{{vars.name}}. Change the variable and every field pointing at it changes with it.
They also decide what a copy of your workflow asks its new owner for, which is what makes a workflow worth publishing as a template.
Declare a variable
Open the canvas menu, click Settings, and pick Variables in the Workflow Settings dialog. The Workflow variables button on the canvas opens the same section directly. Each variable has three parts:
A variable left without a value becomes a step in Setup, so declaring one is also a way to say “this workflow needs a value here before it can run”.
Reference it from a node
Type{{vars.name}} into any node config field. When a field’s whole value is a single variable reference, the config panel shows the resolved value rather than the reference, and the field’s normal editor still works, so a dropdown stays a dropdown.
A bound field is labelled with the variable name and the note that edits update the variable. Click unlink to replace the reference with the current value; the field keeps the value and stops following the variable.
Ask each new owner
Turn on the per-user toggle on a variable to have its value cleared whenever someone copies the workflow. The declaration and its description travel with the copy, so the new owner’s Setup asks your question, while your original keeps its value and keeps running. Use it for anything that is genuinely theirs: their repository, their channel, their calendar. Leave it off for values that are the same for everybody, which carry over as they are.How this relates to the Set Variable node
Both share the{{vars.}} namespace. Variables you declare here are the workflow’s starting values; the Set Variable node writes into the same namespace during a run, and a value it writes wins for that name.
Declare a variable in settings when it is a setting of the workflow. Use the Set Variable node when the value is computed while the workflow runs.
Next steps
Setup
Where unfilled variables turn into questions.
Publishing templates
Share a workflow other people can take a copy of.
Data references
Reference node outputs and trigger data.
Variables and state
Set Variable and State Manager nodes.