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CLI Quickstart

Introduction​

A powerful command-line interface for managing translations with Frenglish.ai. This CLI tool helps you manage your translation projects, configure settings, and generate translations for your localization files all in your terminal.

Features​

  • 🔐 Secure authentication with Frenglish.ai
  • 📦 Project management (create new projects or use existing ones)
  • 🌍 Multi-language support
  • 📂 Interactive directory navigation for file selection
  • ⚙️ Flexible configuration options
  • 🔄 Support for both full and incremental translations
  • 🧪 Test mode with mock data support
  • 💾 Local configuration persistence. All your configuration and project changes will appear the same on Frenglish.ai

Installation​

npm install -g @frenglish/cli

Usage​

Basic Commands​

# Login to Frenglish.ai
frenglish login

# Translate files
frenglish translate

Translation Options​

When running frenglish translate, you can use the following options:

--apiKey <key>           # Frenglish API key (or set via FRENGLISH_API_KEY)
--path <path>           # Custom path for translation
--isFullTranslation     # Perform a full translation (overwrites existing translations)
--partialConfig <json>  # Partial config as JSON string or file path

Configuration​

The CLI supports configuration through:

  • Interactive prompts
  • Local configuration file (frenglish.config.json)
  • Environment variables
  • Command-line arguments

Environment Variables [OPTIONAL]​

The reason this is optional is because if you don't change your .env file, we will create a frenglish.config.json in your root directory that will store all your configuration settings.

FRENGLISH_API_KEY=<your_api_key>
TRANSLATION_PATH=<path_to_source_files>
TRANSLATION_OUTPUT_PATH=<path_for_translated_files>
EXCLUDED_TRANSLATION_PATH=<json_array_of_excluded_paths>

Interactive Flow​

When you run frenglish login, you'll be guided through an interactive setup process [optional] or you may proceed with running Frenglish CLI commands on your own:

  1. Authentication: Opens your browser for secure login
  2. Project Selection: Choose to create a new project or use an existing one
  3. Configuration: Set up your translation preferences:
    • Project name
    • Origin language
    • Target languages
    • Translation paths
    • Translation rules
  4. Translation: Option to start translation immediately

Directory Navigation​

The CLI provides an intuitive directory navigation interface:

  • Use arrow keys to navigate through directories
  • Select directories to enter them
  • Use "../" to go up one level
  • Enter custom paths when needed
  • Confirm your selection before proceeding

Command Examples if you do not want the interactive experience​

# Basic translation with default settings
frenglish translate

# Translation with custom path
frenglish translate --path ./src/locales

# Full translation with custom configuration
frenglish translate --isFullTranslation --partialConfig '{"targetLanguages":["fr","es"]}'

# Translation using a configuration file
frenglish translate --partialConfig "./config.json"

Local Configuration​

The CLI saves your configuration in frenglish.config.json in your project root. This includes:

  • Project name
  • Translation paths
  • Language settings
  • Translation rules

Support​

For more information, visit https://www.frenglish.ai