multiple languages
I'm still wondering how to create a chatbot that answers in the user's language.
You can choose a fixed language in your prompt for the chatbot to answer, or you can use the website URL to direct it to the correct flow with the correct language.
But shouldn't there be an easy function in the AI block where you can simply tap "answer in the user's language?" Something like the one you currently have in the AI block with "add conversation history."
Could you add this, or is it already available? It would be a valuable addition.
2 Replies
At the moment the AI Step doesn’t have a one-click “reply in user’s language” toggle.
How teams usually handle it today:
• Add the instruction directly in the AI Step prompt, e.g.
“Whenever you answer, mirror the language the user just used. If you’re unsure, default to English.”
The LLM will detect the language in the last user turn and respond accordingly.
• OR build separate language flows/agents and route the user (with URL parameters, a language-picker, or a quick language-detection Function) to the appropriate flow. This also lets you localise hard-coded text steps and buttons.
Why no toggle yet?
Languages are treated differently inside Voiceflow (agent text vs. AI responses vs. intents/entities). The AI model already understands >100 languages, so a simple prompt instruction usually covers multilingual replies. A dedicated UI switch is on the roadmap but isn’t available today. Tip – quick language detect & store: 1. Add an early AI Step: “Detect the language of {last_user_message}. Reply ONLY with the ISO code.”
2. Store that output in a variable (e.g.
3. In every later AI Step start your prompt with: “Respond in {{user_lang}}.” Reference: Voiceflow “Languages” doc – best practice is to define the response language explicitly in the prompt or maintain separate flows for each language (https://docs.voiceflow.com).
Languages are treated differently inside Voiceflow (agent text vs. AI responses vs. intents/entities). The AI model already understands >100 languages, so a simple prompt instruction usually covers multilingual replies. A dedicated UI switch is on the roadmap but isn’t available today. Tip – quick language detect & store: 1. Add an early AI Step: “Detect the language of {last_user_message}. Reply ONLY with the ISO code.”
2. Store that output in a variable (e.g.
user_lang).3. In every later AI Step start your prompt with: “Respond in {{user_lang}}.” Reference: Voiceflow “Languages” doc – best practice is to define the response language explicitly in the prompt or maintain separate flows for each language (https://docs.voiceflow.com).
If I put in the prompt ‘answer in the user’s language or in the language of the {last_utterance}’, it doesn’t always work properly