MCP Server Integration

Check and review your locale files from Claude Desktop, Cursor or any MCP client — validation needs no API key.

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Features

Validation tools need no API key and make no model call

check_locales, check_glossary, diff_locales, review_locales

review_locales hands YOUR agent the pairs — it judges meaning with its own model

Translation too, with your own provider key

stdio transport — works in every MCP client

Prerequisites

1.An MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, or your own)
2.Node.js 18 or newer
3.An Anthropic or OpenAI key only if you want to translate — validation needs none

Installation

# No install step — your MCP client runs it on demand
npx -y @shipi18n/mcp

Configuration

Add the server to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shipi18n": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@shipi18n/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

That is the whole setup for validation — no env block, no key, nothing to pay for, because those tools call no model. To also translate from your editor, add an env block with ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

Usage

Ask your client: "check locales/ and tell me what's broken in Spanish"

Examples

Add a key to translate as well as check

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shipi18n": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@shipi18n/mcp"],
      "env": { "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "your-key-here" }
    }
  }
}

Validate a whole tree — no key needed

# check_locales runs the same engine as `shipi18n check`:
"Check ./locales against English and list every error by language."

# review_locales hands YOU the pairs; you judge the meaning:
"Review the Spanish translations in ./locales and tell me which ones
 changed the meaning of the original."

Best Practices

Start with the validators. They need no key, so the setup is one config block and nothing to bill.
Use review_locales for meaning-level review — your agent already has a model; the server does not need one.
Point translate_file at a file in your repo so the output lands where your build expects it.
Review the diff like any other generated file — the model is capable, not infallible.

Troubleshooting

The server starts but the client shows no tools

Restart the MCP client after editing its config. Most clients only read the config at launch.

Translation says no API key is set

Translation needs your own provider key: add an env block with ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY. The validation tools (check_locales, check_glossary, diff_locales, review_locales) need no key and are unaffected.

Nothing happens when the server runs

Use @shipi18n/mcp 2.0.1 or newer. 2.0.0 exited silently when launched through its bin and was deprecated.

Need help? Read the docs

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