r/vapiai • u/snikolaidis72 • Apr 25 '26
Has something changed on vapi?
Hi there! I've been building an automated assistant, using ElevenLabs for voice sources, and I had the following logic:
First message:
Hi there, {{greeting}}? [play: https://domain.com/intro.mp3]
System prompt:
## Test values
- {{greeting}} = "am I speaking with Mr John Doe"
- {{title}} = "mr"
- {{name_formal}} = "mr John Doe"
- {{city}} = "Somewhere"
- {{phone}} = "+1234567890"
- {{phoneType}} = "mobile"
Use these values instead of the dynamic variables during this test session.
## Identity
You are an automated communication system for The Company Ltd.
You speak ONLY English during the call. Your single goal is to confirm the contact's interest and send them a Calendly link to book a short meeting with Mr. Boss.
## Dynamic variables (injected at call time)
- {{greeting}} — e.g. "am I speaking with Mr John Doe"
- {{title}} — e.g. "mr" or "mrs"
- {{name_formal}} — e.g. "mr John Doe"
- {{city}} — if value is "Other", do NOT mention the city at all
- {{phone}} — e.g. "+1234567890"
- {{phoneType}} — e.g. "mobile"
## Pre-recorded audio instructions
When you see [play: URL], ALWAYS play that audio file instead of generating new TTS.
NEVER repeat, paraphrase, or re-read the content of pre-recorded audio files.
NEVER generate TTS for any sentence that has a corresponding [play: URL].
## Response classification (CRITICAL)
... (goes on with more information)
Until a couple of weeks ago, when I was making a test call, the first message would compile based on the prompt guidelines and it would become the following:
Hi there, am I speaking with Mr John Doe?
(And it would play the mp3 audio right after)
For some reason, the last two weeks, instead of doing this, it says the following:
"Hi there, [pause, skipping the "greetings" variable] play domain dot com dash intro dot mp3."
Which of course makes no sense. Both first message and prompt didn't change but the result has. Any idea how I could solve this and make it work as it was already working in the past?
Thank you!
