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Canvas entry properties and event properties

This reference article covers information about canvas_entry_properties and event_properties, including when to use each property and the differences in behavior.

For information about custom event properties in general, check out Custom events properties.

Canvas entry properties and event properties function differently within your Canvas workflows. Properties of events or API calls that trigger a user’s entry into a Canvas are known as canvas_entry_properties. Properties of events that occur as a user moves through a Canvas journey are known as event_properties. The key difference is canvas_entry_properties focuses on more than just events by also accessing the properties of entry payloads in API-triggered Canvases.

Refer to the following table for a summary of differences between Canvas entry properties and event properties.

Original Canvas editor details

You can no longer create or duplicate Canvases using the original editor. This article is available for reference when using Canvas entry properties and event properties for the previous Canvas workflow.

Canvas entry properties:

  • Must have persistent entry properties turned on.
  • Can only reference canvas_entry_properties in the first full step of a Canvas. The Canvas must be action-based or API triggered.

Entry properties:

  • Can reference event_properties in any full step that uses action-based delivery in a Canvas.
  • Cannot be used in scheduled full steps other than the first full step of an action-based Canvas. However, if a user is using a Canvas component, the behavior follows the Canvas Flow rules for event_properties.

Event properties:

  • Cannot use event_properties in the lead Message step. Instead, you must use canvas_entry_properties or add an Action Paths step with the corresponding event before the Message step that includes event_properties.

Things to know

  • Canvas entry properties are only available for reference in Liquid. To filter on the properties within the Canvas, use event property segmentation instead.
  • For in-app message channels, canvas_entry_properties can only be referenced in a Canvas. event_properties can’t be used for in-app message channels.
  • You can’t use event_properties in the lead Message step. Instead, you must use canvas_entry_properties or add an Action Paths step with the corresponding event before the Message step that includes event_properties.
  • When an Action Path step contains a “Sent an SMS Inbound Message” or “Sent a WhatsApp Inbound Message” trigger, the subsequent Canvas steps can include an SMS or WhatsApp Liquid property. This mirrors how event properties work in Canvases. This way you can leverage your messages to save and reference first-party data on user profiles and conversational messaging.

Timestamps for event properties

If you’re using event_properties in a Canvas, timestamps are normalized to UTC, with some exceptions detailed below. Given this behavior, Braze strongly recommends you use a Liquid timezone filter like the following example to guarantee that your messages are sent with your preferred timezone.

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{{canvas_entry_properties.${timestamp_property} | time_zone: "America/Los_Angeles" | date: "%H:%M" }

Exceptions

  • Timestamps are not normalized to UTC in the first step of a Canvas if that step is a Message step.
  • Timestamps are not normalized to UTC in any Message step using the in-app message channel, regardless of its order in the Canvas.

Use case

An Action Path step followed by a Delay step and Message step for users who have added an item to their wishlist, and a path for everyone else.

To further understand the differences for canvas_entry_properties and event_properties, let’s consider this scenario where users will enter an action-based Canvas if they perform the custom event “add item to wishlist”.

The canvas_entry_properties are configured in the Entry Schedule step of creating a Canvas and will correspond to when a user enters a Canvas. These canvas_entry_properties can also be referenced in any Message step in Canvas Flow since Canvas Flow supports persistent entry properties.

In this Canvas, we have a user journey that begins with an Action Paths step to determine if a user has added an item to their wishlist. From here, if the user has added an item, they will experience a delay before receiving a message “New item in your wishlist!” from the Message step.

The first Message step in a user journey will have access to the custom event_properties from your Action Paths step. In this case, we’re able to include {{event_properties.${property_name}}} in this Message step as part of our message content. If a user doesn’t add an item to their wishlist, they go through the Everyone Else path, meaning the event_properties can’t be referenced and will reflect an invalid settings error.

Note that you’ll only have access to event_properties if your Message step can be traced back to a non-Everyone Else path in an Action Paths step. If the Message step is connected to an Everyone Else path but can be traced back to an Action Paths step in the user journey, then you will also still have access to event_properties. For more information on these behaviors, check out Message step.

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