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Global Variables

These variables are available in all nodes:
  • {{date}} — Current ISO timestamp (e.g., 2025-04-04T03:53:00.000Z)
  • {{run.id}} — Unique run ID (timestamp-based, e.g., 2025-04-04T03-53-00-123Z)
  • {{run.timestamp}} — Alias for {{run.id}}
  • {{workflow.id}} — Workflow ID from the JSON file
  • {{workflow.name}} — Workflow display name (fallback to ID or filename)
  • {{node.id}} — Current node ID (available in media nodes)

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Upstream Node Variables

Access outputs from previous workflow nodes using the pattern {{nodeId.fieldName}}:

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Basic Access Patterns

  • {{nodeId.output}} — Full JSON output envelope from the node
  • {{nodeId.text}} — The text field from the node output (most common)
  • {{nodeId.fieldName}} — Any specific field from the node output JSON

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Common Pitfall: output vs text

Wrong: {{brand_review.output}} returns the full envelope: 
{
  "runId": "2025-04-04T03-53-00-123Z",
  "teamId": "marketing-team",
  "nodeId": "brand_review",
  "kind": "llm",
  "text": "Here is my review...",
  "completedAt": "2025-04-04T03:53:15.000Z"
}
Right: {{brand_review.text}} returns just the payload: 
Here is my review...

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Nested JSON Extraction

When a node’s text field contains JSON, ClawRecipes automatically extracts nested fields:

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Example Node Output

{
  "text": "{\"title\": \"Product Launch\", \"tags\": [\"marketing\"], \"approved\": true}"
}

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Available Template Variables

  • {{nodeId.text}} — Raw JSON string
  • {{nodeId.title}} — Extracted: “Product Launch”
  • {{nodeId.approved_json}} — For non-string values: “true”

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Deeply Nested Extraction

If the JSON contains nested objects, fields are flattened: 
{
  "text": "{\"meta\": {\"author\": \"John\", \"priority\": 1}}"
}
Available as:
  • {{nodeId.meta_json}} — Full meta object as JSON string
  • {{nodeId.author}} — “John” (if meta.author is a string)

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LLM Node Structured Output

LLM nodes with outputFields configuration produce predictable JSON structures:

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Configuration

{
  "config": {
    "outputFields": [
      {"name": "title", "type": "text"},
      {"name": "tags", "type": "list"}, 
      {"name": "metadata", "type": "json"}
    ]
  }
}

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Template Access

Title: {{nodeId.title}}
Tags: {{nodeId.tags}}  
Metadata: {{nodeId.metadata_json}}

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Usage Examples

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LLM Prompt Template

Review the content from the previous step:

{{brand_review.text}}

Based on this review, create a social media post with:
- Title: engaging and on-brand
- Content: max 280 characters
- Hashtags: 3-5 relevant tags

Current date: {{date}}
Workflow: {{workflow.name}}

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File Path Templates

{
  "tool": "fs.write",
  "args": {
    "path": "content/{{run.id}}/{{brand_review.title}}.md",
    "content": "# {{brand_review.title}}\n\n{{brand_review.text}}"
  }
}

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Media Node Prompts

{
  "config": {
    "promptTemplate": "Create an image for: {{content_draft.title}}\n\nStyle: {{brand_review.style}}\nMood: professional and engaging"
  }
}

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Implementation Details

Template substitution happens in the workflow worker during node execution. The code path is:
  • Primary: src/lib/workflows/workflow-worker.ts — buildTemplateVars() function
  • Utility: src/lib/workflows/workflow-utils.ts — templateReplace() function

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Variable Resolution Process

  1. Global vars are built from run metadata and timestamps
  2. Node outputs are loaded from each completed node’s output file
  3. JSON parsing attempts to extract fields from the text field
  4. Nested extraction flattens nested objects with _json suffixes for non-strings
  5. Template replacement applies all variables using simple string substitution

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Performance Notes

  • Variables are rebuilt for each node execution (fresh state)
  • Large node outputs are fully loaded into memory during template resolution
  • JSON parsing failures are silently ignored (graceful degradation)

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Best Practices

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Variable Naming

  • Use descriptive node IDs: brand_review not step1
  • Design consistent output field names across nodes
  • Use outputFields for structured LLM outputs

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Error Handling

  • Always provide fallbacks: {{nodeId.title || "Untitled"}}
  • Test templates with missing/malformed node outputs
  • Use {{nodeId.text}} when unsure about field structure

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Memory Management

  • Avoid extremely large text outputs in frequently-referenced nodes
  • Consider splitting large data into separate file outputs

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Common Patterns

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Content Pipeline

1. research_node.text → "Market analysis shows..."
2. draft_node template: "Based on {{research_node.text}}, write..."
3. review_node template: "Review this draft: {{draft_node.text}}"

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Conditional Content

{% if brand_review.approved %}
Approved content: {{brand_review.text}}
{% else %}
Needs revision: {{brand_review.feedback}}
{% endif %}
Note: ClawRecipes uses simple string substitution, not template engines like Jinja2. Complex conditionals should be handled in LLM prompts.