diff --git a/cmd/run/run.go b/cmd/run/run.go
index d0f58991..fe2cf2e2 100644
--- a/cmd/run/run.go
+++ b/cmd/run/run.go
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ func NewRunCommand(cfg *command.Config) *cobra.Command {
 	}
 
 	cmd.Flags().String("file", "", "Path to a .prompt.yml file.")
-	cmd.Flags().StringSlice("var", []string{}, "Template variables for prompt files (can be used multiple times: --var name=value)")
+	cmd.Flags().StringArray("var", []string{}, "Template variables for prompt files (can be used multiple times: --var name=value)")
 	cmd.Flags().String("max-tokens", "", "Limit the maximum tokens for the model response.")
 	cmd.Flags().String("temperature", "", "Controls randomness in the response, use lower to be more deterministic.")
 	cmd.Flags().String("top-p", "", "Controls text diversity by selecting the most probable words until a set probability is reached.")
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ func NewRunCommand(cfg *command.Config) *cobra.Command {
 
 // parseTemplateVariables parses template variables from the --var flags
 func parseTemplateVariables(flags *pflag.FlagSet) (map[string]string, error) {
-	varFlags, err := flags.GetStringSlice("var")
+	varFlags, err := flags.GetStringArray("var")
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/run/run_test.go b/cmd/run/run_test.go
index 94db2b63..f4b4233e 100644
--- a/cmd/run/run_test.go
+++ b/cmd/run/run_test.go
@@ -450,6 +450,11 @@ func TestParseTemplateVariables(t *testing.T) {
 			varFlags: []string{"equation=x = y + 2"},
 			expected: map[string]string{"equation": "x = y + 2"},
 		},
+		{
+			name:     "value with commas",
+			varFlags: []string{"city=paris, milan", "countries=france, italy, spain"},
+			expected: map[string]string{"city": "paris, milan", "countries": "france, italy, spain"},
+		},
 		{
 			name:     "empty strings are skipped",
 			varFlags: []string{"", "name=John", "  "},
@@ -475,7 +480,7 @@ func TestParseTemplateVariables(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			flags := pflag.NewFlagSet("test", pflag.ContinueOnError)
-			flags.StringSlice("var", tt.varFlags, "test flag")
+			flags.StringArray("var", tt.varFlags, "test flag")
 
 			result, err := parseTemplateVariables(flags)