Prompt File Format

You are viewing help for Supervertaler for Trados — the Trados Studio plugin. Looking for help with the standalone app? Visit Supervertaler Workbench help.

Prompts are stored as .md files (Markdown with YAML frontmatter). This is the same format used by Supervertaler Workbench, so prompts are automatically shared between both applications via the shared prompt_library folder. Legacy .svprompt files are still loaded for backward compatibility.

---
type: prompt
name: My Patent Prompt
description: Patent and IP translation with strict terminology rules
category: Translate
---

You are an expert {{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}} to {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}} patent translator...

YAML field	Description
type	Document type – always prompt for prompt files
name	Display name shown in the prompt selector
description	Optional summary
category	Translate, Proofread, or QuickLauncher — controls where the prompt appears
quicklauncher_label	Short label for the QuickLauncher menu (optional, falls back to name)
default	true for shipped prompts (managed by the plugin)
sort_order	Numeric order within folder (lower values first). Set automatically by the ▲/▼ buttons.

Older prompts using the domain key instead of category are still supported for backward compatibility.

System prompt

The plugin automatically prepends a system prompt to every AI call. This system prompt includes language pair information, termbase terms (based on your AI Context settings), and TM matches when enabled. The content you write in a prompt .md file is the user prompt — it is sent after the system prompt.

Creating and editing prompts

New prompt

1. Click New in the Prompts tab

2. Fill in Name, Description, Category, and Content

3. Click Save

Edit a prompt

1. Select a prompt in the list

2. Click Edit

3. Modify as needed and click Save

Inserting variables

While editing prompt content, press Ctrl+, to open the variable picker menu. This lists all available variables with a short description. Select a variable to insert it at the cursor position. If text is selected in the editor, it is replaced by the inserted variable.

Ctrl+, mirrors the variable insertion shortcut used in the Trados Studio editor.

Delete a prompt

1. Select a custom prompt

2. Click Delete and confirm

Built-in prompts cannot be deleted. Click Restore to recreate any built-in prompts you have removed.