Prompts

How to use built-in prompts, create custom ones, and control how AI Enhancement transforms your transcriptions.

Prompts are the instructions that tell the AI how to process your transcription. Different prompts produce different results from the same spoken input -- one might clean up grammar while another formats an email or rewrites for clarity.

Built-In Prompts

Echo ships with two system prompts that cannot be deleted:

Default -- The general-purpose prompt. It cleans up grammar and spelling, removes filler words ("um", "uh", "like"), keeps only the final version when you correct yourself mid-sentence, formats lists, converts spoken numbers to digits, and preserves your personality and tone. It does not answer questions -- it only cleans up what you said.
Assistant -- Treats your transcription as a request and provides a direct answer. Use this when you want to ask a question or give a command by voice and get a response. It uses your screen, clipboard, and selected text as reference material.

Selecting a Prompt

You can select which prompt to use in two ways:

Per Adaptive Awareness profile:

Open Adaptive Awareness in the sidebar
Select a profile (including the Default profile for your general settings)
In the Intelligent Transformation section, use the Prompt selector to choose a prompt

Each profile can use a different prompt, so Echo automatically switches prompts based on what you're doing. See Adaptive Awareness for details.

Via keyboard shortcuts (while the recorder is visible):

Press Command + E to toggle enhancement on or off
Press Command + 1 through Command + 0 to switch between your saved prompts by number

Creating a Custom Prompt

Open Adaptive Awareness in the sidebar and select any profile
In the Intelligent Transformation section, click Create New Prompt next to the prompt selector
The prompt editor opens with a blank form

Fill in the fields:
- Title -- A short name for the prompt (shown in the grid and popover)
- Icon -- Choose from categories: Document & Text, Communication, Professional, Technical, Content, Media & Creative
- Description -- A brief note about what this prompt does (optional, for your reference)
- Use enhanced template -- When on (the default), your instructions are wrapped in a system template that provides context about transcription enhancement, your dictionary terms, and clipboard content. When off, only your exact instructions are sent. Turn this off if you want complete control over the prompt.
- Prompt Instructions -- The actual instructions for the AI. Write what you want it to do with the transcription.
Click Save

Starting from a Template

When creating a new prompt, you'll see a Start with a Predefined Template section at the bottom of the editor. These templates give you a tested starting point that you can customize:

Template	What It Does
System Default	General cleanup: grammar, filler words, self-corrections, lists, numbers
Chat	Casual, Gen-Z-friendly formatting for messaging
Email	Formats transcriptions as professional emails with salutations and sign-offs
Vibe Coding	Cleans up programming conversations, corrects technical terms using screen context
Rewrite	Rewrites with enhanced clarity and improved sentence structure while preserving meaning

Click any template to load its title, icon, and prompt text into the editor. You can then modify it however you like before saving.

Editing a Prompt

Open Adaptive Awareness in the sidebar and select any profile
In the Intelligent Transformation section, below the prompt selector you'll see a preview of the current prompt. Click Edit Prompt to open it in the editor

System prompts (Default and Assistant) cannot be modified. If you open one, the editor will show its content but the fields will be read-only. Create a custom prompt instead if you want different behavior.

The Enhanced Template

When Use enhanced template is turned on (which is the default for custom prompts), your instructions are placed inside a wrapper that:

Tells the AI it is a transcription enhancer, not a chatbot
Instructs it to reference your clipboard, screen context, and personal vocabulary for accuracy
Corrects words that sound similar to terms in your dictionary or on-screen content
Warns the AI not to answer questions found in the transcription -- only clean them up

This template works well for most use cases. Turn it off only if you need the AI to behave differently (for example, if you want it to respond to questions like the Assistant prompt does).

Prompts and Adaptive Awareness

Prompts can be assigned to Adaptive Awareness profiles. When a profile activates (based on your active app, a URL, or a voice trigger), it can automatically switch to a specific prompt. For example:

A "Coding" profile that activates when VS Code is open could use the Vibe Coding prompt
An "Email" profile that activates when Gmail is open could use the Email prompt

The editor shows a usage indicator when a prompt is assigned to profiles, so you always know where it's being used. Changes to a prompt apply everywhere it's referenced.

Tips

Start with the Default prompt and create custom ones only when you have a specific need. The Default handles most situations well.
Keep prompt instructions clear and specific. The AI follows instructions more reliably when they're concrete rather than vague.
If the enhanced template is getting in the way, turn off Use enhanced template and write the full prompt yourself, including any context handling you need.