Snippets: say a short phrase, get the full text

A snippet is a trigger phrase and the text it becomes. Say the trigger while dictating and Neato Echo swaps in the saved text — so you can say "cal link" and get your full booking URL, correctly spelled, every time.

The app puts it well: "the stuff you shouldn't have to say twice."

Creating one

1. 1

   Open the Snippets tab

   Click Dictionary in the sidebar, then the Snippets tab.

2. 2

   Type the trigger

   In the field at the top — "Add a trigger phrase" — type the phrase you'll say, like cal link. Then press Enter or click Add.

   Triggers can be up to 80 characters, and you can't reuse one: if the trigger already exists, Add stays greyed out and the app tells you "A snippet with this trigger already exists."

3. 3

   Enter the replacement

   A panel opens for the Replacement — the text the trigger becomes.

4. 4

   Save it

   Choose Create snippet. It applies to your next dictation.

What people use them for

Anything you dictate repeatedly and get wrong repeatedly is a candidate: URLs, email addresses, postal addresses, bank details, standard disclaimers, and prompts you feed to an AI tool.

How matching works

Worth knowing, because it explains both why snippets fire and why they don't:

• Whole phrases only. A trigger never matches inside a longer word, so a trigger of ask won't fire on "asking" or "basket".
• Case doesn't matter. Say it however you say it.
• The longest match wins. If you have both ask and investor ask, saying "investor ask" expands the longer one — so a specific trigger always beats a general one that's contained in it.
• Every occurrence expands, not just the first.
• Triggers must be unique. A repeat is refused with "A snippet with this trigger already exists."

Choosing a good trigger

The replacement happens on your transcribed words, so the trigger has to be something you'd say deliberately and never by accident.

• Two words beat one. cal link is safe; link will fire constantly.
• Say it out loud first. If it's a phrase you'd use in an ordinary sentence, pick another.
• Keep it easy to transcribe. A trigger built from unusual words is one the model may mishear — in which case the snippet won't fire because the trigger never appeared in the text. If a trigger keeps failing this way, add its words to your dictionary.

Editing and removing

Hover over a snippet in the list. A pencil and a ✕ appear at the right of that row — pencil to edit the trigger or the replacement, ✕ to delete it. Edits apply to your next dictation; there's nothing to reload.

Snippets or dictionary?

They solve different problems and it's worth not mixing them up:

A snippet is a substitution. A dictionary entry is a hint. If you want a guarantee, use a snippet.

Related

• Teach Neato Echo your words
• Improve accuracy
• Cleanup and formatting