Tone
Control the register and style of all translations with a single plain-English instruction.
The tone field in buildtranslator.json is a plain-English instruction injected into every translation system prompt. It applies to all target languages and both JSON and Markdown files.
Configuration
buildtranslator.json
{
"sourceLanguage": "en",
"targetLanguages": ["es", "fr", "de", "it", "ja"],
"localesPath": "./locales",
"tone": "Professional and technical, developer-focused. Use formal register."
}Maximum 200 characters. polycli run will exit with an error if the value exceeds this limit.
Example tone values
| Use case | Tone value |
|---|---|
| Developer tool | Professional and technical, developer-focused. Use formal register. |
| Consumer app | Friendly and approachable. Short sentences. Avoid jargon. |
| E-commerce | Persuasive and clear. Action-oriented. Formal but not stiff. |
| Legal / compliance | Precise and formal. Prefer established legal terminology. |
| Gaming | Casual and energetic. Use gaming community conventions for the target language. |
The tone instruction is sent as part of the system prompt — it is a strong hint, not a hard constraint. For terms that must be preserved exactly, use
glossary.doNotTranslate.Setting tone with polycli init
Running polycli init in an existing project will show a tone prompt with your current value pre-filled. Press Enter to keep it, or type a new value. The 200-character limit is validated interactively.