django-po-tools

Command-line tools to manage Django translation files (.po/.mo) and auto-translate them using Google Translate.

Installation

pip install django-po-tools

Commands

Two commands are installed in the virtualenv:

• djmessages — orchestrates makemessages, compilemessages, collect/install/remove workflows across multiple Django apps
• po-auto-translate — auto-translates untranslated entries in a single .po file using Google Translate (with MyMemory as fallback)

djmessages

Run from the root of your Django project (where manage.py lives).

Configuration

On first run, djmessages creates a djmessages.conf file in the current directory and exits. Edit it before running again:

[general]
project=myproject
settings_module=myproject.settings
translations_target_folder=../translations
apps=app1, app2

Available languages are read automatically from LANGUAGES in your Django settings (excluding the default LANGUAGE_CODE).

Usage

djmessages <command> [-a <app> [app ...]] [-l <lang> [lang ...]]

If -a or -l are omitted, all configured apps or languages are used.

Commands

Options

-a, --apps       One or more app names, or "all"
-l, --languages  One or more language codes, or "all"
-f, --fuzzy      Mark new auto-translations as fuzzy
-d, --dry-run    Print commands without executing them
-v, --verbosity  Verbosity level (0-3, default 2)

Examples

# Extract strings for Italian and Spanish in two apps
djmessages make -a frontend main -l it es

# Compile all languages for all apps (options omitted = all)
djmessages compile

# Auto-translate missing strings in one app, mark as fuzzy for review
djmessages autotranslate -a frontend -l it es --fuzzy

# Dry-run: see what collect would do without touching files
djmessages collect --dry-run

po-auto-translate

Translates all untranslated entries in a single .po file. The target language is inferred from the file path (.../locale/<lang>/LC_MESSAGES/django.po).

po-auto-translate path/to/locale/it/LC_MESSAGES/django.po

Options

--source-language  Source language code (default: en)
-f, --fuzzy        Mark new translations as fuzzy
-d, --dry-run      Translate and print results without saving

Translation backends

1. Google Translate (googletrans) — primary
2. MyMemory (free REST API, no key required) — automatic fallback if Google fails

Format-string placeholders (%(name)s, {var}, etc.) are protected before translation and restored afterwards.

collect / install workflow

Useful when translations are done externally (e.g. by a translation agency):

myapp/locale/it/LC_MESSAGES/django.po
    → collect →
translations/it/it_myapp.po        ← send to translator
    → install →
myapp/locale/it/LC_MESSAGES/django.po

The collect command copies .po files into a flat, language-grouped folder. The install command is the reverse: it copies them back into the correct locale/ paths and removes stale .mo files.

License

GPL — Copyright (c) 2016-2026, Brainstorm S.r.l.