While dictionaries maintain the current state of a bot behavior, variables describe the behavior’s inputs.

In the behavior’s dictionary, variables are prefixed with var_. They can be used in outcomes and actions like any other placeholder.

When a variable is marked as public, its initial value may be set by the actor who triggers the behavior. This may be a human worker or another bot.

For example, if a behavior exists to send SMS messages through Twilio, one public variable can prompt for the message to send, and a second public variable can prompt for the mobile number of the recipient.

Conversely, a private variable does not prompt for input; its value is only set within the behavior itself.

Variables make it easy to create reusable behaviors – common functionality that is implemented in one place and used in many places.