Variables in workflows

What is a variable

A variable is a value that changes depending on a context or situation. It might be a version number, a document ID, or a sum of a calculation pulled into a workflow from a 3rd party tool.

For example, you might want to create a Zendesk ticket directly from a Next Matter workflow and pull the ticket ID of this ticket back to the workflow for reference.

In Next Matter you can create variables in one of the two available ways

• Selectable variables: if you're starting a workflow with a webhook trigger, we parse the webhook response and enable you to select variables from the dropdown.
• Low-code variables: you run the integration step and extract the variables from the response.
• "DIY" variables: normally you run the integration step without variables, look at the response, and define the value you want to extract.

Select variables from response body

When you test a webhook, you call it and the call response is received from Next Matter. We parse the response for you and select data that can be reused.

Variables in low-code steps

You create variables in low-code Google Sheets and Zendesk integrations by running the integration step and extracting the variables from the response. For details, see:

• Low-code Google Sheets
• Low-code Zendesk

Create a variable from scratch

1. Create a step and select Integrations as the step type. You can add this step to an already existing workflow or create a new workflow. The integration step with a variable will be the step to which you want to send the variable data.
2. Click the setting icon.
3. Enter the API endpoint you will be calling. If unsure, check the third-party API documentation.
4. If you've already integrated with an external tool, select this tool in the Preconfigured integrations.
5. Click + Add a variable.
6. Configure the variable:

• Give your variable a meaningful name

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Make sure there are no brackets or braces in the variable name.

• Enter jsonpath as the preset type
• Define the value that you want to extract. It's a good idea to first run the workflow without the variable and copy the JSON response that the integration step request provides. Next, you can use an online evaluator to test the required syntax for the variable https://jsonpath.com.
• Copy the variable over to Next Matter.

7. Save your changes.

Now you can reference the variable in the step where it should be used or displayed. You can select one of two available formats from the data reference dropdown.

• String - useful if you want to display the result
• JSON - useful if you want to use the result in another integration step