# How to reference contact attributes in Amazon Connect
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The way you reference contact attributes depends on how they were created and how you are accessing them. 
+ For the JSON syntax for each attribute, see [List of available contact attributes in Amazon Connect and their JSONPath references](connect-attrib-list.md).
+ To reference attributes that contain special characters in their name, such as spaces, place brackets and single quotations around the attribute name. For example: ` $.Attributes.['user attribute name']`. 
+ To reference attributes in the same namespace, such as a system attribute, you use the attribute name, or the name you specified as the **Destination key**.
+ To reference values in a different namespace, such as referencing an external attribute, you specify the JSONPath syntax to the attribute.
+ To use contact attributes to access other resources, set a user-defined attribute in your flow and use the Amazon Resource Name (ARN) of the resource you want to access as the value for the attribute. 

## Lambda examples
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+ To reference a customer name from a Lambda function lookup, use \$1.External.AttributeKey, replacing AttributeKey with the key (or name) of the attribute returned from the Lambda function.
+ To use an Amazon Connect prompt in a Lambda function, set a user-defined attribute to the ARN for the prompt, and then access that attribute from the Lambda function.

## Amazon Lex examples
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+ To reference an attribute from an Amazon Lex bot, you use the format \$1.Lex. and then include the part of the Amazon Lex bot to reference, such as \$1.Lex.IntentName.
+ To reference the customer input to an Amazon Lex bot slot, use \$1.Lex.Slots.*slotName*, replacing *slotName* with the name of the slot in the bot.

## Set contact attribute example
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Use a [Set contact attributes](set-contact-attributes.md) block to set a value that is later referenced in a flow. For example, create a personalized greeting for customers routed to a queue based on the type of customer account. You could also define an attribute for a company name or line of business to include in the text to speech strings said to a customer. The [Set contact attributes](set-contact-attributes.md) block is useful for copying attributes retrieved from external sources to user-defined attributes.

**To set a contact attribute with a [Set contact attributes](set-contact-attributes.md) block**

1. In Amazon Connect, choose **Routing**, **Contact flows**.

1. Select an existing flow, or create a new one.

1. Add a [Set contact attributes](set-contact-attributes.md) block.

1. Edit the [Set contact attributes](set-contact-attributes.md) block, and choose **Use text**.

1. For the **Destination key**, provide a name for the attribute, such as *Company*. This is the value you use for the **Attribute** field when using or referencing attributes in other blocks. For the **Value**, use your company name.

   You can also choose to use an existing attribute as the basis for creating the new attribute.