## TL;DR

Keep the static instructions in the template and only parameterize the changing parts: customer name, ticket text, document chunk. Version the template when the instructions change so old runs stay reproducible. Define prompt variables in your prompt template (for example an input placeholder) and supply the values when you run the prompt, so one template serves many inputs.

## Fix

1. Keep the static instructions in the template and only parameterize the changing parts: customer name, ticket text, document chunk.
   Expected: You get the expected result; the problem is gone.
2. Version the template when the instructions change so old runs stay reproducible.
   Expected: You get the expected result; the problem is gone.

## When to use

- You are setting up or using this watsonx.ai prompt variables feature.
- The symptom matches: template once, inject values at runtime.

## When NOT to use

- Unrelated watsonx.ai prompt variables issues (different feature, different failure).
- You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead.

## Compatibility

Reported against watsonx.ai prompt variables.

## Variant phrasings

### template once, inject values at runtime

## Why it happens

Hardcoding values into prompts makes them unreusable. Use prompt variables.

## Edge cases

- If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text.
- If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates.