How to Pass Data Within Bardeen

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to pass data from one step to another in a Bardeen playbook. This is a core concept in building automations, especially when working with dynamic inputs like spreadsheet data or user prompts. You’ll also learn how to use AI to transform data before passing it to the next step.

Chapter I: Start a New Playbook

1. Open the Bardeen Chrome extension.
2. Click on "Create Playbook" and select “Start from a blank canvas” to open a new playbook canvas.

Chapter II: Add a Google Sheets Action

1. In the playbook builder, click “+” to add a new action.
2. Search for and select “Get table from Google Sheets.”
3. Choose your spreadsheet (e.g., “Company List”) and select the sheet containing your data.
4. Click “Play” to fetch the data. This will populate the first step with rows from your sheet.

Chapter III: Add a Web Search Using AI

1. Click “+” to add another action.
2. Search for and select “Get answers from web using AI.”
3. In the prompt field, click to open the input editor.
4. Select “Custom Text.”

Chapter IV: Insert Variables from Previous Steps

1. In the prompt editor, click the “Get from previous action” button (middle icon).
2. Choose the first action (Google Sheets).
3. Select the “Company Name” field.
4. You can now build a prompt like: Give me a short description of [Company Name]


When the playbook runs, this will dynamically insert the company name from the spreadsheet.

Chapter V: Add More Context with Multiple Variables

1. Continue editing the prompt to include more fields: Give me a short description of [Company Name]. The website is [Domain] and they are located in [Location].


1. Use the “Get from previous action” button to insert each variable such as domain or location (e.g., State or Region).
2. The final prompt might look like: Give me a short description of Bardeen. The website is bardeen.ai and they are located in United States.


Chapter VI: Use AI to Transform Data Before Passing It

Sometimes, you may want to modify or enrich a variable before using it in the next step. For example, converting a city or state into a country.

1. In the prompt editor, click the “AI-generated text” button (sparkle icon).
2. Use the “Get from previous action” button to insert the location variable.
3. Write a prompt like: Return only the country of this location: [Location]


Click “Close” to save the AI-generated variable. Now, instead of passing the raw location, Bardeen will use AI to convert it into a country before inserting it into the final prompt.

Chapter VII: Use Manual Input with “Ask Me Every Time”

If you don’t want to pull data from a spreadsheet, you can prompt the user to input data manually each time the playbook runs.

1. In the prompt editor, click the “Ask me every time” button (rightmost icon).
2. Name the variable (e.g., “Company Name”).
3. Click “Save.”

Now, when the playbook runs, Bardeen will ask the user to enter a company name before continuing.

Chapter VIII: Run the Playbook with Manual Input

1. Click “Save and Run” in the top right corner of the playbook builder.
2. Choose “Manual” to run it immediately.
3. When prompted, enter a company name (e.g., “Bardeen”).
4. Click “Continue.”

Bardeen will run the automation using the input you provided and return the AI-generated result.

Summary

You’ve now learned how to:

• Pass data between steps using variables.
• Combine multiple variables into a single prompt.
• Use AI to transform data before passing it.
• Prompt users for manual input at runtime.

These techniques are essential for building flexible and powerful automations in Bardeen. In future tutorials, you’ll learn how to apply these skills to real-world workflows across sales, marketing, recruiting, and more.