Variables reference

A variable is a token like {{first_name}} that DMLY replaces with the real value per contact at the moment a message sends. In the flow builder, any field that takes them has a {} picker listing the common ones, but the picker is a convenience, not the boundary: tokens are plain text, and everything on this page works typed by hand.

The three rules

1. An unresolvable token becomes empty text. A message never reaches a contact with a literal {{order.number}} showing, but it can arrive with a hole where the value should have been: “Your order is on its way”. To avoid the hole, give the token a fallback after a pipe: {{first_name|there}} renders “there” when the contact has no first name. Blank or whitespace counts as empty; 0 is kept. It works on any token, including {{custom.x}}, in flows, quick automations, broadcasts and sequences. It matters most for WhatsApp templates, because WhatsApp rejects a blank template parameter. The builder’s canvas preview is the opposite: it shows unknown tokens as typed, so a clean-looking preview is not proof the token will resolve. Test by triggering the flow for real. 2. Most tokens are scoped to an event. Contact tokens always work. Everything dotted ({{invoice.number}}, {{appointment.date}}, {{order.total}}) carries data only when the flow started from the matching event, or after a step that fetched it (a Find Order step fills the order tokens, a Book Meeting step fills the meeting.* ones). An {{invoice.number}} in a plain keyword-reply flow resolves to nothing, every time. 3. Flows and quick automations get the full set. A quick automation resolves the same event tokens as a flow started by the same event, so {{cart.total}} or {{invoice.total}} works in its reply. Only tokens written by flow steps (Find Order, Book Meeting, HTTP Request and so on) and {{flow_run_id}} are flow-only. Broadcasts, sequences and Bot Setup replies substitute contact-level tokens only: the Contact, Business and System tables below (all but {{flow_run_id}}), plus the two live balances.

Condition steps take no variables at all. A condition’s value box compares literal text; it has its own dropdowns for reading trigger data, so don’t type {{tokens}} there.

Contact

Always available, everywhere variables work.

Token	Resolves to
`{{first_name}}`	The first word of the contact’s name
`{{last_name}}`	The rest of the name
`{{name}}`	The full name
`{{email}}`	Their email address
`{{phone}}`	Their phone number
`{{custom.<field>}}`	One of your custom fields, by name

The picker’s Custom field… entry inserts the placeholder {{custom.field}} literally. Replace field with your real field name ({{custom.membership_tier}}), or the token resolves against a field actually called “field”, which is almost certainly empty.

Business

Token	Resolves to
`{{business_name}}`	Your workspace name, which is your business name

System

The picker’s System group: facts about the conversation rather than about the person. Seven of the eight work everywhere variables work, like the Contact tokens; only {{flow_run_id}} needs a flow.

Token	Resolves to	Scope
`{{last_message}}`	What the customer last said. Inside a flow it’s the message that started the run, refreshed with each reply the contact sends to a question step, which makes it the same value as `{{text}}` there	Anywhere; in a flow, the run’s own message
`{{contact_id}}`	The contact’s id in DMLY. The same id the API and webhooks use, so a row you write out can be read back later	Anywhere
`{{channel}}`	The channel type the contact is active on, lowercase and unspaced: `whatsapp`, `facebook`, `instagram`, `telegram`, `sms`, `livechat` and `tiktok` among them	Anywhere
`{{channel_name}}`	The name of that channel in DMLY	Anywhere
`{{channel_contact_id}}`	The platform’s own id for the person: their WhatsApp number, their Messenger or Instagram id	Anywhere
`{{workspace_id}}`	Your workspace’s id	Anywhere
`{{flow_run_id}}`	The id of this run of this flow, useful as a reference in a webhook payload or a spreadsheet row	Flows only; empty everywhere else
`{{current_datetime}}`	Now, as `2026-06-30 10:00:00`, in the contact’s timezone (or UTC if you have no timezone for them)	Anywhere

These are what you write into a spreadsheet row or an HTTP Request body when the row has to be matched back to DMLY afterwards, because a name, phone number or username can be missing today and different tomorrow, and an id can’t.

{{last_message}} outside a flow is a preview, not a promise. In a broadcast, a sequence step or a notification there is no run to read from, so it falls back to the conversation’s stored last message, which DMLY also updates when you send. Mid-conversation it can just as easily be your own last reply as the customer’s.

If a flow saves a variable of its own under one of these names, through an HTTP Request step or a Get row from Google Sheets step, your value wins and the system one is not used.

Live balances

These two query the contact’s balance at the moment the message sends, in any flow, with no event scope.

Token	Resolves to
`{{credit.balance}}`	Their current credit balance. `{{credits.balance}}` is the same token under its other name.
`{{loyalty.points}}`	Their current loyalty points

Appointments

Filled in flows started by an appointment event (booked, confirmed, rescheduled, and the rest).

Token	Resolves to
`{{appointment.service}}`	The service name
`{{appointment.staff}}`	The staff member’s name
`{{appointment.date}}`	The date, written out: `Monday, June 30, 2026`
`{{appointment.time}}`	The time with its timezone: `10:00 AM EDT`
`{{appointment.datetime}}`	Both together
`{{appointment.location}}`	The service’s location
`{{appointment.link}}`	The meeting link for an online appointment; where there’s no link, it falls back to the location text
`{{appointment.status}}`	The booking status
`{{appointment.reschedule_url}}`	The client’s own manage page, opened onto rescheduling
`{{appointment.cancel_url}}`	The same page, opened onto cancelling

Dates and times are rendered in the contact’s timezone, so “10:00 AM” is their 10 AM. The meeting.* spellings ({{meeting.type}}, {{meeting.date}}, {{meeting.time}}, {{meeting.datetime}}, {{meeting.link}}, {{meeting.location}}, {{meeting.duration}}, {{meeting.reschedule_url}}, {{meeting.cancel_url}}) are the original family. {{appointment.*}} are aliases of them, plus a few extras (service, staff, status) that only appointment events carry. In a booking message, meaning a service’s Confirmation message, Reminder message and Cancellation message, and the Book Meeting step’s own confirmation, either family resolves.

After a Book Meeting step, only {{meeting.*}} resolves. The step writes the meeting tokens for the steps that follow it and nothing else, which is what its own panel hint says: “Books on your Google Calendar with a Meet link, then exposes {{meeting.link}}, {{meeting.date}} and {{meeting.time}} for later steps.” An {{appointment.date}} in a step after Book Meeting comes out empty. Worse, in a flow an appointment event started, it resolves to the appointment that started the flow, not the one just booked.

For class events:

Token	Resolves to
`{{class.name}}`	The class name
`{{class.date}}` / `{{class.time}}`	Same formats as appointments
`{{class.seats_left}}`	Seats still open

Finance

Filled in flows started by the matching Business event, and by the finance steps that create the thing mid-flow.

Token	Resolves to	Carries data when
`{{invoice.number}}`	The invoice number, e.g. `INV-0042`	Invoice events; after a create/send-invoice step
`{{invoice.total}}`	The invoice total	Same
`{{invoice.amount_due}}`	What’s still owed	Invoice events
`{{invoice.currency}}`	The currency code	Invoice events
`{{invoice.status}}`	The invoice status	Invoice events
`{{invoice.due_date}}`	The due date as `2026-07-30`	Invoice events
`{{payment.amount}}`	The payment amount	Payment events; after a payment-link or record-payment step
`{{subscription.name}}`	The plan name	Subscription events; after a create-subscription step
`{{subscription.price}}`	The recurring price	Subscription events
`{{subscription.status}}`	The subscription status	Subscription events
`{{subscription.next_billing_date}}`	Next billing date, `2026-08-01`	Subscription events
`{{subscription.update_card_link}}`	The member’s self-serve card update page (empty for a one-off subscription)	Subscription events
`{{payment.external_reference}}`	The payment’s external reference	Payment events; after a payment step
`{{invoice.pdf_url}}`	A link to the invoice PDF (empty for drafts)	Invoice events
`{{coupon.code}}`	The redeemed code	Coupon redeemed flows only

Amounts are plain numbers: 120.00, no currency symbol. Put the currency token next to them yourself: {{invoice.total}} {{invoice.currency}}.

Offerings

Token	Resolves to	Carries data when
`{{product.name}}`	The product’s name	Stock events; after a send-product or check-stock step
`{{product.price}}`	Its price	Same
`{{product.stock}}`	Units in stock	Same

E-commerce (Shopify / WooCommerce)

Filled in flows started by a store event. The FOUND branch of a Find Order step fills only the order tokens (order.id, order.number, order.total, order.currency, order.status, order.payment_status, order.fulfillment_status, order.checkout_url, order.tracking_url, order.tracking_number, order.items_summary) and {{store.name}}. Customer, product and payment-method tokens come only from a store-event trigger.

Token	Resolves to
`{{order.number}}`	The store’s order number
`{{order.total}}` / `{{order.currency}}`	The order total and currency
`{{order.status}}`	The order’s status
`{{order.items_summary}}`	The items in one line: `2× Aurora Hoodie, 1× Trail Socks`
`{{order.checkout_url}}`	The checkout page: the recovery link on an abandoned checkout
`{{order.tracking_url}}`	The tracking link, once the store has one
`{{customer.first_name}}`	The store customer’s first name
`{{customer.total_spent}}`	Their lifetime spend at the store
`{{product.title}}` / `{{product.price}}`	The product on a stock event
`{{store.name}}`	The store’s name
`{{discount.code}}`	The code minted by a Create discount step earlier in this flow (empty otherwise)

WhatsApp cart

Filled in flows started by the Cart order received trigger. See Sell on WhatsApp. These aren’t in the picker; type them.

Token	Resolves to
`{{cart.total}}` / `{{cart.currency}}`	The cart total and currency
`{{cart.items_summary}}`	The items in one line: `2× Blue Shirt, 1× Hat`
`{{cart.item_count}}`	How many items
`{{cart.note}}`	The note the customer attached to the cart, if any

Click-to-WhatsApp ad

Filled when the message that started the flow came from a tap on one of your ads, or on a post that opens a WhatsApp chat. See the Click-to-WhatsApp ad trigger. These aren’t in the picker; type them.

Token	Resolves to
`{{ad.headline}}`	The headline the person tapped: `Summer Sale`
`{{ad.body}}`	The ad’s body copy
`{{ad.source_id}}`	The ad’s own ID, `120209428414010371`: the same one A specific ad matches on
`{{ad.source_type}}`	`ad` or `post`, so a paid tap can be answered differently from an organic one
`{{ad.source_url}}`	A link to the ad or the post
`{{ad.media_type}}`	What the creative is: `image`, `video`
`{{ad.image_url}}` / `{{ad.video_url}}` / `{{ad.thumbnail_url}}`	The creative itself
`{{ad.ctwa_clid}}`	The ID of that one click, which Meta’s Conversions API uses to tie a later sale back to the ad

Each token only carries what Meta actually sent: an ad with no body copy leaves {{ad.body}} empty, and a very long one arrives cut off at 1,000 characters. {{ad}} on its own resolves to nothing, so always name the part you want. DMLY doesn’t report {{ad.ctwa_clid}} to Meta for you yet; it is there so you can pass the click on to Meta’s own tools if you track sales back to ads. They aren’t limited to flows built on the ad trigger. Any flow that this message started gets them, so a plain WhatsApp message flow can still name the ad. A flow that was already running before the tap doesn’t get them: they’re set when a run starts. Answering the offer somebody tapped. A salon running an ad headlined Summer Sale: two for one can open with that offer instead of a greeting:

Hi {{first_name}}, thanks for tapping "{{ad.headline}}".
It runs until Sunday. Reply BOOK and I'll find you a slot.

which reaches the person as:

Hi Marta, thanks for tapping "Summer Sale: two for one".
It runs until Sunday. Reply BOOK and I'll find you a slot.

Write the sentence so it still reads if the headline is missing. If you’d rather not depend on the headline at all, pin a flow to A specific ad: it only ever answers that one ad, so you can spell the price and the closing date out in full.

Shared location

Filled after a contact shares a location: on the RECEIVED path of a Request Location step, or in a flow a shared-location message started. Empty if the contact replied without actually sharing a pin.

Token	Resolves to
`{{location.latitude}}` / `{{location.longitude}}`	The coordinates, as sent
`{{location.name}}`	The place name, if the contact shared a named place
`{{location.address}}`	The street address, if one came with it

WhatsApp Flow (form) submissions

Filled when a contact submits a WhatsApp form that a WhatsApp Form (Flow) step sent earlier in the same flow. Empty if the contact replied without submitting the form, because that step moves on either way. These aren’t in the picker; type them.

Token	Resolves to
`{{nfm.<field>}}`	That field’s answer, exactly as the form submitted it

<field> is the field’s internal name, not the wording of the question you wrote. It’s the small label on the row in the contact’s Flow answers panel, so send yourself the form once, submit it, and read the names (and the stored values) off that panel. Two limits. An answer that arrives as a list of choices resolves to nothing, though the list itself still shows in Flow answers. And a Condition step can’t test an answer: conditions compare literal text (see the three rules). To branch on something, ask for it with a normal question step, where the reply is captured and can be branched on.

More tokens you can type

The picker stops at the everyday set; the engine resolves more. The useful ones, same scoping rules:

Token	Resolves to	Scope
`{{text}}`	The message that triggered the flow, refreshed to the latest reply after each question step. In an outgoing message flow it’s the message you or the agent sent, not the contact’s	Message-triggered flows
`{{order.payment_method}}`	How the store order is being paid: `cod`, `card`…	Store events
`{{order.tracking_number}}`	The bare tracking number	Store events, Find Order
`{{order.subtotal}}` / `{{order.first_item_title}}`	Pre-shipping subtotal; the first item’s name	Store events
`{{customer.name}}` / `{{customer.email}}` / `{{customer.phone}}` / `{{customer.orders_count}}`	More of the store customer	Store events (name/phone/email also on cart flows)
`{{appointment.duration}}`	The length, as `45 min`	Appointment events
`{{class.staff}}` / `{{class.location}}` / `{{class.join_url}}`	More of the class session	Class events
`{{payment.reference}}` / `{{payment.provider}}` / `{{payment.link_url}}` / `{{payment.currency}}`	More of the payment	Payment events
`{{subscription.billing_interval}}`	`month`, `year`…	Subscription events
`{{credits.amount}}`	The credits moved by this event	Credits events
`{{coupon.amount}}`	The redeemed coupon’s value	Coupon redeemed
`{{plan.name}}` / `{{plan.price}}`	After a send-plan step	That flow
`{{service.name}}` / `{{service.price}}`	After a send-service step	That flow
`{{lifecycle.stage}}` / `{{lifecycle.old_stage}}` / `{{lifecycle.reason}}`	The new and previous lifecycle stage (lead, client and so on), and the reason	Lifecycle events
`{{stage.name}}` / `{{previous_stage.name}}` / `{{stage.id}}` / `{{previous_stage.id}}`	The new and previous pipeline stage. Empty when there was no stage before, or the stage was cleared	Pipeline stage changed
`{{ref}}` / `{{growth_tool}}`	Which growth link brought the contact in	WhatsApp URL trigger
`{{_last_http_status}}` / `{{_last_http_error}}`	The status the HTTP Request step’s endpoint returned (`0` if there was no response at all), and the reason when there wasn’t one	After that step, this run
Your own names	Whatever an HTTP Request step saved under Save response to fields, or a Get row from Google Sheets step saved under Save row columns to variables	After that step, this run

Where variables work

Inside a flow, nearly every text a contact ends up seeing takes variables: message bodies and captions, question steps, button and card text, WhatsApp template parameters, the AI step’s instructions, the HTTP Request step’s JSON body, the Send SMS step’s message, payment-request amounts and descriptions. Outside the flow builder (broadcast messages, sequence steps, quick-automation replies, Bot Setup welcome messages and menu answers), the same {{syntax}} works. Quick-automation replies get the event tokens too; the others resolve only the contact-level set, as covered in rule 3.

Build a flow

The canvas these tokens live on.

Custom fields

Create the fields behind the custom tokens.

Store automations

The steps that fill the e-commerce tokens.

HTTP Request step

Mint your own variables from an API response.

Getting started

Messaging

Business

Workspace

Compliance

Troubleshooting

Variables reference

The three rules

Contact

Business

System

Live balances

Appointments

Finance

Offerings

E-commerce (Shopify / WooCommerce)

WhatsApp cart

Click-to-WhatsApp ad

Shared location

WhatsApp Flow (form) submissions

More tokens you can type

Where variables work

Build a flow

Custom fields

Store automations

HTTP Request step

​The three rules

​Contact

​Business

​System

​Live balances

​Appointments

​Finance

​Offerings

​E-commerce (Shopify / WooCommerce)

​WhatsApp cart

​Click-to-WhatsApp ad

​Shared location

​WhatsApp Flow (form) submissions

​More tokens you can type

​Where variables work

Build a flow

Custom fields

Store automations

HTTP Request step

The three rules

Contact

Business

System

Live balances

Appointments

Finance

Offerings

E-commerce (Shopify / WooCommerce)

WhatsApp cart

Click-to-WhatsApp ad

Shared location

WhatsApp Flow (form) submissions

More tokens you can type

Where variables work