Variables and data in flows

Every text box of a flow takes variables between double braces. They are filled in when the message goes out, for that contact:

Hi {{first_name|there}}! Your order #{{trigger.number}} of {{trigger.total:money}} is confirmed.

The shape of a variable

{{ source.path :formatting |default value }}

• the source says where the data comes from;
• the path goes into nested data;
• the formatting (optional, up to two) turns the data into something readable;
• the default value (optional) is what goes out when the data does not exist.

A {{…}} that is not a variable — {{ text with spaces }}, {{1}} — goes out as written.

Sources

Variable	What it brings
{{first_name}}, {{last_name}}, {{full_name}}	The contact's name (the first name falls back to the WhatsApp profile name)
{{profile_name}}, {{email}}, {{phone}}	WhatsApp name, e-mail, phone with +
{{field.city}}	A custom field of the contact
{{flow.score}}	The answer a step kept, or the event of a Wait for event
{{trigger.order.id}}	What the trigger brought: the webhook's data or the API's data
{{$json.order.id}}	The same as trigger. — n8n's spelling
{{now}}	The moment the message goes out

Paths

A store's data is never flat. The path goes into it:

Path	Reads
trigger.billing.first_name	A field inside another
trigger.line_items[0].name	The first item of a list
trigger.line_items.0.name	The same, with a dot
trigger.line_items[-1].name	The last item
trigger["meta data"].gift	A key with a space or a special character

A list of texts goes out comma-separated (vip, returning); a list of objects has no text of its own — pick a field of an item, or count the items with :count.

Formatting

Formatting	Example	Goes out
:money	{{trigger.total:money}}	R$ 189,90
:money(USD)	{{trigger.total:money(USD)}}	US$ 189,90
:number, :number(2)	{{trigger.weight:number(2)}}	1,50
:date	{{trigger.date_created:date}}	22/09/2026
:datetime, :time	{{trigger.date_created:time}}	11:03 (Brasília time; another zone: :time(America/New_York))
:title	{{trigger.billing.first_name:title}}	Maria da Silva
:upper, :lower	{{trigger.coupon:upper}}	WELCOME10
:first_word	{{trigger.billing.first_name:first_word}}	Maria
:digits	{{trigger.billing.phone:digits}}	11987654321
:join, :join( / )	{{trigger.tags:join( / )}}	vip / returning
:count	{{trigger.line_items:count}}	2
:truncate(20)	{{trigger.product:truncate(20)}}	Basic cotton t-shir…

Numbers and dates come out the Brazilian way. The Portuguese names are accepted too (:moeda, :data, :hora, :contar…). A number may come as 189.9, "189.90" or "1.234,56"; a date in ISO, in seconds since 1970 or as dd/mm/yyyy. Data the formatting cannot read — a total of "n/a" — counts as missing, and the default value goes out.

Default value

{{field.city|your city}} writes your city for whoever lacks the field. Without a default, a missing value becomes empty text, and publishing warns about it.

In templates

A template step's variables have two more sources besides the contact:

• Trigger data — a path in the trigger's data, with optional formatting;
• Flow answers — what a step kept.

The default value is required, as in campaigns: Meta refuses an empty variable. A fixed text takes variables too — Order {{trigger.number}} — to build a value with the data in the middle.

That is how an order confirmation goes out outside the 24-hour window, where only a template can be sent.

In links

The link of a URL button and the address of the outgoing webhook take variables too: https://store.com/order/{{trigger.id}}?name={{first_name}}. Each value in the middle of the link is encoded (a space or an & does not break the URL); a variable at the start is the base itself — {{trigger.tracking_url}}. The link has to become an https:// address, or the run ends with the reason invalid link.

Button titles — reply buttons, the list's button and the URL button — take variables too: Pay {{trigger.total:money}}. WhatsApp caps a title at 20 characters, so what the data made of it is cut with … at that cap; a title that would come out empty uses the fixed text written around the variables, and two reply buttons with the same title get a number (Yes 2). A list's options take variables in the title and the description: the title is cut at 24 characters and numbered when it comes out the same as another option's; the description is cut at 72 and left out if the data leaves it empty. A section's title takes variables too and is cut at 24; with more than one section (when WhatsApp requires it) it never comes out empty.

In conditions and fields

• The Trigger data rule compares a path — status equal to processing, total greater than 500. The comparisons are: equals, is not, contains, does not contain, starts with, is one of (a comma-separated list), is empty, is filled in, greater, greater or equal, less, less or equal. The compared value takes variables too: {{field.limit}}.
• Set field can add and subtract (an order counter, the amount spent), add options to a list and remove them, write the current moment or clear the field.
• Delay can wait until a date in the data — one hour before {{trigger.appointment.start}}, for example — and says what to do when the date has passed.

Validation

When publishing, the flow warns about formatting that does not exist (an error), an unknown source, a path that is not in the webhook's captured samples and a variable without a default (warnings). Under each box, the editor shows the message filled with the captured sample.