CLI

glotfile import

The inverse of glotfile export: it reads your existing locale files and ingests them into a new glotfile.json, so you can onboard a project that already has translations without re-keying everything by hand.

glotfile import --format laravel-php --source lang/

Glotfile parses each file with the chosen adapter, flattens the keys, and assembles a catalog. Existing translations land as reviewed (not raw machine output) and the source-locale strings as source — ready for review in the Editor.

Every export adapter can also be imported: laravel-php, vue-i18n-json, flutter-arb, apple-strings, apple-stringsdict, angular-xliff, gettext-po, i18next-json, and rails-yaml. Run glotfile import with no --format to auto-detect the layout.

Two auto-detection notes:

  • iOS projects with both tables: a project holding Localizable.strings and Localizable.stringsdict auto-detects as apple-strings (the scalar table). Importing the .stringsdict plurals requires an explicit --format apple-stringsdict — and produces its own catalog, so merging both into one state file is currently a manual step.
  • i18next flat files: only the per-locale-directory layout (public/locales/<lng>/<ns>.json) auto-detects as i18next; flat <lng>.json files are indistinguishable from vue-i18n and need an explicit --format i18next-json.

Options

Option Description
--format <name> Source layout adapter to read (e.g. laravel-php, flutter-arb). Omit to auto-detect.
--source <dir> Directory to import from. Defaults to the state file’s directory.
--source-locale <code> Which locale to treat as the source language.
--locales <list> Comma-separated locales to import (default: every locale found).
--cldr Expand CLDR plural forms into glotfile plurals.
--force Overwrite an existing glotfile.json.
--file, -f <path> Write the catalog to a different state-file path. 
glotfile import --format flutter-arb --source lib/l10n --source-locale en
glotfile import --format angular-xliff --source src/locale

Angular XLIFF

For angular-xliff the source flow is inverted: ng extract-i18n owns messages.xlf (the source catalog; the locale comes from its source-language attribute), and translations live in messages.<locale>.xlf. Import reads both; the generated output config sets skipSourceLocale, so glotfile export writes only the translation files and never touches messages.xlf. Inline <x/> placeholders become {NAME} tokens with their ctype/equiv-text kept as placeholder metadata, and export reproduces the original elements. Untranslated targets export as the source text marked state="new"; import ignores state="new" targets, so an extract → import → translate → export loop never mistakes fallback text for a real translation.

Round-trip safety

Import records the localeCase and localeMap it inferred from the filenames it found, so a subsequent glotfile export reproduces byte-identical files. Round-trip tests assert import(export(x)) fidelity. See Output Formats.

  • export · Output Formats · Installation