Agent Script Reference: Variables

Variables let agents deterministically remember information across conversation turns, track progress, and maintain context throughout the session. You define all variables in the variables block, and all topics in the agent can access the variables.

A variable can be a regular variable or a linked variable:

regular variable: You can initialize a variable with a default value, and the agent can change the variable's value.
linked variable: The value of a linked variable is tied to an output such as an action's output. Linked variables can't have a default value.

Variable names must follow Salesforce developer name standards:

Begin with a letter, not an underscore.
Contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores.
Can't end with underscore.
Can't contain consecutive underscores (__).
Maximum length of 80 characters.

To reference a variable from the script, use @variables.<variable_name>. To reference a variable from within reasoning instructions, use {!@variables.<variable_name>}.

Regular variables have these properties:

mutable - Optional. Allows the agent to change the variable's value. To ensure a variable's value is never changed, define the variable without mutable.
description- describes the variable. Optional. If you want the LLM to use reasoning to set the variable's value, include a description. See Let the LLM set variables with user-entered information (slot filling).
label - Optional. The variable's name as displayed in the UI. By default, the description is generated from the name. For example, if your variable's name is my_var, the UI displays the label My Var.

Regular variables can have these types:

Type	Notes	Example
`string`	Any alphanumeric string without special characters.	`name: mutable string = "John Doe2"`
`number`	Use for both integers and decimals. For example, 42 or 3.14. Compiles to IEEE 754 double-precision floating point.	`age: mutable number = 25`, `price: mutable number = 99.99`
`boolean`	Allowed values are `True` or `False`. The value is case-sensitive, so capitalize the first letter.	`is_active: mutable boolean = True`
`object`	Value is a complex JSON object the form `{"key": "value"}.`	`order_line: mutable object = {"SKU": "abc12344409","count": 42}`
`date`	Any valid date format.	`start_date: mutable date = 2025-01-15`
`id`	A Salesforce record ID.	`"0015000000XyZ12"`
`list [type]`	A list of values of the specified type. All primitive types are supported.	`flags: mutable list[boolean] = [True, False, True]`, `scores: list[number] = [95, 87.5, 92]`

A linked variable's value is tied to a source, such as an action's output. A linked variable doesn't have a default value and can't be set by the agent.

Linked variables can have these types:

string
number
boolean
date
id

Common use cases for variables are to share information between topics (storing state) and allowing the LLM to set variables with user-entered values.

You can use variables to share information, or state, between topics. For example, to share the current temperature between all topics in an agent, run the Get_Current_Weather_Data action and store the value of the temperature output in the global temperature variable.

Use ... to indicate that the LLM should use reasoning to set a variable's value. For example, the LLM can ask the user for their first and last name, then use the capture_user_info tool to set those values in the variables first_name and last_name. Using reasoning to set a variable's value is called slot filling.

For simple workflows, the LLM can figure out which actions to call based on the action's description and name. In this example, we explicitly reference {!@capture_user_info} in the instructions to be sure the LLM stores the user information.

You can use slot-filling for top-level action inputs, but not for chained action inputs.