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Channel auto-translate

Auto-translate turns a channel into a live-translated channel: every new message is reposted, translated, as the original author (using a webhook so the avatar and name match), with a small subtext line noting the source language and engine. Edits to the original are synced to the repost.

Auto-translate is available on every plan: Free covers one channel with one language (in total, across your servers), while Pro and Max unlock more channels and languages. It's metered against the enabling admin's plan, not the message author's.

Setting it up

From the dashboard, open Auto-translate (or the Servers page → Channel auto-translation):

  1. Pick a server you manage that has the bot installed.
  2. Choose a channel and a target language, then Add language.
  3. Repeat to translate a channel into multiple languages (Free: 1 channel and 1 language total; Pro: 2 per channel; Max: unlimited).

Each (channel, language) pair is one configured route. A message is translated into every configured language for its channel, skipping any language that matches the message's detected source language.

How a message flows

  1. A user posts in a configured channel.
  2. The bot detects the source language (cheap Azure detect when available).
  3. For each target language, it checks the enabling admin's balance and plan, picks the engine, and translates (keeping glossary terms intact).
  4. It reposts via the channel's "Low's Translator" webhook as the author, appends the subtext line, and remembers the mapping so future edits can be re-translated in place.

Requirements and gotchas:

  • The bot needs Manage Webhooks in the channel. Threads are covered too: a message in a thread is translated using the parent channel's configuration and reposted into the thread (through the parent channel's webhook), so you don't configure threads separately.
  • Auto-translate is billed to the enabling admin's character balance; when they run out, messages are skipped until their allowance resets (Free gets one channel within its monthly allowance).
  • If the admin is out of characters, messages are skipped, unless the engine is OpenAI, which is uncapped and keeps translating.
  • Reposts never ping anyone (mentions are stripped, including on edits).

Message styles

You can change how translated reposts look: Compact (the default), Embed, Minimal, Bilingual, and more, set per surface by any server admin. See Message styling for the full list and where to set it.

The auto-translate engine (per server)

Each server has its own auto-translate engine, independent of any individual's personal engine. Set it on the Servers page → Auto-translation → Engine:

  • OpenAI: the default for new servers. Unlimited (doesn't draw down the cap), handles any language.
  • Account default (auto): uses the engine chosen by whoever enabled each channel.
  • DeepL / Azure: force a specific metered engine.

If the chosen engine can't serve a message (not configured, or out of allowance), it falls back automatically. See Translation engines.

Reply translations (DM)

Any member can opt in to reply translations (Settings → Translation → Reply translations). When someone replies to your message in an auto-translated channel, you also get a private DM with their reply translated into your language, while the normal in-channel reply still appears for everyone as usual. It reuses the translation the channel already produced (no extra characters are spent), and only DMs you when the channel is translating into your language. It's off by default and per-person, so each member controls their own.

Auto-translate is tied to a channel. Two related features translate in other ways:

  • Role translations: translate a specific member's messages everywhere, based on a language role, instead of per channel.
  • Linked channels: bridge messages between channels in different languages (e.g. #english ↔ #português).

Access control

Server admins can limit whose messages get translated: a blocklist (specific members are skipped) and an optional required role (only members with the role are auto-translated). Both apply to auto-translate, linked channels, and public reaction translations. Configure them on the Servers page (Access control card) or with /access. See Settings & server config.

Branding

Auto-translate reposts include a subtle "Get Low's Translator" discovery link in the subtext. Pro and Max plans can hide it: Servers → Auto-translation → Repost branding.

Billing model recap

  • Metered to the enabling admin.
  • DeepL/Azure characters count against that admin's monthly cap (then packs).
  • OpenAI characters are free of the cap. This is what makes "unlimited translations" viable for high-traffic channels. (Mind your OpenAI spend; see Translation engines.)

When to translate

Admins can tune what the firehose skips (Servers page, Auto-translate tab, "When to translate"; shared with linked channels):

  • Minimum letters (default 2): messages with fewer translatable letters are left alone. Set it to 1 to translate single characters, or higher for quieter channels.
  • Ignored prefixes: messages starting with these (e.g. !, .) are skipped, so other bots' commands aren't translated.

Pure emoji, numbers, links, and mentions are always skipped. Forwarded messages are translated (their text lives in the forward), marked with a small "Forwarded" note.

Bot messages

By default, messages from other bots are not auto-translated. Admins can turn on "Translate bot messages" (dashboard: Auto-translate, Behaviour; or /serverconfig, Auto-translate page) to include them. Webhook messages are never translated, so the bot's own reposts can't loop.

Blocked words

Admins can keep a list of blocked words (dashboard: server settings, General tab; or the General page in /serverconfig). The words are censored, replaced with a redaction mark, in everything the bot posts: auto-translated reposts, bridged messages, public reaction translations, and /catchup summaries. The rest of the message still translates normally. Matching is whole-word and case-insensitive. Personal right-click translations are not affected.

Per-channel engine

Each auto-translated channel can override the server's engine (the "Engine: default" select next to the channel's languages), so #announcements can use DeepL while #chat runs Gemini.

Formality

The server's Formality setting (General tab) controls the tone automatic translations use: neutral, formal, or informal, on languages that make the distinction. By default it follows the plan owner's personal formality setting.

Delete original and attachments

With "Delete original" on, messages that carry attachments or stickers are kept (media is never destroyed); their reposts link back to the original instead. Edits to an original update its repost; deleting an original deletes its repost.

Flag reactions in auto-translated channels

Channels with auto-translate or a linked bridge are automatically excluded from flag reactions and the auto-react emoji (the bot already translates there). An admin can re-enable them per channel on the Flag reactions tab.

Context-aware AI translations (Max)

Servers on a Max plan can turn on context-aware AI translations (dashboard → your server → AI context): when the channel uses an AI engine, the last few messages of the conversation ride along so pronouns, tone, and running jokes translate the way people meant them. Off-topic messages are detected and translated standalone. Recent messages are shared with the AI provider only while the toggle is on, held in memory for a few minutes, never stored — and members who opted out of automatic translation are never included.