XLIFF MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for processing XLIFF and TMX translation files. This server provides tools for parsing, validating, and manipulating translation files commonly used in localization workflows.

Features

• XLIFF Processing: Parse and extract translation units from XLIFF files
• TMX Processing: Parse and extract translation units from TMX files
• Tag Preservation: Special processing mode that preserves inline tags for AI translation
• Validation: Validate XLIFF and TMX file formats
• Translation Replacement: Replace target translations in XLIFF files

Installation

Automatic Setup (Recommended)

python setup.py

Manual Installation

Using pip

pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -e .

Using the install script

./install.sh  # Unix/Linux/macOS
install.bat   # Windows

Configuration

For Claude Desktop

Add the server to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS/Linux: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %AppData%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xliff-processor": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "xliff_mcp.server"],
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/xliff-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

Or if using uv:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xliff-processor": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "python", "-m", "xliff_mcp.server"],
      "cwd": "/absolute/path/to/xliff-mcp-server"
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

process_xliff

Process XLIFF content and extract translation units.

Parameters:

• file_name (string): Name of the XLIFF file
• content (string): XLIFF file content

Returns: JSON with translation units including:

• fileName, segNumber, unitId, percent, source, target, srcLang, tgtLang

process_xliff_with_tags

Process XLIFF preserving inline tags for AI translation.

Parameters:

• file_name (string): Name of the XLIFF file
• content (string): XLIFF file content

Returns: JSON with translation units preserving original formatting tags

validate_xliff

Validate XLIFF content format.

Parameters:

• content (string): XLIFF file content to validate

Returns: JSON with validation status, message, and unit count

replace_xliff_targets

Replace target translations in XLIFF file.

Parameters:

• content (string): Original XLIFF file content
• translations (string): JSON array of translations with segNumber/unitId and aiResult/mtResult

Returns: JSON with updated XLIFF content and replacement count

process_tmx

Process TMX content and extract translation units.

Parameters:

• file_name (string): Name of the TMX file
• content (string): TMX file content

Returns: JSON with translation units including metadata

validate_tmx

Validate TMX content format.

Parameters:

• content (string): TMX file content to validate

Returns: JSON with validation status and unit count

Usage Examples

Once configured in Claude Desktop, you can use the tools like this:

1. Process an XLIFF file: "Please process this XLIFF file and show me the translation units"

2. Validate XLIFF format: "Can you validate if this XLIFF content is properly formatted?"

3. Replace translations: "Replace the target translations in this XLIFF file with these new translations"

4. Process TMX file: "Extract all translation units from this TMX file"

Development

Running tests

python -m pytest tests/

Running the server directly

python -m xliff_mcp.server

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• mcp[cli] >= 1.2.0
• translate-toolkit >= 3.0.0
• lxml >= 4.9.0
• pydantic >= 2.0.0

License

MIT

Support

For issues and questions, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.