# Prompt variables

> Ask your AI assistant to add, change or remove the company facts your AI agent quotes on calls, such as your company name and offer.

- Section: Using the MCP (AI assistant) › AI agent setup
- Web page: https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/prompt-variables
- Manual (in-app) equivalent: [Prompt variables](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/prompt-variables.md)
- Video: placeholder — "Managing prompt variables with your AI assistant" (not yet recorded)

**Prompt variables** are named facts about your business, like `company_name`, `agent_name` or `offer`. You write them once, and your prompts, intros and opening sentences refer to them in curly braces, for example `{company_name}`. When a call starts, Bigly swaps each placeholder for its value.

They're the same list you see on **AI › Teach Your Bot › Prompt Variables** in the app. Keeping facts here means you change the offer in one place instead of editing every prompt.

> **Example request to your AI assistant:** "List our prompt variables."
> "Change our offer to 20% off the first month."
> "Add a variable called agent_name with the value Sarah."
> "Remove the variable old_promo."

## Before you start

- [Connect your AI assistant](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/connect.md) to Bigly.
- You need permission to **read** prompt variables to see them, and permission to **update** them to add, change or remove one. Account owners and admins have both by default.

## What the assistant reads

The assistant reads every variable on your account, as a list of names and values in alphabetical order.

## Add or change variables

1. Tell the assistant which variables you want and their values. You can include several in one request.
2. The assistant shows a **preview**: each variable that would change, with its current value and its new value. A new variable shows no current value. Variables you mention with an unchanged value are left out.
3. Confirm in the chat. The assistant saves the change and shows the updated list.

Variables you don't mention are left as they are. Changing one variable never removes the others.

## Remove a variable

Ask the assistant to remove a variable by name. It confirms with you before removing it. Removing a variable that doesn't exist does nothing.

If a prompt or intro still contains `{old_promo}` after you remove that variable, the placeholder is not replaced, and nothing warns you. Ask the assistant to search your [voice prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/voice-prompt.md) and [intros](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/intros.md) for it first.

## Settings explained

| Field | What it is | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Variable name | The name you put in curly braces in a prompt, such as `company_name`. | Letters, numbers and underscores only. No spaces. Up to 100 characters. |
| Value | The text that replaces the placeholder on a call. | Up to 1,000 characters. Can be empty. |

## Limits and rules

- Each request needs at least one variable.
- A name with spaces, hyphens or other symbols is rejected, so use `agent_name`, not `agent name` or `agent-name`.
- Names must match exactly. `{Company_Name}` and `{company_name}` are different placeholders.
- Placeholders are replaced as plain text with no checking. A typo in a prompt, like `{compnay_name}`, is spoken or sent as written.

## Check the result

To see a variable in context, ask for a [call preview](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/call-context-preview.md). It shows the final prompt and opening sentences with every placeholder filled in, so you can spot one that didn't resolve.

## What you can't change here

- Contact details such as `{name}` are filled in from each contact, not from prompt variables. Edit contacts in the app: see [Contacts](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/contacts.md).
- Built-in placeholders such as `{intro}` and `{working_hours}` come from your [intros](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/intros.md) and [working hours](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/followup-sequences.md). They aren't variables you can set here.

## Related

- [Prompt variables in the app](https://docs.biglysales.com/manual/prompt-variables.md)
- [Voice prompt](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/voice-prompt.md)
- [Intros](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/intros.md)
- [Reference resources](https://docs.biglysales.com/mcp/reference-resources.md), including the placeholder list

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All documentation pages: https://docs.biglysales.com/llms.txt