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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.

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The three context objects

initial_context ──► Agent ──► gathered_context
                       │
                 [template variables](/voice-agent/template-variables)
                 (used in prompts)

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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
  • Dashboard — set default template context variables on the agent, used when no external context is provided
{
  "phone_number": "+14155550100",
  "initial_context": {
    "customer_name": "Jane Smith",
    "plan": "premium",
    "renewal_date": "April 1"
  }
}

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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.
When the call starts, Dograh substitutes the values before sending the prompt to the LLM — so the agent speaks naturally as if it already knows the contact.

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Default variables

Built-in variables for current time and weekday, available in any prompt without setting up initial_context.
VariableDescriptionExample 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 timezone2026-04-02 20:00:45 IST
{{current_weekday}}Current weekday name in UTC (or inferred timezone)Thursday
{{current_weekday_<TIMEZONE>}}Current weekday name in the specified timezoneThursday
Replace <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.

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Telephony variables

For telephony calls (inbound and outbound), Dograh automatically adds these variables to initial_context:
VariableDescriptionExample
{{caller_number}}The phone number that initiated the call+14155550100
{{called_number}}The phone number that received the call+18005550199
For inbound calls, 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}}.

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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. Extracted variables gathered_context is returned in the run record after the call completes and is available in webhook payloads for downstream processing.

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Data flow example

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Where variables are available

LocationVariables available
Agent node promptsinitial_context fields via {{variable_name}}
Edge conditionsEvaluated against the live conversation — no explicit variable syntax needed
Webhook payload templatesAll context objects via {{initial_context.field}}, {{gathered_context.field}} etc.
Campaign CSV columnsCSV columns beyond phone_number become initial_context fields automatically