The step that asks a question, validates the answer and writes it to the contact card: the six answer formats, the retry allowance, the reply window and how to wire up the three outputs.
Last updated: September 30, 2026
Asking "could you send your phone number?" and copying the answers into a notebook stops working the day ten people write in. Worse, people type "I'll call tonight" instead of a number and something with spaces in it instead of an email. The Collect information step asks the question, checks the format of what comes back, and writes it to a field on the contact card when it fits. This guide covers every setting, what each of the six formats accepts, and how to wire up the three outputs.
In this article you will find:
The step does three jobs at once: it sends the question, waits for the answer, then validates and saves it. The validation is a format check: does the email look like an email, does the phone number have enough digits, is the date a real date. Nobody can tell whether the content is correct — people can type the wrong number too.
Because the answer lands in a contact field, later steps can use it as {{field.field_name}}, conditions can compare it, and you can filter by it on the Contacts screen.
The step works on both channels.
The text sent to the person, up to 2,000 characters (and it cannot exceed the channel's text limit either). Placeholders work here.
The question is mandatory: if empty, the pre-publish check reports an error. Keep it to one thing — "send your name and phone" confuses the validation, so build two steps instead.
The contact field the answer is written to. You can pick a built-in field (name, email, phone) or one of your own custom fields.
If no field is chosen, or its name is invalid, the check reports an error.
The shape the answer has to fit. There are six options, each accepting something different — details in the next section.
The text sent when the answer does not fit the format. It may be left empty, in which case the question is simply repeated.
Filling it in pays off: "could you write the number as 07xx…?" gets there much faster than asking the same question a second time.
How many more times the question is asked after a wrong answer. Between 0 and 5, default 2.
With 0, the first wrong answer goes to the Invalid answer output. With 2, the person gets three attempts in total (the first question plus two retries).
How many hours the answer is waited for. Between 1 and 168 (7 days), default 24.
When the time runs out, the flow continues from the No answer output. If the person wrote in the meantime, the timeout output does not fire; the answer is processed instead.
⚠️ Note: Be careful with windows over 24 hours. Free-form messages cannot be sent more than 24 hours after the person's last message (Meta's rule), so a message you put on the No answer branch may not go out. For long waits, put tagging there rather than a message.
On by default. If the field on the contact card already holds a value, the step does not ask at all: it continues straight from Next and logs "already filled".
Turn it off when you want the information refreshed every time (a new delivery address with every order). Leaving it on stops you from asking the same person the same thing twice.
Any non-empty answer is accepted. No validation. For open information such as an address, a note or a description.
Answers matching the some@thing.com pattern are accepted: a name with no spaces, an @, a domain and an extension of at least two letters. The value is lower-cased when saved.
Digits, spaces, +, -, brackets, dots and slashes are accepted; letters are not. The digit count has to be between 7 and 15. The format the person typed is stored as it is.
Both writing conventions are accepted: 1,250.50 works and so does 1.250,50. The panel works out the decimal separator itself and saves a clean number.
Three writings are accepted: 12.05.2026, 12/05/2026 and 2026-05-12. In the first two, the day comes first. Month length is checked too, so 31.02.2026 is rejected. Dates are always saved as 2026-05-12.
Answers starting with http:// or https:// and containing a dot are accepted.
💡 If somebody sends only a photo instead of an answer, that counts as invalid and the question is asked again while the allowance lasts. To collect photos, see The Try it on step.
You do not have to connect all three, but you should. With Invalid answer empty the flow ends there and the person is left hanging; putting a message like "no problem, let's talk later" or an Action step that hands over to a human is a far better experience.
Two special cases both go to Invalid answer: if the retry message could not be sent (the window closed, the channel dropped) the person is not left waiting; and if the very first question could not be sent, the run ends with the reason recorded in the log.
An estate agent wants a budget and a phone number from interested people.
flat to the Start step.budget, Format Number, wrong-answer text "Could you write numbers only? For example 250000", allowance 2, window 24.phone, Format Phone, Do not ask if already filled on.missing-info tag plus a handover to a human.The result: the agent gets a properly formatted budget and phone number, and everybody who did not answer or answered badly is tagged and passed to a person.
Asking for two things in one question. An answer to "name and phone" fits no format. Build two steps.
Leaving the format as Free text while expecting a phone number. Free text accepts everything; the person writes "I'll call tonight" and that is what lands in the field. Pick the format you actually expect.
Leaving the Invalid answer output unconnected. The person gets it wrong three times and the conversation dies quietly. Always put a branch there.
Pushing the reply window far past 24 hours. It works technically, but you may not be able to send anything once it expires. The check warns you.
Setting the retry allowance to 5. Asking the same thing five times in a row drives people away. 1 or 2 is enough for most jobs.
Turning off "do not ask if already filled" and asking again in every flow. They gave you their number last week; asking again this week looks careless.
Trusting the answer more than you should. The validation only looks at the format. 0000000 is a valid phone number.
How contact fields are created is covered in What is a contact field. If you would rather let AI collect the information, the chat mode of The AI step does the same job in conversation. To branch on what you collected, see The Condition step.
A Collect information step with the right format leaves you usable data a week later — on the contact card, not in a notebook.
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