Configuration

LocaleKit is configured via a .localekitrc.yml file in your project root. Create one with localekit init or manually.

The CLI auto-discovers .localekitrc.yml, .localekitrc.yaml, or .localekitrc by searching the current and parent directories.

Example

# LocaleKit CLI Configuration
# Copy this file to your project root as .localekitrc.yml

# =============================================================================
# PATHS
# =============================================================================

# Workspace/project directory to scan
workspace: ./

# Direct file paths (alternative to workspace scanning)
# Useful for targeting specific localization files
# files:
#   - ./MyApp/Localizable.xcstrings
#   - ./OtherModule/strings.xml

# =============================================================================
# LANGUAGES
# =============================================================================

# Source/base language for translations
sourceLanguage: en-US

# Target languages to translate to
# See /cli/languages for full list of supported codes
targetLanguages:
  - de-DE    # German (Germany)
  - fr-FR    # French (France)
  - es-ES    # Spanish (Spain)
  - ja-JP    # Japanese
  - zh-CN    # Chinese (Simplified)
  # - pt-BR  # Portuguese (Brazil)
  # - it-IT  # Italian
  # - ko-KR  # Korean
  # - nl-NL  # Dutch
  # - pl-PL  # Polish
  # - ru-RU  # Russian

# =============================================================================
# TRANSLATION ENGINE
# =============================================================================

engine: deepl

# API keys for translation services
# For security, use environment variable syntax: ${ENV_VAR_NAME}
#
# Option 1: Use separate keys for each service (recommended)
deeplApiKey: ${DEEPL_API_KEY}
openaiApiKey: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}

#

# =============================================================================
# OPTIONS
# =============================================================================

# Show detailed output during operations
verbose: false

# Preview changes without writing files
# Useful for testing translation before applying
dryRun: false

Reference

Field	Type	Description	Default
workspace	string	Project directory to scan	.
files	string[]	Direct file paths (alternative to workspace scanning)	—
sourceLanguage	string	Base language (BCP 47). See supported languages.	en-US
targetLanguages	string[]	Target languages to translate to	—
engine	string	Translation engine: deepl, openai, mlx	deepl
deeplApiKey	string	DeepL API key (supports ${ENV_VAR})	—
openaiApiKey	string	OpenAI API key (supports ${ENV_VAR})	—
mlxModel	string	MLX model ID from Hugging Face	mlx-community/Qwen3-4B-4bit
verbose	bool	Show detailed output	false
dryRun	bool	Preview without writing files	false
github.repo	string	Repository in owner/repo format	—
github.baseBranch	string	Base branch for PRs	main
github.token	string	GitHub token (or use GITHUB_TOKEN env)	—

Environment Variables

Variable	Used By	Description
DEEPL_API_KEY	translate, sync	DeepL API key
OPENAI_API_KEY	translate, sync	OpenAI API key
GITHUB_TOKEN	sync	GitHub personal access token

Add to your shell profile (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

DeepL

export DEEPL_API_KEY="your-deepl-api-key"

OpenAI

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-openai-api-key"

GitHub

export GITHUB_TOKEN="your-github-token"

Shell Completions

Homebrew installs completions automatically. For manual installs:

Zsh

localekit --generate-completion-script zsh > ~/.zsh/completions/_localekit

Bash

localekit --generate-completion-script bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/localekit

Fish

localekit --generate-completion-script fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/localekit.fish

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Validation error, auth failure, or warnings in strict mode
2	Invalid command-line arguments