📥 Question Node (Capture Input)¶

Purpose¶

The Question node (also called "Capture Input") asks the customer a question and saves their answer into a variable. This variable can then be used in later nodes — in messages, conditions, email bodies, or API calls.

Business Scenario¶

Use the Question node when you need to:

Collect customer information — name, email, phone number, company name
Gather lead details for follow-up by your sales team
Capture preferences — product interest, appointment date, budget range
Build forms — chain multiple Question nodes to create a multi-step form

Configuration¶

Field	Description
Question	The message sent to the customer asking for input (e.g., "What's your name?")
Save as Variable	The variable name where the answer is stored. Uses `{{variable_name}}` format. Must be lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores.
Input Type	Validates the customer's response format
Required	Whether the customer must answer (or can skip after a few tries)
Validation Pattern	Advanced: a regex the answer must match
Variable Scope	How long the variable is remembered
Node Title	Internal name (visible only to you)

Input Types¶

Type	Description	Validation at runtime
Text	Any free-form text	Accepted as-is
Number	Numeric values only	Digits with optional decimal point and minus sign
Phone	Phone number format	Optional `+`, 7–15 digits; spaces and dashes are tolerated
Email	Email address format	Standard `[email protected]` shape
Choice List (Select)	Customer picks from a predefined list	Reply must match one of your options (case-insensitive — the saved value is canonicalised to your exact option text)

Choice List

When Input Type is Select, an extra field appears where you enter one option per line. These are shown to the customer as a tappable WhatsApp list. The selected value is saved to the variable.

What Happens on Invalid Input¶

The assistant validates every answer against the input type (and your regex, if set). An invalid answer gets a retry prompt. After 3 invalid attempts, the customer is shown a recovery menu instead of being stuck in a loop:

Recovery option	Shown when	What it does
Try Again	Always	Re-asks the question with a fresh attempt counter
Skip This Field	Only if the field is not required	Leaves the variable empty and moves to the next node
Talk to Human	Always	Hands the conversation off to a live agent (see Human Handoff)

Variable Scope¶

Scope	Description
Conversation	The variable resets every time a new conversation starts. Best for temporary data like menu selections.
Contact	The variable persists across all conversations with this customer. Best for name, email, and other permanent data.

Contact scope is not active yet

The Contact scope can be selected in the designer, but the runtime currently stores all captured variables per conversation. Cross-conversation persistence is planned — until then, treat every variable as Conversation-scoped.

Properties¶

Property	Type	Required	Default	Description
`title`	Text	No	`""`	Internal node name
`prompt`	Text	Yes	`""`	The question shown to the customer
`variableName`	Text	Yes	`input`	Variable name (lowercase, underscores)
`inputType`	Select	Yes	`text`	Expected input format
`required`	Boolean	No	`true`	Whether the customer must answer
`options`	List	Only if type = select	—	Choice options (one per line)
`validationRegex`	Text	No	—	Regex pattern the answer must match
`scope`	Select	Yes	`conversation`	Variable persistence
`label`	Text	No	—	Optional display label

Inputs¶

Handle	Type	Description
Top (↑)	Target	Receives a connection from any preceding node

Outputs¶

Handle	Type	Description
Bottom (↓)	Continue	Connects to the next node (runs after the customer answers)

Connection Rules¶

✅ Can receive connections from any node type
✅ Can connect to any node type
✅ Commonly followed by another Question (form chain), a Condition, or a confirmation Message
⚠️ No outgoing connection means the conversation stops after the answer (dead end warning)

Example Flow Diagram¶

Lead Capture Form¶

flowchart TD
    A["📋 Menu"] -->|"Get a Quote"| B["📥 Ask Name<br/><em>What's your name?</em><br/>→ {{name}}"]
    B --> C["📥 Ask Email<br/><em>What's your email?</em><br/>→ {{email}}"]
    C --> D["📥 Ask Phone<br/><em>What's your phone number?</em><br/>→ {{phone}}"]
    D --> E["💬 Confirmation<br/><em>Thanks {{name}}! We'll contact you at {{email}}.</em>"]
    E --> F["✉️ Send Email<br/><em>New lead: {{name}}</em>"]

    style B fill:#cffafe,stroke:#22d3ee,stroke-width:2px
    style C fill:#cffafe,stroke:#22d3ee,stroke-width:2px
    style D fill:#cffafe,stroke:#22d3ee,stroke-width:2px
    style E fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#60a5fa,stroke-width:2px
    style F fill:#ccfbf1,stroke:#2dd4bf,stroke-width:2px

Using Captured Variables¶

Any later node that renders text — Message bodies, Menu text, Question prompts, Send Email subject/body, Document/Image captions — can include {{variable_name}} and it is replaced with the captured value when the message is sent.

An undefined variable renders as an empty string — the raw {{...}} token is never shown to the customer.
Whitespace inside the braces is tolerated: {{ name }} works the same as {{name}}.

Built-in Variables¶

These are always available without a Question node:

Variable	Value
`{{customerName}}`	The customer's WhatsApp profile name
`{{customerPhone}}`	The customer's phone number
`{{tenantName}}`	Your business name
`{{timestamp}}`	The current date/time
`{{conversationId}}`	Internal conversation reference (useful in emails to agents)

Best Practices¶

Use descriptive variable names — customer_name is better than input1.
Set the right input type — this adds validation and improves the customer experience (e.g., phone keyboards appear for phone type).
Use Contact scope for permanent data — name, email, and phone should persist across conversations.
Use Conversation scope for temporary data — menu selections, quote quantities, etc.
Keep questions short and clear — "What's your email?" is better than "Could you please provide us with your email address so we can get back to you?"
Follow up with a confirmation — show the customer what you captured.

Common Mistakes¶

Mistake	What Happens	Fix
Variable name with spaces or capitals	Validation error	Use lowercase with underscores: `customer_name`
Forgetting to connect to next node	Dead end — conversation stops	Connect to a Message, Menu, or next Question
Using `{{variable}}` before it's captured	The placeholder renders as empty text (e.g. "Thanks !")	Make sure the Question node appears before any node that uses its variable
Select type with no options listed	Customer sees an empty list	Add at least one option

💬 Message — Use after a Question to confirm the captured value
🔀 Condition — Check the captured value to branch the flow
✉️ Send Email — Include captured variables in email notifications
⚡ API Action — Send captured data to an external system
📋 Menu — Often precedes a Question (e.g., "Get a Quote" → capture details)