feat: Polylane voice cleanup across CLI output - #30
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Apply the approved Direction A persona to every human-facing string:
the CLI speaks as "I" (calm senior SRE register), errors lead with
what to do next, success stays quietly pleased, and no em dashes per
the house copy rules. Unknown commands now suggest the closest match
("Unknown command: polylane scna. Closest match: polylane scan."),
straight from the approved design mock.
Machine-readable output (JSON shapes, exit codes, flags, command and
option names) is unchanged.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01RpvmDmwuwen1nmgCQbvD4n
Per review on #30: revert every string where the CLI speaks as "I" back to main's wording or a neutral equivalent, while keeping the closest-match suggestions, "Not signed in.", "Cancelled. Nothing changed.", em-dash fixes, no-"failed" phrasing, and next-step hints. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01RpvmDmwuwen1nmgCQbvD4n
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boristane
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Aug 13, 2026
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Requested by boris, Justin Helmer · Slack thread
Applies the persona work to the CLI's human-facing strings, scoped per boris's review: no first-person "I" voice; keep the neutral copy improvements. Errors lead with what to do next, success stays quietly pleased, no em dashes, no "failed"/"Unknown error" headlines, per the house copy rules. Machine-readable output (JSON shapes, exit codes, flags, command and option names) is untouched.
Design artifact (voice principles): https://claude.ai/code/artifact/191a9b0b-d30a-4ac7-93d3-d82c7e2ad98e
Before / After
Help banner (fixes the em-dash violation of the house copy rules)
polylane — CLI for the Polylane platformpolylane: investigate production issues from your terminalUnknown command (straight from the approved design mock)
Error: Unknown command: polylane scnaError: Unknown command: polylane scna. Closest match: polylane scan.Auth error
Error: API key validation failed (403)Error: The API key was not accepted (403)+Hint: Check the key, or create a new one in the consoleScan failure line (no "failed" headline, no em dash)
Scan failed for prod (timeout)andNothing to scan — no cloud accounts or integrations are connected.The prod scan didn't finish (timeout).andNothing to scan yet: no cloud accounts or integrations are connected.Cancel confirmations (matches the product's Slack copy)
CancelledCancelled. Nothing changed.Update check
Up to dateYou're up to date.Not in scope (reverted after review): any string where the CLI speaks as "I". Third-person "Polylane " prose (scan navigator notes, autofix watch, connect flows) keeps main's wording.
How
Sign-in did not complete,Couldn't refresh your session,Not signed in.,The request did not succeed).suggestCommandinsrc/registry.tsto power the closest-match line shown in the approved mock;ERRORS.mdupdated to match.Verification
npm run typecheckcleannpm run lintcleannpm run test186/186 passpolylane --helpshows the new banner;polylane scnaprints the mock's exact error and hint.