diff --git a/app/javascript/dashboard/components/widgets/conversation/VariableList.vue b/app/javascript/dashboard/components/widgets/conversation/VariableList.vue
index 1b935ad29..30e45749b 100644
--- a/app/javascript/dashboard/components/widgets/conversation/VariableList.vue
+++ b/app/javascript/dashboard/components/widgets/conversation/VariableList.vue
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <script>
 import { mapGetters } from 'vuex';
 import { MESSAGE_VARIABLES } from 'shared/constants/messages';
+import { sanitizeVariableSearchKey } from 'dashboard/helper/commons';
 import MentionBox from '../mentions/MentionBox.vue';
 
 export default {
@@ -16,6 +17,9 @@ export default {
     ...mapGetters({
       customAttributes: 'attributes/getAttributes',
     }),
+    sanitizedSearchKey() {
+      return sanitizeVariableSearchKey(this.searchKey);
+    },
     items() {
       return [
         ...this.standardAttributeVariables,
@@ -25,8 +29,8 @@ export default {
     standardAttributeVariables() {
       return MESSAGE_VARIABLES.filter(variable => {
         return (
-          variable.label.includes(this.searchKey) ||
-          variable.key.includes(this.searchKey)
+          variable.label.includes(this.sanitizedSearchKey) ||
+          variable.key.includes(this.sanitizedSearchKey)
         );
       }).map(variable => ({
         label: variable.key,
diff --git a/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/commons.js b/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/commons.js
index 3539bc822..b12d1aa3d 100644
--- a/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/commons.js
+++ b/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/commons.js
@@ -83,3 +83,16 @@ export const convertToPortalSlug = text => {
     .replace(/[^\w ]+/g, '')
     .replace(/ +/g, '-');
 };
+
+/**
+ * Strip curly braces, commas and leading/trailing whitespace from a search key.
+ * Eg. "{{contact.name}}," => "contact.name"
+ * @param {string} searchKey
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+export const sanitizeVariableSearchKey = (searchKey = '') => {
+  return searchKey
+    .replace(/[{}]/g, '') // remove all curly braces
+    .replace(/,/g, '') // remove commas
+    .trim();
+};
diff --git a/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/specs/commons.spec.js b/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/specs/commons.spec.js
index 46065660f..466cdcf45 100644
--- a/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/specs/commons.spec.js
+++ b/app/javascript/dashboard/helper/specs/commons.spec.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import {
   convertToAttributeSlug,
   convertToCategorySlug,
   convertToPortalSlug,
+  sanitizeVariableSearchKey,
 } from '../commons';
 
 describe('#getTypingUsersText', () => {
@@ -107,3 +108,37 @@ describe('convertToPortalSlug', () => {
     expect(convertToPortalSlug('Room rental')).toBe('room-rental');
   });
 });
+
+describe('sanitizeVariableSearchKey', () => {
+  it('removes braces', () => {
+    expect(sanitizeVariableSearchKey('{{contact.name}}')).toBe('contact.name');
+  });
+
+  it('removes right braces', () => {
+    expect(sanitizeVariableSearchKey('contact.name}}')).toBe('contact.name');
+  });
+
+  it('removes braces, comma and whitespace', () => {
+    expect(sanitizeVariableSearchKey(' {{contact.name }},')).toBe(
+      'contact.name'
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('trims whitespace', () => {
+    expect(sanitizeVariableSearchKey('  contact.name  ')).toBe('contact.name');
+  });
+
+  it('handles multiple commas', () => {
+    expect(sanitizeVariableSearchKey('{{contact.name}},,')).toBe(
+      'contact.name'
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('returns empty string when only braces/commas/whitespace', () => {
+    expect(sanitizeVariableSearchKey(' {  }, , ')).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('returns empty string for undefined input', () => {
+    expect(sanitizeVariableSearchKey()).toBe('');
+  });
+});