CLI

glotfile translate

AI-translates strings and writes the results back to glotfile.json as machine state. It never overwrites a reviewed value.

glotfile translate

With no flags, only empty values are filled — existing translations are left alone. Pass --all to re-translate every string. The flags below combine to narrow the run.

Options

Option Description
--all Re-translate every string, not just empty values (still never overwrites reviewed).
--state <list> Re-translate only targets currently in these states (comma list of missing, machine, needs-review, reviewed). Default is missing.
--estimate Print the batches, token counts and estimated cost without translating.
--locale <list> Only these target languages, comma-separated (e.g. fr,de). Alias: --locales.
--key <glob> Only keys matching a glob (e.g. "auth.*").
--file, -f <path> Target a different state file. 
glotfile translate                           # fill the gaps (only empty values)
glotfile translate --all                     # redo every non-reviewed value
glotfile translate --state needs-review      # re-do just the strings a source edit invalidated
glotfile translate --locale fr,de            # only French and German
glotfile translate --key "auth.*"            # only the auth namespace
glotfile translate --all --locale fr --key "checkout.*"
glotfile translate --estimate                # batches, tokens and cost — no API calls

The key use of --state is --state needs-review: when you edit a source string, its translations are flagged needs-review (stale). A plain glotfile translate skips them (they aren’t empty) and --all would also overwrite good reviewed values elsewhere — --state needs-review re-translates exactly what the edit invalidated. See Editing from the CLI.

What it prints

Translating 34 string(s)…
Wrote 34 machine translation(s).

Rejected translations (a dropped placeholder, a busted length limit) are reported and skipped, not written:

skip checkout.total @ de: placeholder {amount} is missing

See How Translation Works for the validation rules and Placeholders and ICU for what’s checked.

Credentials

translate is the only command that needs network access. Configure the provider in Settings (stored per-machine), and put credentials in your environment (a local .env works). See AI Providers.

Info: Egress is logged — what’s sent to the provider is recorded in the AI Log.

  • How Translation Works · AI Providers · Review States