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

1. Right-click anywhere in the editor (or press Alt+Q)
2. Click QuickLauncher in the context menu
3. Select a prompt from the list
4. The prompt is filled in with the current segment context and submitted to the Supervertaler Assistant chat

The QuickLauncher context menu with folder sections and keyboard shortcuts.

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 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.

QuickLauncher vs Translate Active Segment (Alt+T)

These are two different pipelines, and the difference matters:

• Translate active segment (Alt+T) runs through the Batch Translate pipeline: it uses the prompt currently selected in the Batch Translate tab, plus the same provider, termbase terms, document context and SuperMemory context as a batch run, and writes the result straight into the target cell. (Document and SuperMemory context from v18/19.20.149 – before that, single segments were sent without context, which made them translate noticeably worse than a batch.)
• QuickLauncher runs through the Assistant chat: it fills in whichever prompt template you assigned to the slot and shows the answer in the chat panel. What context the AI sees depends entirely on the template – surrounding text only if it contains {{SURROUNDING_SEGMENTS}}, the whole document only if it contains {{PROJECT}}, and so on (see the variables below).

If your goal is simply “translate this segment the way a batch would”, use Alt+T. Use QuickLauncher when you want a custom prompt’s behaviour – explaining a term, assessing a translation, or translating with special instructions of your own.

Keyboard shortcut

Shortcut (Windows)	Shortcut (Mac)	Action
Alt+Q	Option+Q	Open QuickLauncher prompt menu

Note

Changed in v18/19.20.184: this used to be Ctrl+Q. That collided with Trados’s own View Internally Source, and Trados wins – so QuickLauncher silently did nothing until you cleared that binding yourself. Alt+Q needs one small setup step: Trados also assigns it to Tell me what you want to do (confirmed in Studio 2024), and Trados wins, so clear that binding in File → Options → Keyboard Shortcuts – Tell Me is the ribbon search box at the top right and works fine without a shortcut. If you had already cleared the Trados binding, Ctrl+Q will now do nothing for QuickLauncher; use Alt+Q instead, or reassign it under File → Options → Keyboard Shortcuts.

Prompt variables

QuickLauncher prompts have access to the full segment and project context at the moment you trigger them.

Language variables

Variable	Replaced with	Example
{{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}}	Source language name, including locale	Dutch (Belgium)
{{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}	Target language name, including locale	English (United States)

Segment variables

Variable	Replaced with	Example
{{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

Variable	Replaced with
{{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):

[11] Vorige zin hier.
[12] Nog een vorige zin.
[13 ← ACTIVE] De uitvinding heeft betrekking op een nieuwe werkwijze...
[14] Volgende zin hier.
[15] Nog een volgende zin.

{{PROJECT}} example output (single-file project):

[1] De uitvinding heeft betrekking op een nieuwe werkwijze...
[2] De conclusies omvatten de volgende kenmerken...
[3] ...

In a multi-file project, a file header is inserted at each boundary (because Trados restarts segment numbering per file):

=== File 1 ===
[1] Conclusie 1 omvat...
[2] Conclusie 2 omvat...

=== File 2 ===
[1] De beschrijving begint hier...

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 Alt+Q, and choose a prompt like this:

The user is translating from {{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}} to {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}.
The selected term is: {{SELECTION}}

Explain what this term means and suggest the best {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}} equivalent,
considering the full segment context below:

{{SOURCE_SEGMENT}}

Example: assess the current translation

Source ({{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}}):
{{SOURCE_SEGMENT}}

My translation ({{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}):
{{TARGET_SEGMENT}}

Assess how I translated the current segment. Point out any inaccuracies,
awkward phrasing, or terminology issues, and suggest improvements.

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:

I am translating a {{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}} patent into {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}.

The selected term is: {{SELECTION}}

Here is the passage surrounding the active segment for context:

{{SURROUNDING_SEGMENTS}}

Suggest the best {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}} translation for "{{SELECTION}}" given the
surrounding context. Give a brief explanation of your reasoning.

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:

I am translating a {{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}} patent ({{DOCUMENT_NAME}}) into {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}.
Project: {{PROJECT_NAME}}

Here is the complete source text, segment by segment:

{{PROJECT}}

Throughout this document, what is the most accurate and consistent {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}
translation for "{{SELECTION}}"? Consider all occurrences in context and note any
variation in meaning between them.

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:

I am translating a {{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}} patent into {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}.

Here is the source document:

{{PROJECT}}

My translations so far:
- Segment 1: [paste your translation here]
- Segment 4: [paste your translation here]

Do you think these translations are accurate and consistent with the terminology
used elsewhere in the document?

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:

Translate the following segment from {{SOURCE_LANGUAGE}} to {{TARGET_LANGUAGE}}.

Source:
{{SOURCE_SEGMENT}}

Here are fuzzy matches from my translation memory:
{{TM_MATCHES}}

Use the fuzzy matches as reference where helpful, but produce an accurate
translation of the source segment – do not simply copy a fuzzy match.

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:

1. Open Settings → Prompts
2. Right-click a QuickLauncher folder in the tree
3. 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 for memoQ

QuickLauncher prompts live in the shared prompt_library folder used by both Supervertaler for Trados and Supervertaler for memoQ. Any prompt you create in one application is immediately available in the other.

YAML reference

If you prefer editing prompt files directly, the relevant frontmatter fields are:

---
name: Explain selected term
category: QuickLauncher
quicklauncher_modes: [assistant, clipboard]
default_mode: assistant
---

• quicklauncher_modes: – accepts an inline list [assistant, clipboard] or a comma-separated string assistant, 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 in quicklauncher_modes. Defaults to assistant.

---

See Also

• Text Transforms
• Prompts
• Supervertaler
• Keyboard Shortcuts