translate-messages 1.10.2

Translate `en/messages.json` (chrome.i18n format) to 100+ locales automatically.

> translate-messages

Translate en/messages.json (chrome.i18n format) to 100+ locales automatically.

Installation

pip install translate-messages

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Usage

Run the CLI:

translate-messages [options]  # or translatemsgs

If no options are passed, the CLI will:

1. Prompt for message keys to ignore
2. Auto-discover closest child _locales dir
3. Translate found en/messages.json to target languages

Note: Any messages.json in the chrome.i18n format can be used as a source file.

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Options

Options can be set by using command-line arguments:

Option	Description	Example
-d, --locales-dir	Name of the folder containing locale files (default: _locales)	--locales-dir=_messages
-t, --target-langs	Comma-separated list of languages to translate to (default: all 100+ stable_locales)	--target-langs=es,fr
-k, --keys	Comma-separated list of keys to translate (default: all found src keys missing in target files)	--keys=app_DESC,err_NOT_FOUND
--exclude-langs	Comma-separated list of languages to exclude	--exclude-langs=es,zh
--exclude-keys	Comma-separated list of keys to ignore	--exclude-keys=app_NAME,author
--only-stable	Only use stable locales (skip auto-discovery)
--config	Use custom config file	--config=path/to/file
init, -i, --init	Create .translate-msgs.config.json5 in project root to store default options
-f, --force	Force overwrite of existing config file when using init
-n, --no-wizard	Skip interactive prompts during start-up
-h, --help	Show help screen
-v, --version	Show version
-V, --debug [target_config_key]	Show debug logs
--docs	Open docs URL

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Examples

Translate all keys except app_NAME from _locales/en/messages.json to all stable_locales:

translate-messages --ignore-keys=app_NAME  # prompts for more keys to ignore

Translate app_DESC key from messges/en/messages.json to French:

translate-messages -n --keys=app_DESC --locales-dir=messages --target-langs=fr  # no prompts

Translate app_DESC + err_NOT_FOUND keys from _msgs/en/messages.json to Spanish and Hindi:

translate-msgs -n -k app_DESC,err_NOT_FOUND -d _msgs -t es,hi  # no prompts

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Config file

Run translate-msgs --init to create .translate-msgs.config.json5 in your project root to set default options.

Example defaults:

{
  "locales_dir": "_locales", // name of the folder containing locale files
  "target_langs": "",        // languages to translate to (e.g. "en,es,fr") (default: all 100+ supported locales)
  "keys": "",                // keys to translate (e.g. "app_DESC,err_NOT_FOUND")
  "exclude_langs": "",       // languages to exclude (e.g. "en,es")
  "exclude_keys": "",        // keys to ignore (e.g. "app_NAME,author")
  "force": false,            // force overwrite existing config file when using --init
  "no_wizard": false         // skip interactive prompts during start-up
}

Note: CLI arguments always override config file.

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MIT License

Copyright © 2023–2026 Adam Lui.

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Related

🈶 is-unicode-supported - Detect whether the terminal supports advanced Unicode.
🇨🇳 non-latin-locales - ISO 639-1 (2-letter) codes for non-Latin locales.
🇪🇸 latin-locales - ISO 639-1 (2-letter) codes for Latin locales.
{ } remove-json-keys - Simply remove JSON keys via CLI command.

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