Placeholder Referencing

Overview

Placeholders pass data between blocks in your workflow. They connect user inputs, step outputs, and brand information throughout the execution sequence. Three types of placeholders:

Input Placeholders: Values defined by the user in the Input block
Step Output Placeholders: Data returned by previous workflow steps
Brand Kit Placeholders: Attributes from a Brand Kit input field

Input Placeholders

Input placeholders are defined in your workflow’s Input Block. Syntax:

{{input.<input_name>}}

Example

If your Input Block defines a placeholder called keyword, reference it in any later step:

{{input.keyword}}

You can define multiple custom inputs (topic, url, audience). They automatically appear in the placeholder selector inside each block.

Step Output Placeholders

Each step generates an output you can reference in later steps. Syntax:

{{step_<n>.output}}

Where <n> is the step number (step_1, step_2, etc.).

Example

If Step 1 is a Google Search block and Step 2 is an LLM block, reference Step 1’s results in your Step 2 prompt:

Here's the Google search result of the search term {{input.keyword}}. 
{{step_1.output}}
Now write a summary of the top pages for {{input.keyword}}.

Accessing Structured Data

If a step returns structured data (JSON), access specific properties:

{{step_2.output.title}}
{{step_3.output.keywords[0]}}

Brand Kit Placeholders

When your Input Block has a field of type Brand Kit, reference its data through that field’s variable name. Syntax:

{{input.<field_name>.<section>.<attribute>}}

Example

For a Brand Kit field named brandkit:

{{input.brandkit.brand.name}}
{{input.brandkit.writingStyle.authorPersona}}
{{input.brandkit.writingSample.outLine}}
{{input.brandkit.selected.product.name}}

selected.* refers to the item the runner picked at runtime for a section you exposed (Products, Content, Audiences, or Geography). See Brand Kit for the full setup.

Best Practices

Use the Placeholder Selector ({ } icon on the top left) to insert placeholders without typing manually
Check the Test Panel to preview step outputs before referencing them
For JSON outputs, expand the result in the Test Panel to confirm the correct structure (keys, arrays)
Placeholders can only reference previous steps, not future ones

Common Use Cases

Goal	Example
Pass user input into an AI prompt	`Generate a blog outline for {{input.keyword}}.`
Include brand tone or persona	`Write this in {{input.brandkit.writingSample.outLine}} style.`
Reuse output from a previous step	`Summarize {{step_1.output}} into three key points.`
Extract specific data from an API response	`Analyze {{step_3.output.results[0].url}}.`
Combine results for formatted output	`The final headline is {{step_2.output.headline}}.`

What’s Next

Now that you understand placeholder referencing:

See placeholders in action in Building Workflows
Explore the block reference in Workflow Blocks
Run workflows in bulk with Sheets

Getting Started

Cowork

Insights

Work

Automate

Assets

Integrations

Overview

Input Placeholders

Example

Step Output Placeholders

Example

Accessing Structured Data

Brand Kit Placeholders

Example

Best Practices

Common Use Cases

What’s Next

​Overview

​Input Placeholders

​Example

​Step Output Placeholders

​Example

​Accessing Structured Data

​Brand Kit Placeholders

​Example

​Best Practices

​Common Use Cases

​What’s Next

Overview

Input Placeholders

Example

Step Output Placeholders

Example

Accessing Structured Data

Brand Kit Placeholders

Example

Best Practices

Common Use Cases

What’s Next