Reply language in Verboo Code: how to lock one in

Wrote in English and got a reply in Spanish, or watched the language drift mid-session without warning? That had a concrete technical cause, and Verboo Code fixed it in v0.15.25.

Why did Verboo Code sometimes reply in a different language than yours?

Because, up through v0.15.19, there was no language directive at all in the system prompt unless you manually set settings.language. Without that anchor, the model could drift to a different language in the middle of a long session, including switching to Spanish in a conversation that had been entirely in English.

Starting with v0.15.25 (shipped 2026-09-14), every system prompt now includes a fixed section called # Language, with a simple rule: always reply in the same language as your most recent message. This also applies in simple mode (the CLAUDE_CODE_SIMPLE variable), which used to fall outside this protection.

How does the automatic language mirroring work?

On every session, the getSystemPrompt() function builds the prompt and checks whether you've set a fixed language. If you haven't, it injects the mirror directive, which isn't pinned to any specific list of languages: it works for whatever language you write in, with zero configuration.

This is confirmed directly in the feature's test suite, src/constants/languageAnchor.test.ts: by default, the prompt text never names a specific language (you won't find "Always respond in English" or "...in Portuguese"), precisely so it never locks you into a language it never agreed on with you.

How do you lock in a fixed language instead of letting Verboo Code guess?

Two paths, both write the same field. Pick whichever is more convenient in the moment.

Through the interface, with /config

Open the config menu:

/config

In the Config tab, select the Language item and type the language you want, as free text:

Enter your preferred response and voice language:
> Brazilian Portuguese

Press Enter to save. Leaving the field empty and confirming sends Verboo Code back to automatic mirroring, with no language locked in.

Directly in the config file

The same field can be edited by hand. To lock in a language across all your sessions, edit the global file:

~/.verboo/settings.json

{
  "language": "Brazilian Portuguese"
}

To lock in a language for just one specific project (say, a repository where the team decided to keep commits and comments always in English, even when someone prompts in Portuguese), create the file inside the project folder:

.verboo/settings.json

{
  "language": "English"
}

Any free-text value works: "japanese", "Español", "日本語". The value flows straight into the prompt directive, with no translation and no list validation.

One thing stays the same either way: technical terms, command names, and code identifiers stay in their original form. The directive is explicit about that, with or without a locked-in language.