Translations

Agent Studio can build agents in English that respond to callers in other languages – the LLM handles most translation automatically. However, some content can’t be auto-translated well: hard-coded utterances in functions, delay control responses, and phrases where cultural nuances matter. The Translations page gives you a central place to manage these overrides.

You create translation cards that store language-specific versions of content, then reference them throughout your project using a translation key.

When to use translations

Translations are useful when:

• Auto-translated phrasing sounds unnatural – for example, “Please hold” auto-translates correctly to British English but “Please bear with me” sounds more natural
• Concepts don’t exist in the target language – for example, “Spell the name” has no direct equivalent in Mandarin or Japanese, so a direct translation sounds unnatural
• Domain-specific terms need precise translations that the LLM gets wrong
• Cultural nuances require different phrasing – extra politeness levels in Japanese, gender-based formality in Hindi or Polish
• Hard-coded utterances in functions need language-specific versions
• Greeting or disclaimer messages need manual translation

How it works

1. Create a translation card with the content you want translated
2. The card auto-translates to all configured languages on save
3. Manually edit any translation that needs improvement – these are marked as “Manually Translated”
4. Reference the card in your project using its Translation Key

Creating a translation card

1. Go to Behavior > Language > Translations
2. Click Add translation
3. Enter the content in your main language
4. Set a Translation Key – this is how you’ll reference the card elsewhere
5. Save – auto-translations are generated for all configured languages

Manually overriding translations

After a card is created, each language shows a status:

• Auto-Translated – generated automatically on save
• Manually Translated – you’ve edited the translation for this language

To override a translation, click into the language field and edit the text directly.

Using translations in your project

In prompts and content

Insert a translation using the action menu (similar to inserting a variant) in:

• Greeting and disclaimer messages
• Behavior rules (style guides)
• Prompts in FAQs
• Delay control responses
• SMS templates

In functions

For hard-coded utterances in functions, access translations using the conv.translations object:

conv.translations.tn_greeting

For translation keys with special characters:

getattr(conv.translations, "key with special chars")

Language-specific style guides

Translation cards handle specific phrases, but broader behavioral differences across languages are best managed in Behavior rules. Add language-specific style guides to make the agent behave more naturally in each language:

• Japanese – extra politeness and honorific language
• Hindi and Polish – gender-based formality
• German – formal “Sie” vs informal “du” based on context
• Spanish – regional variation between Latin America and Spain

Use <language:xx> tags in behavior rules to scope style guides to specific languages.

Best practices

• Only translate what needs overriding. If auto-translation works, don’t add it to the Translations page.
• Use descriptive translation keys. Keys like tn_hold_message are easier to manage than tn_1.
• Test with native speakers before going live – auto-translations may be technically correct but sound unnatural.
• Keep the main language content up to date. When you edit the main language text on a card, auto-translations regenerate for languages that haven’t been manually overridden.

Related pages