Dograh 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.
The three context objects
initial_context ──► Agent ──► gathered_context
│
[template variables](/voice-agent/template-variables)
(used in prompts)
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
- Pre-call data fetch — enrich the context with data from your CRM or ERP via an HTTP call as the call starts, before the agent speaks
- Agent Settings — set template context variables on the agent for testing; they’re included in test calls from the workflow editor and ignored on production calls
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.
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.
customer_name is not set, the agent will say “Hello there” instead of leaving a blank. The syntax is:
{{variable_name | fallback_value}}
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 |
<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), Dograh 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 |
caller_number is the customer’s number and called_number is your Dograh number. For outbound calls, it’s the reverse — caller_number is your Dograh 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. It is not available as a template variable in Agent prompts — prompts can only reference initial_context fields.
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 |
