Messaging flows

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Messaging flows

Messaging flow variables

Last updated: October 30, 2025 at 3:45 PM

WhatsApp Messaging add-on

You can purchase WhatsApp Messaging separately, or you can add this feature to your Plus, Professional, or Enterprise plan.

The true power of messaging flows lies in using the contact's answers to questions to dynamically change the flow, either by personalizing messages, updating their contact information, saving important details, retrieving their recent orders from a database, and displaying them as a list on WhatsApp, among other uses.

In this article, we’ll go through the four different types of variables you’ll use on your flows.

Contact variables

Contact variables come from a contact’s information. By default, each contact comes with five variables:

• First name
• Last name
• Phone number
• Email
• URL

Additionally, you can have as many variables as needed as contact attributes. You can use these contact attributes in messaging flows, or the messaging flow can dynamically change them.

A contact always precedes the contact variable, followed by the variable name. For example, if you want to use the contact’s first name, you would use %contact.first_name%.

Messaging Flow variables

Messaging Flow variables are created and used within a messaging flow. They are made by using a question step, a menu step, a template with buttons, and an action step. These variables are accessible during the messaging flow execution and, unless you save them as contact attributes or send them to a webhook, they will be lost once the messaging flow finishes.

A step always precedes a messaging flow variable, and then the name of the step that got the variable. For example, if you want to use the messaging flow’s variable ask_name from a question step called “ask_name,” you would use %step.ask_name%.

Global variables

Global variables are set by the server based on your account’s settings and include your current day, time, weekday, and other relevant information.

A global variable is always preceded by a global. and then the variable name. For example, if you want to use the global variable “Weekday,” you would use %global.Weekday%.

Using variables

Variables are great for personalizing templates and messages, and for using them as conditions to change a messaging flow. For instance, you could create an attribute in the contact called “Language” and use it with a conditional step to direct the user to a different messaging flow based on their language.

Another potential use case is a chatbot that lets users track their orders on a website. Here, you can use the user’s phone number to retrieve their recent orders from your database using an action step and display them as a list on WhatsApp. You can then take action depending on the order they select.

Messaging flows are robust, but when you combine them with variables, you can create truly exceptional experiences for your users and fully automate your WhatsApp communication.

See Also

• Original ActiveCampaign Article

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