QuickLauncher
QuickLauncher gives you one-click access to your most-used AI prompts directly from the Trados editor, without switching panels or typing anything.
How it works
Right-click anywhere in the editor (or press
Ctrl+Q)Click QuickLauncher in the context menu
Select a prompt from the list
The prompt is filled in with the current segment context and submitted to the Supervertaler Assistant chat
:::note The menu heading Supervertaler QuickLauncher is clickable – click it to open Settings → Prompts, where you can view, edit, and organise your QuickLauncher prompts. :::
The expanded prompt appears as a user message bubble in the Supervertaler Assistant chat panel, and the AI response follows immediately below it. The conversation continues from there – you can ask follow-up questions in the chat input as normal.
Keyboard shortcut
Ctrl+Q
Control+Q
Open QuickLauncher prompt menu
:::caution Trados Studio assigns Ctrl+Q to View Internally Source by default. To use Ctrl+Q for QuickLauncher, go to File → Options → Keyboard Shortcuts, search for View Internally Source, and remove or reassign its shortcut. :::
Prompt variables
QuickLauncher prompts have access to the full segment and project context at the moment you trigger them.
Language variables
{{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}}
Source language name, including locale
Dutch (Belgium)
{{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}
Target language name, including locale
English (United States)
Segment variables
{{SOURCE_SEGMENT}}
Full text of the active source segment
De uitvinding heeft betrekking op...
{{TARGET_SEGMENT}}
Full text of the active target segment (your translation so far)
The invention relates to...
{{SELECTION}}
Text currently selected in the editor
werkwijze
:::note Segment vs selection: {{SOURCE_SEGMENT}} and {{TARGET_SEGMENT}} always give the entire active segment. {{SELECTION}} gives only the highlighted portion – useful for term lookups or focused questions. If nothing is selected, {{SELECTION}} is an empty string. :::
Project variables
{{PROJECT_NAME}}
Trados project name (e.g. Patent_NL_EN_2026)
{{DOCUMENT_NAME}}
Active file name (e.g. source_document.docx)
{{SURROUNDING_SEGMENTS}}
N source segments before and after the active segment, with their actual Trados segment numbers and the active segment marked ← ACTIVE
{{PROJECT}}
All source segments in the active document, numbered with their actual Trados segment numbers
{{TM_MATCHES}}
Translation memory fuzzy matches (≥70%) for the active segment, showing match percentage, source, and target text
{{SURROUNDING_SEGMENTS}} example output (with N = 2):
{{PROJECT}} example output (single-file project):
In a multi-file project, a file header is inserted at each boundary (because Trados restarts segment numbering per file):
:::caution {{PROJECT}} sends all source segments to the AI. For a typical 10,000-word patent this costs roughly 4–5 cents per call with a Sonnet-class model – negligible for important work, but avoid using it in high-frequency prompts. The number of surrounding segments for {{SURROUNDING_SEGMENTS}} is configured in Settings → AI Settings → Surrounding segments (default: 5).
To keep the chat history readable, the chat bubble shows a compact summary (e.g. [source document – 47 segments]) instead of the full source text. The complete document is still sent to the AI. :::
Example: explain a selected term
Select a word in the source segment, press Ctrl+Q, and choose a prompt like this:
Example: assess the current translation
Example: translate a selected term using surrounding context
Uses {{SELECTION}} together with {{SURROUNDING_SEGMENTS}} so the AI sees the passage around the active segment, not just the active segment itself:
Example: full-document term query
Uses {{PROJECT}} to give the AI the complete source text. Reserve this for high-stakes queries where full document context matters, such as a key term that appears in multiple places with different nuances:
Example: check specific segments by number
After using {{PROJECT}} the AI knows the segment numbers, so you can follow up in the chat – or build a prompt that asks about specific segments from the start:
Example: translate using TM fuzzy matches
Uses {{TM_MATCHES}} to give the AI any high fuzzy matches from the translation memory, so it can leverage existing translations as a starting point:
:::note {{TM_MATCHES}} only includes matches of 70% or higher. If no matches meet this threshold, the variable is replaced with "(no fuzzy matches above 70%)". The match data comes from the active segment's translation origin in Trados – the same match shown in the Translation Results pane. :::
The plugin fills in all variables and sends the expanded prompt straight to the AI.
Folder display mode
By default, subfolders in the QuickLauncher menu appear as expandable submenus (hover to open). You can change any folder to display as a flat section instead – its prompts appear directly in the main menu under a bold header, with separators between sections.
To toggle the display mode:
Open Settings → Prompts
Right-click a QuickLauncher folder in the tree
Click Show as section in menu (a checkmark indicates the current state)
This setting is per-folder, so you can mix styles – for example, keep a large folder as an expandable submenu while showing a small one as a flat section.
Setting up QuickLauncher prompts
Set category: QuickLauncher in the YAML frontmatter, or place the file in a folder called QuickLauncher inside your prompt_library. See Prompts → Marking a prompt as a QuickLauncher shortcut for full details.
Shared with Supervertaler Workbench
QuickLauncher prompts live in the shared prompt_library folder used by both Supervertaler for Trados and Supervertaler Workbench. Any prompt you create in one application is immediately available in the other.
Routing prompts to Workbench Sidekick
By default, a QuickLauncher prompt's response appears in the in-Trados Supervertaler Assistant chat panel. You can also have it land in Supervertaler Workbench's Sidekick Chat instead.
Open Settings → AI Settings and find the QuickLauncher prompts go to: dropdown. Pick:
In-Trados AI Assistant (default) – existing behaviour, prompt and response stay in the Trados Assistant chat.
Workbench Sidekick – the prompt is sent to Supervertaler Workbench over a localhost bridge. The Sidekick window pops forward, maximises to the screen it's on, switches to the Chat tab, and runs the prompt there.
When to pick which:
In-Trados Assistant keeps everything in one window and is the right choice if you want chat history to stay alongside the segment you're translating.
Workbench Sidekick gives you a much larger reading area – useful for prompts whose responses are multi-paragraph explanations, full translation comparisons, or anything you want to read without squinting at the narrow Assistant panel.
:::note Workbench must be running for this to work. If it isn't (or the Sidekick Bridge is unreachable), the QuickLauncher silently falls back to the in-Trados Assistant – your prompt is never lost. :::
Sending prompts to the clipboard (paste into claude.ai, ChatGPT, etc.)
Each QuickLauncher prompt can be configured to offer a Copy to clipboard destination alongside the usual Send to Assistant behaviour. This is useful when you want to paste the fully-expanded prompt – with all {{SOURCE_SEGMENT}}, {{PROJECT}}, {{TM_MATCHES}} etc. already filled in – into an external chat such as a claude.ai project, ChatGPT, or Gemini.
A common workflow: keep an ongoing project on claude.ai for the document you're translating (with your style guide and reference material attached), and use a QuickLauncher prompt to send the active segment, surrounding context, and TM matches to that project with one keystroke.
Enabling clipboard mode for a prompt
Open Settings → Prompts and double-click the QuickLauncher prompt you want to configure (or create a new one)
In the Prompt Editor, find the Mode row
Tick Copy to clipboard alongside (or instead of) Send to Assistant
If both are ticked, pick which one should be the Default from the dropdown
Click Save
How it appears in the menu
One mode ticked – the prompt appears as a flat menu item, exactly as before. Clicking it fires that single mode.
Both modes ticked – the prompt appears as a cascading submenu. The default mode is shown first; hover or press the right arrow to reveal both options.
The submenu items have mnemonic keys, so once a prompt is highlighted you can press:
S– Send to Supervertaler AssistantC– Copy prompt to clipboard
What happens when you pick clipboard
The plugin expands every {{VARIABLE}} against the current segment, project, and TM context (exactly as it would for the Assistant), then writes the resulting plain text to the Windows clipboard. The menu closes silently – there's no confirmation toast. Switch to your browser tab and press Ctrl+V to paste.
:::note Clipboard mode and the QuickLauncher prompts go to: routing setting (above) are independent. Routing only controls where the Send to Assistant mode lands – clipboard mode always copies locally, regardless of whether the global routing is set to In-Trados Assistant or Workbench Sidekick. :::
YAML reference
If you prefer editing prompt files directly, the relevant frontmatter fields are:
quicklauncher_modes:– accepts an inline list[assistant, clipboard]or a comma-separated stringassistant, clipboard. Unknown values are silently dropped. When omitted, defaults to[assistant].default_mode:– which mode appears first in the submenu when both are configured. Must be one of the values inquicklauncher_modes. Defaults toassistant.
See Also
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