Build a flow
Variables and phrases
Put a caller's answers, API data and reusable wording into what the phone shows.
Anything between double braces is filled in when the screen is shown. A message written as Hello {{caller_name}}, your balance is {{auth.balance}}. reaches the caller with their name and balance in place.
In the editor these names are drawn as chips, in the message, in option text, and in API addresses.
Where names come from
| Name | Comes from |
|---|---|
{{pin}} |
An input screen that saves its answer as pin |
{{auth}}, {{auth.status}}, {{auth.balance}} |
An API call that saves its answer as auth |
{{api_base}} |
A flow variable, set in the flow's settings |
{{phone_number}} |
The caller's number, always there |
{{welcome}} |
A phrase, also set in the flow's settings |
A screen can only use what has been set before a caller reaches it. The editor offers the names that are in reach of the screen you are editing, and Checks tells you when a screen uses one that is not.
Adding a name to a message
- Click a pill under the message to insert that name where your cursor was.
- Or type
{{in any of these fields and pick from the list. Arrow keys move,Enterpicks,Esccloses.
You write
Your balance is auth.balance. Goodbye.
Insert: api_base auth.balance auth.status pin welcome
The caller reads
Filled in from the API's answer when the caller gets here.
Phrases
A phrase is wording you reuse, such as a greeting or the text of a Back option. Write it once and use it as {{name}} wherever it is needed.
+ New phrase under a message makes one on the spot: give it a name and its text, and it is added to the flow and inserted into the message.
Phrases are also how a flow speaks more than one language. Each phrase has a text per language, and the caller sees the one for their language: welcome can be Welcome to Example Bank in English and Takulandirani ku Example Bank in Chichewa.
Languages
Add a language in the flow's settings. Every message and option then has a field per language. Leave a translation empty and callers who chose that language see the default language's text instead.
What callers see
Under a menu's options, Callers see draws the screen the way the phone will. Phrases are filled in. A name that comes from an API call shows the value from that call's test answer, underlined, so you can see real wording instead of a name. Names that only a live call knows, such as a caller's answer, stay as names.