Collect Input Node

The Collect Input node asks the user a question, waits for their response, and stores the answer in a session variable. It supports input validation, typed input (text, number, email, phone, date, choice), and configurable retry behavior.

When to Use

• You need to collect specific information from the user (name, email, phone number, date).
• You want to validate user input before proceeding (e.g., email format, number range).
• You need to present a set of choices for the user to select from.
• You want structured data collection with retry logic for invalid input.

Configuration

Property	Description	Default
Prompt Message	The question to ask the user. Supports {{variable}} interpolation.	Empty
Variable Name	The session variable to store the collected input.	Empty (required)
Input Type	The expected input type: text, number, email, phone, date, or choice.	text
Choices	A list of valid options (shown only when Input Type is choice).	Empty

Advanced Settings

Property	Description	Default
Validation Pattern	A regex pattern to validate the input (e.g., ^[a-zA-Z]+$ for letters only).	Empty
Error Message	The message shown when validation fails.	Invalid input, please try again.
Max Retries	Maximum number of retry attempts before giving up.	3

Input Types

Type	Behavior
text	Accepts any free-text input
number	Validates that the input is numeric
email	Validates email format
phone	Validates phone number format
date	Validates date format
choice	Presents the configured choices as selectable options

imageCollect Input node config panel showing prompt message field, variable name input, input type dropdown set to choice, a list of choice options, and advanced validation settings with regex pattern and error message

Collect Input configuration panel

imageChat widget showing an input validation error message displayed below the user's invalid input, prompting the user to try again with the correct format

Input validation error shown in the chat widget

Handles

Handle	Direction	Description
Input	In	Receives execution from the previous node
Output	Out	Continues to the next node after valid input is received

TIP

Use the choice input type when you need a structured selection. The choices appear as buttons in the chat widget, making it easy for users to respond without typing.

WARNING

If the user exceeds the max retry count without providing valid input, the flow continues to the next node with the last attempted value stored in the variable. Design your flow to handle this case with a Condition node that checks for invalid data.