Product Updates

How to Use Prompt Variables

May 29, 2026 2 min read

Turn reusable prompts into quick fill-in workflows with text fields, dropdowns, and longer context inputs.

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Prompt Variables make reusable prompts easier to run. Instead of editing the same words every time you copy a prompt, you can mark the parts that change and fill them in when you use it.

Use variables for anything you regularly swap out: a topic, audience, tone, product name, customer message, code snippet, or longer context block.

Basic text variables

Wrap a variable name in double curly braces:

Write a launch announcement for {{product}}.

When you copy the prompt, Bearprompt asks for Product and replaces {{product}} with your answer.

Variable names can use letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens:

Create a summary for {{project_name}} aimed at {{target-audience}}.

Dropdown variables

Use dropdowns when you want to choose from a fixed set of options:

Rewrite this in a {{tone(formal|friendly|casual)}} tone.

You can also use the explicit select syntax:

Rewrite this in a {{tone:select(formal|friendly|casual)}} tone.

Dropdowns are useful for tone, format, audience, priority, channel, or any repeated choice where free-form typing slows you down.

Longer context fields

Use textarea for larger inputs:

Summarize this customer feedback:

{{feedback:textarea}}

Text areas are a better fit for meeting notes, customer messages, source material, bug reports, or any context that needs multiple lines.

Reuse the same variable

If the same variable appears more than once, Bearprompt asks for it once and fills every matching placeholder:

Explain {{topic}} in simple terms, then give three examples of {{topic}}.

This keeps longer prompts consistent without making you retype the same value.

A complete example

Act as a product marketer.

Write a {{format:select(launch email|release note|social post)}} for {{product}}.

Audience: {{audience}}
Tone: {{tone(formal|friendly|direct)}}

Context:
{{context:textarea}}

This prompt becomes a small form when copied. Fill in the product, choose a format and tone, paste the context, and Bearprompt generates the final prompt for you.

When to use variables

Prompt Variables work best for prompts you use repeatedly but customize slightly each time. If you always edit the same two or three parts before sending a prompt to an AI tool, those parts should probably be variables.

They keep your library reusable without forcing every prompt to become generic.