Add Contact Attribute Block - User Defined - Implications

Based on the information available, I can provide some insights about the "Set contact attributes" block (which is likely what you're referring to as "Add Contact Attribute") in Amazon Connect and its implications for the rest of the flow.

The "Set contact attributes" block allows you to store key-value pairs as contact attributes and set their values for later use in a flow. These attributes can be set on different levels:

1. Current contact: The attributes are set on the contact that the flow is running on. These attributes are accessible by other areas of Amazon Connect, including other flows, modules, Lambdas, contact records, and the GetMetricDataV2 API.

2. Related contact: The attributes are associated with a new contact that contains a copy of the original contact properties.

3. Flow: The attributes are restricted to the flow in which they are configured. These are useful when you don't want to persist the data throughout the contact.

4. Flow attributes: These are temporary variables stored locally and only used in the flow. They aren't visible outside the flow, not even when the contact is transferred to another flow.

Regarding your observation about having to re-invoke the "Set contact attributes" block to re-access some attributes, this might be related to the scope of the attributes you're setting. If you're using flow attributes, they are indeed restricted to the flow in which they are configured and won't be accessible in other flows or modules without explicitly passing them.

For your use case of increasing logging for call center managers, you'll want to ensure that you're setting these attributes at the appropriate level (likely "Current contact") so they persist throughout the contact's lifecycle and are accessible where needed.

Adding contact attributes shouldn't negatively impact existing functionality in your flows, as long as you're not overwriting existing attributes unintentionally. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Attribute size limit: Contact attributes can be up to 32 KB in total size. If you exceed this limit, it may cause issues.

2. Lambda functions: If you're using Lambda functions, remember that flow attributes aren't passed to Lambda unless explicitly configured as parameters.

3. Modules: Flow attributes set within a module won't be passed out of the module.

4. Agent visibility: Flow attributes don't appear to the agent in the Contact Control Panel (CCP).

As you add more contact attributes for logging purposes, ensure you're setting them at the appropriate level (Current contact) if you need them to persist across the entire contact interaction. This should allow your existing functionality to continue working as expected while providing the additional logging data you need.

If you encounter any specific issues as you implement these changes, it would be best to test thoroughly in a non-production environment and consult with AWS support if needed, as they can provide more tailored advice based on your specific implementation.

Sources
Flow block in Amazon Connect: Set contact attributes - Amazon Connect
How contact attributes work in Amazon Connect - Amazon Connect
UpdateContactAttributes - Amazon Connect

I don’t follow what you mean. Specifically, “ in order to re-access some of those attributes you've previously pulled down”. Can you elaborate what this actually means or what you’re trying to achieve. The only thing I can think of on what you’re saying is that there is a slight delay between setting the attribute and it being updated, it’s very small, but if you’re trying to write then make a decision based on what you just wrote this is not always going to work. You need to have a bit of time (a few seconds) between both actions.

david