Answer piping lets you pull a respondent's answers directly into your form's text, ending page, email templates, and PDF outputs. With the answer piping menu, you no longer need to memorize field IDs. Just type @ and pick from a live list of every field in your form.
What you'll build
By the end of this guide, you'll know how to assign field IDs, use the @ menu to insert them anywhere in your form, and display personalized content — including names, scores, totals, and system values, on ending pages, in emails, and in generated PDFs.
When to use this
You want to greet respondents by name on the ending page ("Thanks, Sarah!")
You're building a quote or pricing form and need to show a calculated total at the end
You send follow-up emails and want them to reference the respondent's actual answers
You generate PDFs from form submissions and need real data inside the document
You're using an AI email assistant and want to pass submitted answers into the prompt
Step-by-step
Step 1: Assign an ID to the field you want to reference
Before you can pipe an answer, the field needs an ID.
Open your form in the editor and click the field you want to reference.
In the field settings panel on the left sidebar, find the Field ID input.
Type a short, descriptive ID using only letters, numbers, and underscores (no spaces). Good examples:
name,company_name,total_score.
⚠️ If you rename a field ID later, you'll need to update it everywhere you've used it: in content blocks, ending pages, email templates, and PDF templates. Otherwise, piping will break.
Step 2: Open an editable text area and type @
The answer piping menu is available in:
Form description
Field description
Content fields and section dividers
Ending page
Email templates
PDF templates
Open any of these in the editor, place your cursor where you want the value to appear, and type @. A dropdown appears showing all field IDs currently set in your form.
Step 3: Select the field to insert
Start typing the field title or ID to filter the list.
Press Tab, Enter, or click the field name to insert it.
That's it. When a respondent fills out that field, their answer appears exactly where you placed the piping tag.
Understand the two types of piping values
There are two categories of values you can insert via the @ menu.
Fields
These are the fields you've added to your form. Available in:
Form description
Field descriptions
Content fields and section dividers
Ending page
Use these to show a respondent's own answer, for example, @name to display their first name.
Submitted response values
These are system-generated values available in the ending page, email templates, and PDF templates. They don't come from a specific field — they're generated automatically when a submission is recorded.
Value | What it shows |
Results table | A table of all fields and the respondent's answers, including unanswered fields |
Answered fields | Same as results table, but only shows fields the respondent actually answered |
Respondent email | The email address recorded with the submission |
Submission date and time | The date and time the form was submitted |
Response dashboard link | A link to the project dashboard (useful in PDF outputs) |
Submission tracking number | The tracking code, if you have tracking codes enabled |
Submission incremental ID | The incremental tracking code, if you have that feature enabled |
Use answer piping on your ending page
The ending page is the most common place to personalize with piping. You can use both field values and submitted response values here.
📖 Learn how to build dynamic ending pages with AI Smart Content using answer piping: Create dynamic ending pages with AI Smart Content
Use answer piping in email templates
In your custom email template editor, type @ to access the same piping menu. Use field values to personalize the greeting or body, and use the Answered fields or Results table system values to include a full summary of the respondent's submission. In the AI box inside your email template, insert the Answered fields value to give the AI assistant full context about what the respondent submitted. This lets you generate a personalized HTML follow-up email automatically.
📖 To automate your emails entirely, learn how to use CC Formaloo: How to use CC Formaloo to collect data from email threads
Use answer piping in PDF templates
In the PDF template editor, type @ to insert field values or system values directly into your document. the @results_table value to turn a form submission into a filled-out document automatically.
Real examples: try it with a template
Not sure where to start? Here are three templates that already have answer piping set up, with specific field IDs you can reference and build on.
Appointment form
Set a field ID of name on the name field. On the ending page, add "Your appointment is confirmed, @name. We'll see you soon!" to greet each respondent personally instead of showing a generic confirmation.
Pre-course assessment form
Set a field ID of score on your calculated score variable. On the ending page, insert @score to show each learner their result immediately: "You scored @score out of 100." You can also pipe @score into an email template to send a personalized results summary.
Event registration form
Set field IDs like first_name and event_name on the relevant fields. On the ending page, write "You're registered, @first_name! We'll see you at @event_name." In your confirmation email template, use the same IDs to make every message feel personal rather than automated.
Troubleshooting
If piping isn't showing the value you expect, check these first:
The field has an ID assigned, and the ID matches what the
@menu inserted.You're using the
@menu in a supported location (see the list in Step 2).You didn't rename the field ID after inserting the piping tag in other locations.
If you're piping a calculated variable (like total_price) and it shows as empty or incorrect, check the calculation logic and make sure the variable starts with a default value of 0.
📖 Learn how to use logic and calculation basics in Formaloo: How to use logic and calculation basics in Formaloo
What you now have
You can personalize any part of your form workflow, from the questions themselves to the ending page, follow-up emails, and generated PDFs, using real respondent data. The @ menu makes it fast: no ID memorization, no typos, just pick and insert. Every form you build from here can feel like it was made specifically for the person filling it out.
Ready to build this?
🚀 Use this template Start in minutes with a pre-built version of this workflow.
💬 Get help from our concierge team Our team will help you set this up for your specific use case.
📅 Book a demo for Team/Enterprise setup See how teams use Formaloo at scale with advanced permissions and integrations.