Guidelines

Writing

US English is the source. Sentence case. Oxford comma. En dash for ranges. Percent with no space (18%). Contractions in guidance, not in alerts. You is the operator; we is the product.

This guideline is the mechanics. Stance and registers live in Tone of voice. Strings in UI live in Microcopy. Terms live in Terminology.

Language

US English source strings. Locales are translations of these keys, not a second voice.
Sentence case for titles, headings, buttons, and labels. Not Title Case. Not ALL CAPS except the wordmark ETHER.
Oxford comma: “canvas, rails, and panels.”
En dash for ranges: 12–18, 28 Aug–2 Sep. Em dash for a break in a sentence, sparingly.
Percent: 18%, never 18 % or 18 percent in the instrument.
Contractions in Instrument and Guidance (“Couldn't refresh”). Not in Alert (“Could not refresh metrics. Retry.”) when the alert must stay the shortest, least-ambiguous line — prefer the uncontracted verb only if the contraction costs clarity. Default: Guidance contracts; Alert stays clipped and plain.

You and we

You = the operator.
We = the product.
Do not call the operator “user” in UI. Do not say “the user” in empty states.

Voice mechanics

Present tense, active voice.
Buttons start with a verb: Export CSV, Delete panel, Retry.
Destructive actions name the object: Delete panel, not Delete, not OK.
Numbers are first-class and tabular. Lead with the number when the number is the point.

Dates and times

Prose: 28 Aug 2026 (day month year, no comma, abbreviated month).
Data, APIs, filenames: ISO-8601 (2026-08-28).
Times in the operator’s timezone, and labelled as such. Do not assume UTC in the instrument unless the label says UTC.
Ranges use an en dash, not “to,” in compact UI: 08:00–08:15.

Words to avoid

Do not use: leverage, utilize, seamless, delight, oops, simply, just, obviously.

Please only for permissions (the operator is granting something), never as politeness on a button or error.

Never “Oops.” Never “Click here.” Never “OK” as a primary action.

See also Terminology: never sidebar, KPI, mini chart, AI summary, refine, period, window, shortcut (for a command), realtime (unless it is), old/outdated (use stale + timestamp), no data as a dead end, comfortable/tight (use density names).

Capitalisation and punctuation

Sentence case.
Periods at the end of full sentences in guidance and alerts. No period on labels, buttons, or metric names.
One sentence when one sentence will do. Two is the usual maximum for an empty state or error.