Context & Variables

SentiVue Talk has a simple data model for passing information through a call. Understanding it is key to building agents that feel personalised and to extracting useful results after a call.

How data moves through a call

Two objects carry data, one in and one out. initial_context reaches the prompt as template variables written {{like_this}}. gathered_context is filled during the conversation and returned in the run record.

initial_context

Data available to the agent before the call starts — the contact’s name, account details, appointment information, anything the agent should know upfront. It can be set from several places:

API trigger — pass it in the request body when calling POST /public/agent/{uuid} or POST /telephony/initiate-call
Campaign CSV — columns beyond phone_number automatically become initial_context fields for each contact’s call
Dashboard — set default template context variables on the agent, used when no external context is provided

{
  "phone_number": "+14155550100",
  "initial_context": {
    "customer_name": "Jane Smith",
    "plan": "premium",
    "renewal_date": "April 1"
  }
}

Template variables

Values from initial_context are available in your agent’s prompt using {{double_brace}} syntax.

You are calling {{customer_name}} about their {{plan}} plan,
which renews on {{renewal_date}}. Be friendly and confirm
whether they'd like to continue.

When the call starts, SentiVue Talk substitutes the values before sending the prompt to the LLM — so the agent speaks naturally as if it already knows the contact.

Fallback values

If a variable might be missing or empty, use a pipe (|) to provide a default value:

Hello {{customer_name | there}}, we're calling about your {{plan | current}} plan.

When customer_name is not set, the agent will say “Hello there” instead of leaving a blank. The syntax is:

{{variable_name | fallback_value}}

If the variable is present and non-empty, the fallback is ignored and the actual value is used.

Default variables

Built-in variables for current time and weekday, available in any prompt without setting up initial_context.

Variable	Description	Example output
`{{current_time}}`	Current time in UTC (or inferred timezone)	`2026-04-02 14:30:45 UTC`
`{{current_time_<TIMEZONE>}}`	Current time in the specified timezone	`2026-04-02 20:00:45 IST`
`{{current_weekday}}`	Current weekday name in UTC (or inferred timezone)	`Thursday`
`{{current_weekday_<TIMEZONE>}}`	Current weekday name in the specified timezone	`Thursday`

Replace <TIMEZONE> with an IANA timezone name such as Asia/Kolkata, America/New_York, or Europe/London.

Today is {{current_weekday}} and the current time is {{current_time_America/New_York}}.

When you use a timezone suffix on either current_time or current_weekday, the other variable without a suffix will automatically use the same timezone instead of UTC. For example, if your prompt contains both {{current_time_Asia/Kolkata}} and {{current_weekday}}, the weekday will also be resolved in Asia/Kolkata.

Telephony variables

For telephony calls (inbound and outbound), SentiVue Talk automatically adds these variables to initial_context:

Variable	Description	Example
`{{caller_number}}`	The phone number that initiated the call	`+14155550100`
`{{called_number}}`	The phone number that received the call	`+18005550199`

For inbound calls, caller_number is the customer’s number and called_number is your SentiVue Talk number. For outbound calls, it’s the reverse — caller_number is your SentiVue Talk number and called_number is the customer’s number.

You are speaking with the caller at {{caller_number}}.

gathered_context

Data the agent collects during the call. You configure what to extract in the agent node’s extraction settings — each variable has a name, type, and a prompt that tells the LLM what to look for. gathered_context is returned in the run record after the call completes and is available in webhook payloads for downstream processing.

Data flow example

Where variables are available

Location	Variables available
Agent node prompts	`initial_context` fields via `{{variable_name}}`
Edge conditions	Evaluated against the live conversation — no explicit variable syntax needed
Webhook payload templates	All context objects via `{{initial_context.field}}`, `{{gathered_context.field}}` etc.
Campaign CSV columns	CSV columns beyond `phone_number` become `initial_context` fields automatically

Getting started

Core Concepts

Models and providers

Building workflows

Telephony

Billing and access

How data moves through a call

initial_context

Template variables

Fallback values

Default variables

Telephony variables

gathered_context

Data flow example

Where variables are available

​How data moves through a call

​initial_context

​Template variables

​Fallback values

​Default variables

​Telephony variables

​gathered_context

​Data flow example

​Where variables are available

How data moves through a call

initial_context

Template variables

Fallback values

Default variables

Telephony variables

gathered_context

Data flow example

Where variables are available