> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kugelaudio.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Prompting overview
> How to shape speech output through text — what's supported, writing tips, and what to avoid.
KugelAudio generates speech directly from text. There is no voice direction
layer — you shape the output by how you write the input. This section covers
every mechanism available to control pronunciation, pacing, and emphasis.
## Supported controls at a glance
| Control | Syntax | Page |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| **Pauses** | ``, ``, `` | [Breaks](/prompting/breaks) |
| **Speed** | `speed` request parameter (`0.8`–`1.2`, whole request) | [Speed](/prompting/speed) |
| **Spell out characters** | `text`, `…` | [Spell tags](/prompting/spell) |
| **Custom pronunciation** | Inline IPA — `/ˈkuːɡl̩/` — or pronunciation dictionaries | [Pronunciation & IPA](/prompting/pronunciation) |
| **Pacing & intonation** | Plain punctuation — see below | this page |
`` and `` are the **only** tags processed in request text.
Everything else — including SSML — is stripped before synthesis; see
[Unsupported tags](#unsupported-tags).
## Punctuation as pacing
The model respects natural punctuation cues — no special tags needed:
| Technique | Effect |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| `,` comma | Brief pause between clauses |
| `.` period | Sentence-end pause, falling intonation |
| `…` ellipsis | Longer trailing pause |
| `—` em dash | Abrupt pause / interruption feel |
| `?` question mark | Rising intonation |
| `!` exclamation | Energetic delivery |
| `\n` newline | Paragraph-level pause (similar to period) |
Punctuation is the recommended way to add natural rhythm; reach for
[`` tags](/prompting/breaks) when you need an explicit silence of a
specific length (e.g. before a verification code).
## Writing tips
* **Strip markdown before TTS.** Asterisks, hashes, and bullet characters are
read literally by the model.
* **No emoji.** They are read out or garbled.
* **Write numbers as digits** when they should be normalized ("You have 3
messages") and always set `language` — see
[Text processing](/features/text-processing).
* **Keep sentences short and end them with punctuation** — this also helps
the streaming chunker start generation earlier
([why](/streaming/chunking-and-latency)).
* **`!`, ALL-CAPS, and `?!` are prosody cues** — the model will deliver them
energetically. Use deliberately.
## LLM system prompt pattern
When an LLM generates text that feeds directly into TTS, add instructions so
it uses the supported controls correctly:
```
You are a voice assistant. Format your responses for text-to-speech output:
- For email addresses and codes, use tags:
"Your code is ABC-123"
- For a deliberate pause, use a break tag:
"Your total is forty-two euros."
- Do NOT use markdown formatting (**, *, #, -, bullet points) — it will be read aloud literally.
- Do NOT use emoji.
- Do NOT use SSML tags other than and — they are ignored.
- Keep sentences short. End with punctuation.
- Write numbers as digits when they should be normalized: "You have 3 messages."
```
For full voice-agent prompt design (turn-taking, error recovery, tool-call
acknowledgements), see [Voice Agent Prompting](/guides/voice-prompting).
## Unsupported tags
KugelAudio processes ``, ``, and ``. All other
tags are **silently stripped** — the inner text is kept but the tag itself
has no effect.
| Tag / Attribute | Status | Alternative |
| ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `` wrapper | Stripped | Omit — plain text is assumed |
| `` | **Supported** — per-span speed | See [Speed](/prompting/speed#per-span-speed-with-prosody-rate) |
| `` | Rejected (400) | No pitch control available |
| `` | Rejected (400) | No volume control available |
| `` | Stripped | Rephrase text for natural emphasis |
| `` | Stripped | Use `` for characters, [normalization](/features/text-processing) for numbers |
| `` | Stripped | Write the spoken form directly, or use a [dictionary](/features/dictionaries) |
| `` | Stripped | Write [inline IPA between slashes](/prompting/pronunciation#inline-ipa-in-the-request-text) (`/ˈkuːɡl̩/`) |
| `