}Contact's email address

These are not hardcoded -- they match whatever columns exist in your contact table. If you have a column called plan or appointment_date, you can use {{plan}} or {{appointment_date}}.

Incoming Message Data​

When a flow is triggered by an incoming WhatsApp message, these variables are available:

VariableDescription
{{incoming_message}}The text body of the incoming message
{{sender_phone}}The phone number of the person who sent the message
{{media_type}}The type of media attached (image, video, audio, document), if any

Chat History​

VariableDescription
{{chat_history}}Formatted recent messages with the contact (from a Get Chat History node)
{{message_count}}Number of messages fetched by the Get Chat History node

The {{chat_history}} variable is particularly useful in AI prompts. It gives the AI context about the conversation so far.

AI Outputs​

VariableDescription
{{ai_reply}}The text generated by an AI Response node
{{classification}}The category chosen by an AI Classify node
{{extracted}}The value pulled out by an AI Extract node

When multiple AI nodes exist in a flow, these variables return the output from the most recent one.

Date & Time​

VariableDescription
{{today}}Current date in DD-MM-YYYY format (in your configured timezone)
{{today_dm}}Current date in DD-MM format
{{now}}Current date and time in ISO format
{{timestamp}}Current Unix timestamp in milliseconds

HTTP / API Call Outputs​

After an API Call node runs, these variables are available:

VariableDescription
{{http_response}}The full response body as text
{{http_status}}The HTTP status code (200, 404, 500, etc.)
{{http_ok}}Whether the request succeeded (true/false)
{{http_data}}Parsed JSON response -- use with the json_get filter

Flow Context​

VariableDescription
{{flow_id}}The unique ID of the current flow
{{execution_id}}The unique ID of the current execution
{{account_id}}The WhatsApp account ID
{{random_id}}A random UUID (useful for unique identifiers)

Custom Variables​

Use the Set Variable node to define your own variables during a flow. Access them with the variables. prefix:

VariableDescription
{{variables.myVar}}A variable you set earlier in the flow

Step-Specific Outputs​

If a flow has multiple nodes of the same type (e.g., two AI Response nodes), you can reference a specific node's output using its step name. Each node gets an auto-generated step name that you can customize in the config panel.

{{ai_1.ai_output}}
{{http_1.http_response}}

The format is {{stepName.fieldName}}.

Putting It All Together​

Here is an example message template that combines several variable types:

Hi {{name}}, thank you for your message: "{{incoming_message}}"

{{ai_reply}}

Best regards,
Your Support Team

And here is an AI system prompt that uses chat history and contact data:

You are a support agent for {{company}}.
The customer's name is {{name}} and their plan is {{plan}}.

Recent conversation:
{{chat_history}}

Pipe Filters​

You can transform variable values using pipe filters with the | syntax:

{{name | upper}}              → JOHN DOE
{{name | lower}}              → john doe
{{name | slice(0, 5)}}        → John
{{amount | add(10)}}          → 110
{{date | format_date(DD/MM/YYYY)}}  → 15/03/2026
{{status | default(active)}}  → active (if status is empty)

Available filters include:

String: upper, lower, trim, length, default, if_empty, slice, replace, split, url_encode, base64

Math: add, subtract, multiply, divide, round, floor, ceil, abs, mod

Date: add_days, subtract_days, format_date, days_until, days_since

Boolean: not_empty, equals, contains

JSON: json_get -- extract a value from a JSON string (e.g., {{http_data | json_get(result.name)}})

Where Variables Are Used​

You can use {{variables}} in the following places:

  • Send Message -- message body
  • AI Response -- system prompt and user prompt
  • AI Classify -- input text and system prompt
  • AI Condition -- condition prompt
  • AI Extract -- input text and system prompt
  • API Call -- URL, headers, and request body
  • Send Email -- recipient, subject, and body
  • Send Template -- variable mappings
  • Update Row -- field value templates
  • Set Variable -- value template

What Happens With Missing Variables​

If a variable doesn't exist at runtime (for example, a contact doesn't have an email field), it resolves to an empty string. The {{placeholder}} text is not left in the output -- it just becomes blank. Use the default filter to provide a fallback value:

{{email | default(no email on file)}}