Lokalise CI Integration

Overview

Set up CI/CD pipelines for Lokalise integrations with automated translation sync.

Prerequisites

• GitHub repository with Actions enabled
• Lokalise API token
• npm/pnpm project configured

Instructions

Step 1: Create GitHub Actions Workflow

Create .github/workflows/lokalise-sync.yml:

name: Lokalise Translation Sync

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'src/locales/en.json'  # Trigger on source changes
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 6 * * *'  # Daily sync at 6 AM UTC
  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger

env:
  LOKALISE_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.LOKALISE_API_TOKEN }}
  LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID }}

jobs:
  sync-translations:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install Lokalise CLI
        run: |
          curl -sL https://github.com/lokalise/lokalise-cli-2-go/releases/latest/download/lokalise2_linux_x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz
          sudo mv lokalise2 /usr/local/bin/

      - name: Download translations
        run: |
          lokalise2 file download \
            --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" \
            --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID" \
            --format json \
            --original-filenames=false \
            --bundle-structure "src/locales/%LANG_ISO%.json" \
            --export-empty-as skip \
            --unzip-to .

      - name: Check for changes
        id: changes
        run: |
          if git diff --quiet src/locales/; then
            echo "changed=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          else
            echo "changed=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          fi

      - name: Commit and push
        if: steps.changes.outputs.changed == 'true' && github.event_name != 'pull_request'
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git add src/locales/
          git commit -m "chore: sync translations from Lokalise"
          git push

Step 2: Configure Secrets

# Using GitHub CLI
gh secret set LOKALISE_API_TOKEN --body "your-api-token"
gh secret set LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID --body "123456789.abcdef"

# Or via GitHub UI:
# Settings -> Secrets and variables -> Actions -> New repository secret

Step 3: Upload Source Strings Workflow

Create .github/workflows/lokalise-upload.yml:

name: Upload Source Strings to Lokalise

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'src/locales/en.json'

jobs:
  upload:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install Lokalise CLI
        run: |
          curl -sL https://github.com/lokalise/lokalise-cli-2-go/releases/latest/download/lokalise2_linux_x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz
          sudo mv lokalise2 /usr/local/bin/

      - name: Upload source strings
        env:
          LOKALISE_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.LOKALISE_API_TOKEN }}
          LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID }}
        run: |
          lokalise2 file upload \
            --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" \
            --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID" \
            --file "src/locales/en.json" \
            --lang-iso en \
            --replace-modified \
            --convert-placeholders \
            --detect-icu-plurals \
            --tag-inserted-keys \
            --tags "ci-upload" \
            --poll \
            --poll-timeout 120s

Step 4: PR Preview with Translation Status

name: Translation Status Check

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  check-translations:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Check translation coverage
        run: |
          node scripts/check-translations.js
        env:
          LOKALISE_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.LOKALISE_API_TOKEN }}
          LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID }}

      - name: Comment on PR
        if: always()
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const fs = require('fs');
            const report = fs.readFileSync('translation-report.md', 'utf8');
            github.rest.issues.createComment({
              issue_number: context.issue.number,
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              body: report
            });

Output

• Automated translation sync pipeline
• PR checks for translation status
• Daily sync scheduled
• Upload on source file changes

Error Handling

Examples

Translation Coverage Check Script

// scripts/check-translations.js
import { LokaliseApi } from "@lokalise/node-api";
import fs from "fs";

const client = new LokaliseApi({
  apiKey: process.env.LOKALISE_API_TOKEN,
});

async function checkCoverage() {
  const projectId = process.env.LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID;

  // Get project statistics
  const project = await client.projects().get(projectId);

  // Get language statistics
  const languages = await client.languages().list({
    project_id: projectId,
  });

  let report = "## Translation Status Report\n\n";
  report += `**Project:** ${project.name}\n`;
  report += `**Total Keys:** ${project.statistics.keys_total}\n\n`;

  report += "| Language | Progress | Words |\n";
  report += "|----------|----------|-------|\n";

  for (const lang of languages.items) {
    const progress = lang.statistics?.progress ?? 0;
    report += `| ${lang.lang_name} (${lang.lang_iso}) | ${progress}% | ${lang.statistics?.words_total ?? 0} |\n`;
  }

  fs.writeFileSync("translation-report.md", report);
  console.log(report);

  // Fail if critical languages below threshold
  const criticalLanguages = ["es", "fr", "de"];
  for (const lang of languages.items) {
    if (criticalLanguages.includes(lang.lang_iso)) {
      if ((lang.statistics?.progress ?? 0) < 90) {
        console.error(`WARNING: ${lang.lang_iso} is below 90% coverage`);
        process.exit(1);
      }
    }
  }
}

checkCoverage().catch(console.error);

Branch-Based Workflow

name: Branch Translation Sync

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - 'feature/*'
      - 'release/*'

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Determine Lokalise branch
        id: branch
        run: |
          # Map Git branch to Lokalise branch
          LOKALISE_BRANCH="${GITHUB_REF_NAME//\//-}"
          echo "lokalise_branch=$LOKALISE_BRANCH" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Sync with Lokalise branch
        run: |
          lokalise2 file download \
            --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" \
            --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID:${{ steps.branch.outputs.lokalise_branch }}" \
            --format json \
            --unzip-to ./src/locales

GitLab CI Configuration

# .gitlab-ci.yml
lokalise-sync:
  stage: build
  image: node:20
  before_script:
    - curl -sL https://github.com/lokalise/lokalise-cli-2-go/releases/latest/download/lokalise2_linux_x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz
    - mv lokalise2 /usr/local/bin/
  script:
    - lokalise2 file download
        --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN"
        --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID"
        --format json
        --unzip-to ./src/locales
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - src/locales/
  only:
    - main

Resources

• GitHub Actions Documentation
• Lokalise CLI Documentation
• Lokalise GitHub Integration

Next Steps

For deployment patterns, see lokalise-deploy-integration.