Lokalise core workflow a

Lokalise Core Workflow A

Overview

Primary workflow covering the "source to Lokalise" direction: upload translation files, create and update keys programmatically, tag keys for organization, and perform bulk operations. Both SDK and CLI approaches shown for every operation.

Prerequisites

• Lokalise API token exported as LOKALISE_API_TOKEN
• Lokalise project ID exported as LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID
• @lokalise/node-api installed for SDK examples
• lokalise2 CLI installed for CLI examples
• Source translation file(s) in a supported format (JSON, XLIFF, PO, YAML, etc.)

Instructions

1. Upload source translation files. File upload is async: the API returns a process object that must be polled until completion.

SDK — Base64 encode and upload:

import { LokaliseApi } from "@lokalise/node-api";
import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";

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

// Read and base64-encode the source file
const fileContent = readFileSync("./locales/en.json");
const base64Data = fileContent.toString("base64");

const uploadProcess = await client.files().upload(PROJECT_ID, {
  data: base64Data,
  filename: "en.json",
  lang_iso: "en",
  replace_modified: true,   // Overwrite changed translations
  distinguish_by_file: true, // Same key names in different files stay separate
  tags: ["source", "v2.1"],  // Auto-tag uploaded keys
});

console.log(`Upload queued: process ${uploadProcess.process_id}, status: ${uploadProcess.status}`);

SDK — Poll upload process until complete:

async function waitForUpload(
  client: LokaliseApi,
  projectId: string,
  processId: string,
  maxWaitMs = 60_000
): Promise<void> {
  const start = Date.now();
  while (Date.now() - start < maxWaitMs) {
    const proc = await client.queuedProcesses().get(processId, { project_id: projectId });
    console.log(`  Process ${processId}: ${proc.status}`);

    if (proc.status === "finished") return;
    if (proc.status === "cancelled" || proc.status === "failed") {
      throw new Error(`Upload ${proc.status}: ${JSON.stringify(proc.details)}`);
    }

    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1000));
  }
  throw new Error(`Upload timed out after ${maxWaitMs}ms`);
}

await waitForUpload(client, PROJECT_ID, uploadProcess.process_id);
console.log("Upload complete");

CLI — Upload with polling:

set -euo pipefail
lokalise2 --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" file upload \
  --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID" \
  --file ./locales/en.json \
  --lang-iso en \
  --replace-modified \
  --distinguish-by-file \
  --tag-inserted-keys \
  --tag-updated-keys \
  --tags "source,v2.1" \
  --poll                     # Waits for process to finish

1. Create keys programmatically when keys come from code scanning, CMS exports, or CI pipelines rather than file uploads.

SDK — Create keys with initial translations:

const newKeys = await client.keys().create({
  project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  keys: [
    {
      key_name: { web: "onboarding.step1.title" },
      platforms: ["web"],
      description: "First step of onboarding wizard",
      tags: ["onboarding", "v2.1"],
      translations: [
        { language_iso: "en", translation: "Welcome aboard!" },
      ],
    },
    {
      key_name: { web: "onboarding.step1.body" },
      platforms: ["web"],
      description: "Body text for onboarding step 1",
      tags: ["onboarding", "v2.1"],
      translations: [
        { language_iso: "en", translation: "Let's get you set up in just a few steps." },
      ],
    },
    {
      key_name: { web: "errors.network_timeout" },
      platforms: ["web"],
      description: "Shown when API call times out",
      is_hidden: false,
      tags: ["errors"],
      translations: [
        { language_iso: "en", translation: "Connection timed out. Please try again." },
      ],
    },
  ],
});

console.log(`Created ${newKeys.items.length} keys`);
for (const k of newKeys.items) {
  console.log(`  ${k.key_id}: ${k.key_name.web}`);
}

SDK — Update existing keys:

const updatedKey = await client.keys().update(KEY_ID, {
  project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  description: "Updated description",
  tags: ["onboarding", "v2.2", "reviewed"],
  is_hidden: false,
});

1. Tag keys for organization. Tags let you filter keys in the Lokalise UI and API — useful for release tracking, feature flags, and workflow status.

SDK — Add tags to existing keys (bulk):

// List keys by an existing tag
const v21Keys = await client.keys().list({
  project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  filter_tags: "v2.1",
  limit: 500,
});

// Bulk-update: add a new tag to all of them
const keyIds = v21Keys.items.map((k) => k.key_id);

const updated = await client.keys().bulk_update({
  project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  keys: keyIds.map((id) => ({
    key_id: id,
    tags: ["v2.1", "ready-for-review"],  // Full tag list (replaces existing)
  })),
});

console.log(`Tagged ${updated.items.length} keys with 'ready-for-review'`);

SDK — Filter keys by tag:

const errorKeys = await client.keys().list({
  project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  filter_tags: "errors",
  include_translations: 1,
  limit: 100,
});

for (const k of errorKeys.items) {
  const en = k.translations.find(
    (t: { language_iso: string }) => t.language_iso === "en"
  );
  console.log(`${k.key_name.web}: ${en?.translation ?? "(empty)"}`);
}

1. Perform bulk key operations for large-scale changes.

SDK — Bulk delete keys:

// Delete keys that are no longer in the codebase
const obsoleteKeys = await client.keys().list({
  project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  filter_tags: "deprecated",
  limit: 500,
});

if (obsoleteKeys.items.length > 0) {
  const deleteIds = obsoleteKeys.items.map((k) => k.key_id);
  const result = await client.keys().bulk_delete(deleteIds, {
    project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  });
  console.log(`Deleted ${result.keys_removed} keys`);
}

SDK — Bulk update translations:

// Mark all translations for a tag as "needs review" by clearing is_reviewed
const keysToReview = await client.keys().list({
  project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  filter_tags: "v2.2",
  include_translations: 1,
  limit: 500,
});

for (const key of keysToReview.items) {
  for (const t of key.translations) {
    if (t.is_reviewed) {
      await client.translations().update(t.translation_id, {
        project_id: PROJECT_ID,
        is_reviewed: false,
      });
    }
  }
}

CLI — Bulk operations:

set -euo pipefail

# Upload multiple files in sequence (respect rate limits)
for lang in en fr de es ja; do
  lokalise2 --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" file upload \
    --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID" \
    --file "./locales/${lang}.json" \
    --lang-iso "$lang" \
    --replace-modified \
    --poll
  echo "Uploaded ${lang}.json"
  sleep 1  # Rate limit buffer
done

# Upload with cleanup mode (removes keys not present in file)
lokalise2 --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" file upload \
  --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID" \
  --file ./locales/en.json \
  --lang-iso en \
  --cleanup-mode \
  --poll

Output

• Source file uploaded to Lokalise with process confirmation
• Keys created with descriptions, tags, and base translations
• Keys organized by tags for filtering and workflow tracking
• Bulk operations completed with count summaries

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
400 Invalid file format	File extension or content not recognized	Verify format is in the supported formats list (see Resources)
400 Key already exists	Duplicate key_name + platform combo	Set replace_modified: true or use unique key names
413 Payload Too Large	Base64 payload exceeds 50MB	Split file or remove unused keys
429 Too Many Requests	Exceeded 6 req/sec	Add 170ms minimum delay between calls
Process status: failed	Invalid file content or encoding	Check file is valid JSON/XLIFF/PO and base64 encoding is correct
400 keys must be an array	Wrong payload shape for bulk ops	Wrap keys in an array even for single-key operations

Examples

CI Pipeline: Extract and Upload

// ci-upload.ts — extract keys from code and push to Lokalise
import { LokaliseApi } from "@lokalise/node-api";
import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";

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

// Upload the extracted source file
const data = readFileSync("./locales/en.json").toString("base64");
const proc = await client.files().upload(PROJECT_ID, {
  data,
  filename: "en.json",
  lang_iso: "en",
  replace_modified: true,
  cleanup_mode: true,       // Remove keys not in this file
  tags: [`build-${process.env.CI_BUILD_NUMBER ?? "local"}`],
});

// Wait for completion
let status = proc.status;
while (status === "queued" || status === "running") {
  await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 2000));
  const check = await client.queuedProcesses().get(proc.process_id, {
    project_id: PROJECT_ID,
  });
  status = check.status;
}

if (status !== "finished") {
  console.error(`Upload failed with status: ${status}`);
  process.exit(1);
}

console.log("Source strings synced to Lokalise");

Tag-Based Release Workflow

set -euo pipefail
# Tag all untagged keys with the current release
lokalise2 --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" key list \
  --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID" \
  --filter-tags "" \
  --limit 500 | jq -r '.[].key_id' | while read -r key_id; do
    lokalise2 --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" key update \
      --project-id "$LOKALISE_PROJECT_ID" \
      --key-id "$key_id" \
      --tags "release-3.0"
    sleep 0.2
done

Resources

• File Upload API
• Queued Processes
• Keys API — Create
• Keys API — Bulk Update
• Keys API — Bulk Delete
• Supported File Formats

Next Steps

For downloading translations and managing contributors, see lokalise-core-workflow-b.