CLI

git8n is a command line client of the API. It reads and proposes translations from a terminal, a script or a CI job. It also starts the MCP server.

The CLI goes through /i18n, as the page does. The API checks the rights of the account on each call: the CLI can do no more than the account in the browser.

Install it

The CLI is the npm package @git8n/cli. It installs the command git8n, and needs Node 22 or later.

npm install --global @git8n/cli

npx @git8n/cli <command> runs it with no install.

Sign in

git8n login --api https://git8n.example.com

The terminal shows a code and opens the page /device of the editor. Compare the code, then choose Approuver. The terminal then holds a session of your account for 14 days. Access tokens tells how this works.

The CLI keeps the token in ~/.config/git8n/credentials.json ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME if it is set). Only your account can read this file. The address of the last login becomes the default: the next commands need no --api.

git8n logout ends the session on the API and deletes the token of this computer. git8n whoami shows the account and what it may do in each repository.

In a CI job, do not sign in. Create an access token on the page Jetons d'accès, and set two variables:

export GIT8N_API_URL=https://git8n.example.com
export GIT8N_API_TOKEN=g8n_…

Choose the repository and the language

A command that reads keys works on one repository and one language:

• The repository is the one of --repo <owner/name>, else of GIT8N_REPO, else the one that a GitHub remote of the current folder names. If the folder has no GitHub remote and the account opens one repository only, the CLI takes it. A folder of a repository that the account does not open stops the command.
• The language is the one of --lang, else the only target language that the account can open in this repository.

If the choice is not clear, the CLI stops with exit status 2 and lists the choices.

Read

git8n status                   # The progress of each language
git8n keys --missing           # The keys with no translation
git8n keys --state review --values
git8n get common:hello.title   # One key, with its neighbours
git8n search "mot de passe"    # The keys whose id, source or translation holds a text
git8n proposals                # The batches that wait for a reviewer

A key is named <file>:<key>: the locale file, a colon, and the dotted path, for example common:hello.title. A long list shows 100 rows. The last line on stderr gives the --cursor of the next page.

Propose

apply reads a JSON object of translations from a file, or from stdin with -:

echo '{"common:hello.title": "Hello", "common:bye": "Goodbye"}' \
  | git8n apply - --lang en --dry-run

The input can also put the keys under their file: {"common": {"hello": {"title": "Hello"}}}. With --file common, the keys of that file only: {"hello.title": "Hello"}.

apply reads the catalogue, then proposes the texts that differ from the translation now, as one commit on the branch i18n/<language>. A reviewer then publishes them in the editor. --dry-run shows the plan and sends nothing.

The CLI refuses the whole input, and sends nothing, if:

• a key is not a key of the source;
• a key is in a file that has no version in the language;
• a text is empty. To leave a key empty on purpose, mark it in the editor.

A key to review whose text stays the same is not proposed: the file would not change, and the key would stay to review. apply lists these keys. A reviewer keeps them in the editor.

A proposal carries the revision of the source that the texts answer (readAt). By default, apply sends the revision it reads. If the texts answer an older read, pass its commit with --read-at: a publication then refuses a key whose source changed since.

Translate with an LLM

git8n prompt translate --to en > prompt.md

The prompt lists the missing keys, 50 at a time, with their source text and the keys beside them. It asks for one JSON object, and it ends with the apply command to run with the answer, --read-at included. With --state review, it asks again for the translations whose source changed, and shows the old source.

For a script

Each command takes --json. The answer is then one JSON document on stdout: {"data": …}, or {"error": {"code", "message", "details"}}. A script reads the exit status and the code, not the message. CLI reference gives each command, each field and each code.

In CI

git8n check reads the locale files of the clone, with no server and no token. It fails on a file that does not parse, or on a translation that loses a placeholder. A missing or empty key is a warning: --max-warnings 0 makes it fail too.

name: i18n
on: pull_request
# The check reads the clone. It needs no other right, and no secret.
permissions:
  contents: read
jobs:
  check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v5
        with:
          node-version: 24
      # Pin the version: a new version cannot change the check by itself.
      - run: npx @git8n/cli@0.1.1 check --reporter github

--reporter github writes one annotation for each problem, on the file of the pull request. The other reporters are pretty and json: there is no reporter for the job summary. CLI reference gives every option and every rule.