Write User-Facing Copy Following Brand Guidelines

This skill governs how to write user-facing Sentry copy by choosing between two tones and applying concrete rules. Plain Speech is the default: concise, direct, active-voice, jargon-free, and specific (used for product UI, documentation, error messages, settings, transactional emails, help text). Sentry Voice adds personality - empathetic snark, self-awareness about the absurdity of software - but only in appropriate moments: 404 pages, empty states, onboarding flows, loading states, and "what's new" announcements, never in error messages, settings, documentation, or billing/payment flows where users need trust or focus rather than humor.

Use it whenever writing or rewriting user-facing copy in Sentry's voice - UI text, onboarding, empty states, docs, or marketing copy - and specifically when deciding whether a given piece of text should be Plain Speech or Sentry Voice. Default to Plain Speech unless the context specifically calls for personality; Sentry Voice examples given include a 404 page ("This page doesn't exist. Maybe it never did.") and an empty state ("No errors yet. Enjoy this moment of peace while it lasts."), while error messages and billing flows are explicitly listed as places Sentry Voice should never appear.

Concrete mechanical rules cover American English spelling, Title Case for headings versus Sentence case for body/buttons/labels, no exclamation marks in UI text (except celebratory moments), no periods in short labels but periods in complete sentences, no ALL CAPS except acronyms, and specific dash usage (hyphens for compounds/ranges in most UI text, en-dashes for date ranges, em-dashes reserved for longer prose interruption). Word-choice guidance replaces vague filler ("Please," "Sorry," "Error occurred," "Success!") with specific, direct alternatives. Element-specific guidance covers buttons (action verbs, 2-3 words max, no punctuation), error messages (say what happened, why if helpful, what to do next), empty states (explain what belongs there plus a clear action, Sentry Voice is appropriate here), confirmation dialogs (specific button labels like "Delete Project" instead of "OK"), and tooltips (under two sentences, explain why not just what). A documented anti-pattern list flags robot speak ("Item has been successfully deleted" instead of "Deleted"), passive voice, unnecessary words ("in order to" instead of "to"), hedging, double negatives, and marketing speak leaking into UI copy.

Full guidance lives in Sentry's own Voice Guidelines and Frontend Handbook (develop.sentry.dev), which this skill operationalizes into concrete, checkable rules for day-to-day copywriting.

Anyone writing Sentry product copy - engineers, designers, or marketers - who need consistent tone decisions and concrete phrasing rules instead of guessing at voice on a case-by-case basis.