Microcopy

Every string a person reads in Upmo, written once in one place. Product code, docs and Upmo’s own agents copy from this list. Nobody invents a new phrasing. That way the same action is never “Delete” on one screen and “Remove” on the next. The machine-readable copy is microcopy.json, and the keys below are its keys.

Voice

• Plain and direct, in the second person. Talk to the reader as “you”. Write “Your key was rejected.” Never “The provided credential could not be validated.”
• Say what happens, not what you feel. Never write “Oops”, “Sorry”, “Great!” or “Successfully”. A toast reads “Task started”, not “Successfully started your task!”.
• Who speaks. Interface chrome (the menus, labels and messages around the content) speaks as Upmo, in the third person: “Upmo could not reach OpenAI.” An agent speaks as “I”, inside its chat and nowhere else. Upmo never says “we”.
• Verbs first. Buttons start with a verb and name the outcome: “Connect provider”, “Create task”. Labels and titles are nouns.
• One idea per sentence. Errors are two sentences at most. The first says what went wrong. The second says what to do.
• Reading level. A person who is not technical should understand every string outside code blocks. Write “key”, not “credential”. Write “connect”, not “authenticate”, and “working”, not “executing”.
• Sentence case everywhere: only the first word and names take a capital. Titles, labels, buttons, badges, tabs and menu items end without a period. Full sentences in body text, descriptions, toasts and errors end with one.
• No em dashes, no emoji, no exclamation marks, no ellipsis. The one exception is the three dots in a progress label (“Testing…”).

Vocabulary

The product words (task, chat, run, engine, usage, notifications, folder, workspace and the status words) are in the Glossary. It is the source for those words. This table covers the other words people read.

Use	Never	Note
Agent	bot, assistant, AI, model	Model is the LLM a provider serves. Agent is the persona.
Provider	vendor, backend, LLM	OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama
Connector	integration, plugin, app	GitHub, Gmail, an MCP server
Automation	cron, schedule, trigger	The schedule is the automation’s field, not its name.
Knowledge	KB, RAG, documents	“Knowledge” is the section. A single item is a “source”.
Memory	context, history	What Upmo remembers about you.
Approval	confirmation, gate	A task “needs approval”. You “approve” or “deny”.
Artifact	output, deliverable, file	What a task produced.
Working	running, executing, processing	The live status word.
Stop	abort, kill, terminate	Stop a working task.
Cancel		Cancel something scheduled that has not started, or back out of a dialog.
Archive	hide, close	Takes chats and tasks out of view. You can bring them back.
Delete	remove, destroy, purge	Cannot be undone. Always confirmed.
Remove	delete, unlink, detach	Detaches something, and can be undone: remove a connector from an agent, remove a source.
Done	completed, finished, success	The final status when the work succeeded.
Failed	error, errored, crashed	The final status when the work did not succeed.
Settings	preferences, configuration, options
Sign in / Sign out	log in, login, log out
Key	API key, token, secret, credential	“Key” in labels. “API key” only where the provider calls it that.
Tokens		Only ever the LLM unit, with a count.
Budget	limit, cap, quota	Money or tokens a task may spend.

Actions

Buttons, menu items and links. Each row gives the key, the label and where it appears.

Key	Label	Use
action.create_task	Create task	Primary on the task form
action.start_task	Start task	Primary when a draft exists
action.stop_task	Stop task	Danger, while working
action.run_again	Run again	Starts a new run of a finished task
action.pause / action.resume	Pause / Resume
action.retry	Try again	After any failure. Never “Retry”.
action.approve / action.deny	Approve / Deny	Approval alert
action.review	Review	Opens the approval detail
action.follow_up	Follow up	Creates a follow-up task
action.new_chat	New chat
action.send	Send	Composer. The icon is the caret
action.stop_generating	Stop	Composer while streaming
action.regenerate	Regenerate
action.copy / action.copied	Copy / Copied	Label flips for 2 s
action.edit	Edit
action.save	Save changes	Forms with a submit. Single-value settings auto-save and show “Saved”.
action.cancel	Cancel	Secondary in every dialog
action.continue / action.back	Continue / Back	Stepper
action.skip	Skip for now	Onboarding, optional steps
action.finish	Finish	Last stepper step when no better verb exists
action.connect / action.disconnect	Connect / Disconnect	Providers and connectors
action.test / action.testing	Test connection / Testing…
action.add_provider	Add provider	Also Add connector, Add agent, Add automation, Add source
action.archive / action.unarchive	Archive / Unarchive
action.delete	Delete	Danger. Confirmed with the item name.
action.remove	Remove	Reversible
action.undo	Undo	In toasts, 10 s
action.view_all	View all	Links from summaries
action.show_more / action.show_less	Show more / Show less	Spoiler
action.download	Download	Artifacts
action.open_in	Open in {app}	GitHub, the sandbox
action.open_code_editor	Open in code editor	Result tab, above the artifacts, when the task has files in its sandbox
action.clear_filters	Clear filters
action.sign_in / action.sign_out	Sign in / Sign out
action.dismiss	Dismiss	aria-label of every close button on toasts and alerts
action.close	Close	aria-label of the X on modals and drawers

Never use Submit, OK, Yes, No, Confirm, Proceed, Go, Click here or Learn more. In place of “Learn more”, link the noun: “Read the provider guide”.

Status words

Each status is a colour, an icon and a word, always together. Someone checking on a working task should never have to read colour alone. A task moves through Preparing, Planning, Working and Checking, then ends Done or Failed. The same words name the timeline steps and the badge, so people learn one set.

Key	Word	Icon	Colour	Meaning
status.draft	Draft	idle caret	ink-muted	Not started
status.queued	Queued	idle caret	ink-muted	Waiting for a free slot
status.preparing	Preparing	plan caret	ink	Reading the goal and sources
status.planning	Planning	plan caret	ink	Writing the steps
status.working	Working	build caret, lifting	ink	Doing the steps
status.checking	Checking	build caret	ink	Testing and reviewing the result
status.needs_approval	Needs approval	clock	warning	Blocked on you
status.paused	Paused	pause	ink-muted	By you
status.done	Done	done caret	success
status.failed	Failed	X	danger	Includes budget and timeout. The detail says which
status.stopped	Stopped	X	ink-muted	By you
status.cancelled	Cancelled	X	ink-muted	Before it started

A status line shows the status word only, with no counts: “Working”, “Planning”, “Done”. A Failed line may keep a short reason after a middle dot: “Failed · budget reached”, “Failed · timed out after 20 min”, “Failed · provider key rejected”. The reason is not a count.

Providers and connectors: Connected, Not connected, Rate limited, Key rejected, Offline. Automations: On, Off, Next run {relative}.

Empty states

Each empty state has a title, a body and one action. The title says what is missing, without “No”. The body says what will appear here. The action is the way to get it. An empty filter result is not the same as an empty surface, so each gets its own copy.

Key	Title	Body	Action
empty.tasks	Your first task	Give Upmo a goal. It plans the work, does it and checks the result while you do something else.	Create task
empty.tasks_filtered	Nothing matches	Try another status, agent or date range.	Clear filters
empty.chats	Start a chat	Ask a question, paste a file, or describe what you want done.	New chat
empty.artifacts	Nothing produced yet	Artifacts appear here as the task finishes its steps.
empty.artifact_preview	Upmo cannot preview this file	Download it to open it with an app on your computer.	Download
empty.providers	Connect a provider	Upmo needs at least one model to think with. Local Ollama works without a key.	Add provider
empty.connectors	Connect your tools	GitHub, email, calendar and any MCP server. Agents use only the connectors you add.	Add connector
empty.automations	Run tasks on a schedule	A daily digest, a weekly review, a check every hour.	Add automation
empty.knowledge	Give Upmo something to read	Upload files or point to a folder. Agents search it when it helps.	Add source
empty.memory	Nothing remembered yet	Upmo keeps facts you tell it and lessons from tasks. You can delete any of them.
empty.search	No results for “{query}”	Check the spelling or try a shorter word.
empty.notifications	You are up to date	Approvals and finished tasks show up here.
empty.offline	Upmo is not reachable	Check that the server is running, then try again.	Try again

Errors

Pattern: what went wrong (past tense, concrete), then what to do (an instruction). Name the thing by its label. Never blame the user (“you entered”). Never apologise. Never show an error code or stack trace in the message. Put those behind “Show details”. When a task fails, the person needs the next step first.

Key	Message
error.key_rejected	{provider} rejected the key. Check it in Settings and try again.
error.key_format	Enter a key that starts with {prefix}.
error.provider_unreachable	Upmo could not reach {provider}. Check your connection and try again.
error.rate_limited	{provider} is rate limiting requests. Upmo will retry in {seconds} s.
error.no_provider	No provider is connected. Add one in Settings to start.
error.model_unavailable	{model} is not available on {provider}. Pick another model.
error.budget_reached	The task reached its budget of {budget}. Raise the budget and resume, or stop here.
error.timeout	The task ran for {duration} without finishing. Stop it, or give it more time.
error.sandbox_failed	The sandbox could not start. Check that Docker is running on the server.
error.repo_not_found	Upmo could not find {repo}. Check the name and that the connector can read it.
error.repo_no_push	Upmo cannot push to {repo}. Pick a repository you can push to.
error.required	Enter {field}.
error.too_long	Keep {field} under {max} characters.
error.invalid_url	Enter a full address, starting with https://.
error.invalid_cron	Enter a valid schedule. Example: every weekday at 9:00.
error.file_too_large	{name} is larger than {max}. Pick a smaller file.
error.file_type	Upmo cannot read {type} files. Use PDF, text, Markdown, images or audio.
error.network	The server did not respond. Try again.
error.not_found	This {thing} no longer exists. It may have been deleted.
error.forbidden	You do not have access to this {thing}.
error.unknown	Something went wrong on the server. Try again, and if it keeps happening check the server logs.
error.details	Show details / Hide details

Field errors use the field’s label in {field}: “Enter a goal.” “Keep the name under 80 characters.”

Confirmations

Ask for confirmation only before actions that cannot be undone or that are costly. The title names the action and the item. The body says what is lost. The confirm button repeats the verb. The cancel button is “Cancel” or the safe choice.

Key	Title	Body	Confirm	Cancel
confirm.delete_task	Delete “{name}”?	Its runs, artifacts and sandbox are removed. This cannot be undone.	Delete task	Cancel
confirm.delete_chat	Delete this chat?	Messages are removed for good. Archive it instead to keep it.	Delete chat	Archive instead
confirm.stop_task	Stop “{name}”?	Work done so far is kept. You can follow up later.	Stop task	Keep working
confirm.disconnect_provider	Disconnect {provider}?	Agents using its models will fail until you pick another.	Disconnect	Cancel
confirm.remove_connector	Remove {connector} from {agent}?	The agent loses access at once. The connector stays available to others.	Remove	Cancel
confirm.discard_changes	Discard changes?	What you typed in this form will be lost.	Discard	Keep editing
confirm.delete_key	Delete this key?	Everything using it stops working. Add a new key first if you need continuity.	Delete key	Cancel
confirm.approve_action	Let {agent} {action}?	{detail}	Approve	Deny
confirm.sign_out	Sign out?		Sign out	Cancel

A delete confirmation never has a “Don’t ask again” checkbox. Ask people to type the name only when they delete an agent or a provider with history.

Toasts

A toast is the short message that slides in after an action. It is not the same as the notifications list behind the bell (see Patterns).

A toast stays for five seconds, or ten with an action. The title is two to four words. The body is optional. A toast has one action at most.

Key	Title	Body	Action
toast.task_started	Task started	{name} is preparing.	View
toast.task_done	Task done	{name} produced {count, plural, one {# artifact} other {# artifacts}}.	View
toast.task_failed	Task failed	{name}: {reason}	View
toast.needs_approval	Needs approval	{agent} wants to {action}.	Review
toast.saved	Saved
toast.copied	Copied
toast.archived	Chat archived		Undo
toast.deleted	{thing} deleted
toast.connected	{provider} connected
toast.automation_on	Automation on	Next run {relative}.
toast.offline	Connection lost	Upmo is retrying.
toast.online	Back online
toast.update	Upmo {version} is ready	Reload to use it.	Reload

Form hints

Descriptions sit under the control. They say where the value comes from or what it does. Placeholders show the format only.

Key	Label	Description	Placeholder
field.goal	Goal	What should be true when the task is done. Be specific about the result, not the steps.	Add a weekly spend report to the dashboard
field.task_name	Name (optional)	Shown in lists. Upmo suggests one from the goal.
field.agent	Agent	Who does the work. The general agent handles most goals.
field.repo	Repository	Where the agent works. Pick one the GitHub connector can push to.	owner/name
field.budget	Budget	The most this task may spend. It stops and asks when it gets there.	€2.00
field.api_key	API key	From the {provider} dashboard, under API keys. Stored encrypted, never shown again.	sk-…
field.base_url	Server address	Where the model runs. Local Ollama is http://localhost:11434.	https://
field.model	Model	Which model answers. Cost per 1k tokens is shown next to each.
field.schedule	Schedule	When the automation runs, in your timezone ({tz}).	Every weekday at 9:00
field.display_name	Your name	How agents address you.
field.timezone	Timezone	Used for schedules and times in the app.
field.search			Search tasks, chats and knowledge
field.composer			Ask anything, or describe a task

Tooltips and labels for icon-only controls

An icon-only button has an aria-label (the name a screen reader reads out) and a tooltip with the same text. Write a verb plus an object, in two or three words. A keyboard shortcut goes after a middle dot, in the tooltip only.

Copy reply, Edit message, Regenerate, Stop, Send · Enter, New line · Shift+Enter, Attach file, Dictate (disabled: Enable the whisper profile to dictate), Open command palette · ⌘K, Toggle sidebar · ⌘B, Switch theme, Notifications, Task details, Open in GitHub, Download artifact, Pin chat, Archive chat, More actions, Dismiss, Close, Back, Scroll to top.

Tasks and agents in the interface

Live strings shown while a task runs. Streaming text belongs to the agent. Everything below is Upmo’s own voice.

Key	String
live.thinking	Thinking…
live.reading	Reading {source}…
live.searching	Searching {where}…
live.tool	Running {tool}…
live.tool_done	{tool} · {duration}
live.tool_failed	{tool} failed · {reason}
live.step	Step {n} of {total} · {title}
live.phase_done	{phase} done in {duration}
live.waiting_approval	Waiting for your approval
live.streaming_stopped	Stopped. The reply above is incomplete.
live.sandbox_starting	Starting the sandbox…
live.editor_starting	Starting the code editor…
live.verifying	Checking the result…
live.review	Reviewing the work…
live.cost	{tokens} tok · {money}
live.cost_unknown	{tokens} tok · cost unknown
approval.title	{agent} wants to {action}
approval.body	{detail} Approve to continue, deny to let the agent find another way.
approval.expired	This approval expired. The task stopped.
agent.first_message	What should I work on?
agent.cannot	I cannot do that with the connectors I have. {alternative}

Agents never say “As an AI”, “I apologise”, “Certainly” or “Great question”. An agent that is unsure says what it would need: “I need the GitHub connector to open a pull request.”

The task page

A task page has two tabs, Activity and Result. PageTaskDetail shows them.

Key	String	Use
tab.activity	Activity	The first task tab
tab.result	Result	The second task tab. The artifact count Badge sits beside it
activity.views	Activity view	aria-label of the SegmentedControl at the top of Activity
activity.summary	Summary	The view with the status Timeline. The default
activity.all_events	All events	The view with the EventLog. Also the aria-label of the log
result.summary	Summary	Heading of the final answer in Result
result.summary_pending	The final result shows up here when the task is done.	In place of the answer while the task is not done
result.artifacts	Artifacts	Heading of the artifacts in Result

Event log

Strings for the EventLog. The icon buttons follow the rule for icon-only controls: the aria-label and the tooltip are the same text.

Key	String	Use
count.events	{count, plural, =0 {No events yet} one {# event} other {# events}}	The count at the start of the toolbar: “14 events”
events.follow	Follow live	Toggle button with aria-pressed. Only while the run is going
events.following / events.not_following	Following live / Not following	The state next to the count, on wider screens
events.jump_top / events.jump_bottom	Jump to top / Jump to bottom	Icon buttons that scroll the log
events.copy	Copy log	Icon button. The label flips to action.copied for 2 s
events.full_screen / events.exit_full_screen	Full screen / Exit full screen	Icon button. Escape also exits
events.type	Event type	Label of the raw event name in an expanded row
events.engine / events.model / events.duration / events.tool_calls	Engine / Model / Duration / Tool calls	Labels in an expanded model turn

An event message is plain words, never the raw event name: “Plan written: 4 steps”, “Sent to #finance on Slack”. It may carry a count, such as “4 of 4 checks passed”. The no-count rule is for status lines only.

Delivery

Strings for the DeliveryCard. Delivery is where a task’s result goes. Each place is a delivery target.

Key	String	Use
delivery.title	Delivery	The card title
delivery.target	{target} on {service}	One target: “#finance on Slack”
delivery.after_done	After the task is done	Under the target while the task is not done
delivery.change	Change	subtle sm button while waiting
delivery.sending	Sending	Badge while it sends
delivery.delivered	Delivered {time}	success Badge: “Delivered 08:06”
delivery.failed	Failed	danger Badge, followed by a short reason: “Slack key rejected”
action.retry	Try again	Button next to a failed target
delivery.none	Results stay in Upmo	When the task has no target
delivery.add	Add	Link when the task has no target. Its accessible name is delivery.add_label: “Add delivery target”

Artifacts and the code editor

Strings for the artifacts in the Result tab and the code editor. Patterns describes the states.

Key	String	Use
result.artifacts	Artifacts	Heading in the Result tab. The count Badge sits on the Result tab label
artifact.view.rendered / artifact.view.source	Rendered / Source	Toggle on a Markdown artifact
action.download	Download	In the viewer header, for every artifact. The icon-only form is Download artifact
action.open_code_editor	Open in code editor	Opens the code editor in a new browser tab
live.editor_starting	Starting the code editor…	On the button while the editor starts
editor.read_only	Read only	Badge next to the button while the task is Working
editor.read_only_reason	You can edit the files when the task stops.	One line next to the badge
empty.artifact_preview	Upmo cannot preview this file	The download card for a type with no viewer

The button says “code editor”, never a product name.

Permissions

Each connector has one setting for changes. Connecting a connector lets agents read through it. For changes (create, update, send) the person picks one of three choices. The default is Ask first. Deleting always asks first, even under Allow. When they connect it, people also pick what it can reach: All, or Only these (repositories, folders, labels). Rules for single actions sit under Advanced on the connector page, never in the main view.

Key	String	Meaning
permission.allow	Allow	Agents make changes without asking
permission.ask	Ask first	Agents ask for approval before each change. The default
permission.block	Block	Agents cannot make changes
permission.changes	Changes	Label of the setting. Description: “Creating, updating and sending. Deleting always asks first.”
permission.reach	What it can reach	Label of the reach choice: All (permission.reach.all) or Only these (permission.reach.only)
permission.advanced	Advanced	Section on the connector page for rules on single actions

Time, numbers, plurals

• Relative time for anything under 7 days: “just now”, “2 min ago”, “3 h ago”, “yesterday”, “4 days ago”. After that, show the date: “12 Oct”, or “12 Oct 2025” when it falls in another year. Hover shows the exact time in the user’s timezone, 24-hour: “12 Oct 2026, 14:03”.
• Future: “in 2 h”, “tomorrow at 9:00”, “Mon at 9:00”.
• Durations: “4.2 s”, “1 min 20 s”, “2 h 05 min”. Never “00:01:20”.
• Tokens: “12k”, “1.2M”, exact on hover: “12,340 tokens”. Show input and output as two counts. A 12px glyph comes before each: Tabler chevron-up for input, chevron-down for output. These are direction glyphs, not the mark. The mark is never rotated. The hover reads “12,340 input · 1,180 output”. Screen readers get “12k in, 1.2k out”.
• Money: use the account currency symbol, two decimals under 1, three under 0.1: “€4.20”, “€0.42”, “€0.011”. Unknown cost is the word “unknown”, never a dash and never 0. Upmo never guesses a cost.
• Counts: every string with a count uses an ICU plural. This format picks the right word form for each number: {count, plural, one {# task} other {# tasks}}. In a sentence, zero is a word: “No tasks yet”, not “0 tasks”.
• File sizes: “240 KB”, “1.2 MB”, one decimal above 1 MB.
• Percent: “38%”, no space, no decimals unless under 1%.
• Ranges and arrows: no arrow characters anywhere. Up and down are the caret glyphs. Ranges use “to”: “9:00 to 17:00”.
• Locale: numbers and dates follow the browser locale (its language and region settings) through Intl. Strings are written in English first. The JSON is the source for translation.

Keys and format

microcopy.json holds every string in this section as "category.key": "string", with ICU MessageFormat placeholders. A string that changes a word based on a number uses plural. A key never changes once it ships. A replaced meaning gets a new key, and the old key is deleted in the same change. Docs quote interface labels, so a label change needs a docs change too.