Recall Information

When you create a typeform, you can feed the answers you get from one question into the text of other questions and statements that come later in your typeform. This feature is called Recall Information.

NOTE: Recall Information is also known as "variables" or "piping."

For example, you can ask the question "What is your first name?" and 'recall' the answer into a later question like "What's the best email address for you, Andrea?" Recall Information lets you ask questions in a friendly, personalized, human way so your typeforms feel conversational and engaging for your respondents.

Recall Information can also be helpful for you as a Typeform user! You can use Recall Information to validate answers, summarize answers, and ask follow-up questions.

You can 'recall' the answers into the text or descriptions of your questions, statements, and Thank You screens:

• Answers from previous questions
• Hidden Field values
• score and price

You can't recall information into the text of your choices for multiple choice and picture choice questions.

To use an answer to a previous question as Recall Information, you'll use {{field:field_ref}}.

Here's an example that uses the rating a respondent specifies in one question to set up a follow-up question:

{
"ref": "rating_reference",
"title": "Rating Title",
"type": "rating",
"properties": {
  "description": "How would you rate the service you received?",
  "steps": 10,
  "shape": "star"
  },
"validations": {
  "required": true
  },

{
"ref": "long_text_reference",
"title": "Long Text Title",
"type": "long_text",
"properties": {
  "description": "Earlier, you rated our service as {{field:rating_reference}}. In a sentence or two, would you describe the reason for your rating?"
  },
"validations": {
  "required": true,
  "max_length": 50
  },

To use a Hidden Field value as Recall Information, you'll use {{hidden:field_label}}. Here's an example that shows how to recall the Hidden Field value name into a welcome statement for a typeform:

{
  "title": "Your awesome typeform",
  "hidden": [
    "name",
    "age"
  ]
  "fields": [
    {
      "type": "statement"
      "title": "Hello, {{hidden:name}}! :)"
    }
  ]
}

To recall the value from score or price as Recall Information, you'll use {{var:score}} or {{var:price}}. Check out our score and price guide for a code example that shows how use Recall Information to give respondents an update on their score halfway through a trivia quiz.

Questions and statements whose text includes Recall Information are completely removed from the flow of the typeform until respondents answer the question that provides the Recall Information. If you don't require respondents to answer questions that solicit Recall Information, you could end up hiding the rest of your typeform from view!

In other words, respondents have to provide the information you need to recall — otherwise, the later questions that use the Recall Information will be hidden. Also, if your question is recalled by a Hidden Field, make sure to include the Hidden Field in your form.

To make sure that respondents will answer questions that solicit the information you'll need for Recall Information, make these questions required and don't give respondents the option to skip them when you create Logic Jumps.

Learn more about using score and price in the Create API. You can also check out the Create API endpoints.