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Description

An Optional Question Node requests specific information from the user. The Node can be configured to expect different types of input. As soon as the selected type of data is detected in the user input, the Optional Question Node is answered.
The Optional Question Node is non-blocking. This means that the user can continue their conversation with the Flow if they haven’t provided an answer to the Optional Question. Before regular Flow execution, the Cognigy.AI checks if the user input answers the Optional Question to find a result. If not, the Flow execution follows a different path. Watch this Episode of Cognigy Sessions for a technical deep dive.

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Parameters

TypeRequired user input to answer question
TextAny text input.
Yes / NoA positive or negative response.
IntentOne of the trained Intents must be identified from the user’s response.
SlotA System Slot or Lexicon Slot must be detected within the user’s response. The slot is defined by name.
DateAny date (system-defined).
NumberAny number (system-defined).
TemperatureAny temperature (system-defined).
AgeAny age (system-defined).
DurationAny time duration (system-defined).
EmailAny email address (system-defined).
MoneyAny monetary value (system-defined).
URLAny reference/address to a resource on the Internet, for example, http://example.com.
PercentageAny percentage (system-defined).
RegexAny custom data format defined by a regex expression must be detected in the user’s response.
DataAny data (input.data) input.
All data formats supported by the Cognigy NLU for system slot mapping are listed on the Slot Mapping page.
The Optional Question Node output types carry the same functionality as the Say Node.
If you select the Date as a Question Type, the Question Node automatically renders a datepicker if the channel supports it. Refer to Datepicker for more information.
ParameterDescription
Store detailed ResultsWhen enabled, stores a more detailed JSON object under the result property of the input. This is useful in case more information is needed.
Stop Flow execution after AnswerWhen enabled, Flow execution stops after the “On answer” case and wait for another input.
Forget Question ThresholdThe difference with a regular Question Node is that the Optional Question Node doesn’t need to be answered. If the Optional Question Node is triggered and no answer is provided, the fact that the question was “asked” is nonetheless kept in memory. With this setting, you can decide for how many inputs the Optional Question should be kept in memory.
Parse CognigyScriptLets you decide on which user input the CognigyScript after Answer should be executed.
If Store Result in Context is enabled, the Question Result is also stored in the Context object.
When an Optional Question is “active”, meaning the AI Agent waits for an answer, information about the Optional Question is added to the Input object.
"activeOptionalQuestion": {
    "nodeId": "cb81db3a-6230-49e7-8ce4-12f877abe0cb",
    "type": "yesNo",
    "lastExecutedAt": 1,
    "forgetQuestionThreshold": 3
}

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AI-Enhanced Output

To use AI-enhanced output rephrasing, read the Generative AI article.