Core concepts

Review States

Every locale value carries a state that tracks where the translation is in its lifecycle. State is per value, not per key — fr can be reviewed while de is still machine.

State Meaning
source The value in your source locale. It’s what everything else is translated from.
machine Produced by AI translation and not yet reviewed by a human.
reviewed A human has checked and approved it. AI translation never overwrites a reviewed value.
needs-review Flagged for attention — typically because the source string changed after this translation was made (see Keeping Translations Fresh).

The typical flow

source ──translate──▶ machine ──approve──▶ reviewed
                         ▲                     │
                         └── source changed ───┘
                              (needs-review)
  1. You author a string in the source locale → source.
  2. AI fills the other languages → machine.
  3. You review in the Editor and promote good ones → reviewed.
  4. If the source later changes, dependent translations are marked needs-review so they don’t silently drift. See Keeping Translations Fresh.

Why reviewed is protected

Marking a value reviewed is a promise: a human owns this translation. Glotfile honours that promise — neither glotfile translate nor the UI’s translate action will overwrite it. To re-translate a reviewed value, change it back first.

Filtering by state

In the Editor, filter by missing, machine (unreviewed), needs-review, or reviewed, plus a needs-attention facet for any key with an open issue. Analytics reports translated vs reviewed percentages per locale.

  • How Translation Works · Keeping Translations Fresh