Custom prompts

A custom prompt is an instruction template you can attach to a translation call. Use prompts to enforce tone, register, domain vocabulary, or formatting rules.

Examples:

• "Translate in a formal, business register. Use the polite second person (Sie) in German."
• "This is product copy for a children's app. Keep sentences short and use vocabulary appropriate for ages 6–10."
• "Preserve all Markdown formatting (**bold**, [links](...)) exactly. Do not translate text inside code blocks."

A custom prompt has

• A name – shown in the prompt picker in the dashboard.
• A body – the instruction the AI receives alongside your source text.
• A visibility:
  • Shared – every member of the organization can see and use it.
  • Private – only the creator sees and uses it.

Where prompts are used

• Manual translation – pick a prompt from the dropdown on the translation page. The AI uses it for the streaming translation.
• Single-cell AI recommendation – when you ask the AI to fill one translation cell, you can choose a prompt.
• Auto-translate from a sync job – currently uses the default policy; a prompt selector for sync jobs is planned.

Best practices

• Keep prompts short. A few sentences. Long prompts dilute the source context.
• Be specific about what to preserve. "Don't translate placeholders like {{name}}" is more reliable than "preserve formatting".
• One prompt per use case. Don't build one mega-prompt that tries to cover formal, casual, marketing, and legal copy – split them and pick per-call.

Behaviour and edge cases

• Private prompts are visible only to the creator. If the creator leaves the organization, the prompts are deleted along with their account.
• Deleting a prompt does not invalidate any translations created with it – translations stand on their own once saved.
• Changing a prompt's body affects future calls only. Past translations aren't re-run.