weblate/docs/devel/integration.rst

Integrating with Weblate
========================

.. include:: /snippets/basics.rst

Importing a localization project into Weblate
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Weblate has been developed with VCS integration in mind as it’s core feature,
so the easiest way is to grant Weblate the access to your repository.
The import process will guide you through configuring your translations
into Weblate components.

Alternatively, you can let Weblate set up a local-only repository
containing all the translations without integration.

.. seealso::

   * :ref:`adding-projects`
   * :ref:`faq-submodule`

Fetching updated translations from Weblate
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Weblate stores updated strings in a database and commits them to a local
version-control repository. You can add a Weblate repository (when
:ref:`git-exporter` is turned on) as an additional remote repository
and fetch translation updates from it.

Prior to this, you might want to commit any pending local
changes made in Weblate (see :ref:`lazy-commit`). This can be done from the user interface
(in the :guilabel:`Repository maintenance`), or from the command-line using :ref:`wlc`.

Pushing changes can be automated if you grant Weblate push access to your repository and
configure :ref:`component-push` in the :ref:`component`, see :ref:`push-changes`.

Alternatively, use :doc:`/api` to update translations
so that they match the latest version from the upstream in your remote VCS repository.

.. seealso::

   * :ref:`continuous-translation`
   * :ref:`push-changes`
   * :ref:`vcs-repos`

Fetching remote changes into Weblate
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To fetch any strings recently updated in your remote VCS repository into Weblate,
allow Weblate to pull from the upstream repository.
This can be achieved in the user interface (in the :guilabel:`Repository maintenance`),
or from the command-line using :ref:`wlc`.

This can be automated by setting a webhook in your repository to trigger
Weblate whenever there is a new commit. See :ref:`update-vcs` for more details.

If not using VCS integration, you can use the UI or :doc:`/api` to update
the translations so that they match your codebase.

.. seealso::

   * :ref:`continuous-translation`
   * :ref:`vcs-repos`

.. _adding-new-strings:

Adding new strings
++++++++++++++++++

If your translation files are stored in a remote VCS together with the code,
you most likely have an existing workflow for developers to introduce new strings.
Any way of adding strings will be picked up, but consider using
:ref:`source-quality-gateway` to avoid introducing errors.

When translation files are separated from the code, the following ways can
introduce new strings into Weblate.

* Manually, using :guilabel:`Add new translation string` from :guilabel:`Operations`
  menu in the source language. You can choose between the radio buttons
  :guilabel:`Singular` and :guilabel:`Plural` inside the form. Select the
  appropriate form of the new translation string to be added.
* Programmatically, using the API :http:post:`/api/translations/(string:project)/(string:component)/(string:language)/units/`.
* By uploading source file as :guilabel:`Replace existing translation file`
  (this overwrites existing strings, so please ensure the file includes both
  old and new strings) or :guilabel:`Add new strings`, see :ref:`upload-method`.

.. note::

   The ability to add strings in Weblate requires :ref:`component-manage_units`.

.. _updating-target-files:

Updating target-language files
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For monolingual files (see :ref:`formats`), Weblate might add new translation
strings present in the :ref:`component-template`, and not in actual translations.
It does not however perform any automatic cleanup of stale strings, as that
might have unexpected results. If you still want to do this, please install
the :ref:`addon-weblate.cleanup.generic` add-on, which handles
cleanup according to your requirements.

Weblate will also not try to update bilingual files when the source changes,
so if you need :file:`po` files to be updated from :file:`pot`, do it yourself by
using :guilabel:`Update source strings` :ref:`upload-method`, or by using
the :ref:`addon-weblate.gettext.msgmerge` add-on.

.. hint::

   Source string extraction tools, such as :program:`xgettext` or :program:`lupdate`, need to be executed outside of Weblate.

.. seealso::

   * :ref:`processing`
   * :ref:`addon-weblate.cleanup.generic`
   * :ref:`addon-weblate.cleanup.blank`
   * :ref:`addon-weblate.resx.update`
   * :ref:`addon-weblate.gettext.msgmerge`


.. _translations-update:

Introducing new strings
+++++++++++++++++++++++

You can add new strings in Weblate with :ref:`component-manage_units` turned
on, but it is usually better to introduce new strings together with the code
changes that introduced them.

Monolingual formats need to be configured so that new strings are added to
:ref:`component-template`. This is typically done by developers, as they
write the code. You might want to use a review process of those strings using
:ref:`source-quality-gateway`.

Bilingual formats typically extract strings from the source code using some
tooling (like :program:`xgettext` or :program:`intltool-update`). Follow your
localization framework documentation for instructions how to do that. Once the
strings are extracted, there might be an additional step needed to update
existing translations, see :ref:`updating-target-files`.

.. hint::

   Automating string extraction is presently out of scope for Weblate. It
   typically involves executing untrusted code what makes it more suitable for
   a generic continuous integration than localization-specific platform.

   You might want to integrate this into your continuous integration pipelines
   to make new strings automatically appear for translation. Such pipeline
   should also cover :ref:`avoid-merge-conflicts`.

.. seealso::

   * :ref:`updating-target-files`
   * :doc:`/devel/gettext`
   * :doc:`/devel/sphinx`

.. _manage-vcs:

Managing the local VCS repository
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Weblate stores all translations in its underlying version control repository.
It is suggested to be connected to a remote one, but internal-only setup is
also possible. The :guilabel:`Repository maintenance` allows
controlling this repository.

.. hint::

   With :doc:`/admin/continuous`, any changes are automatically pushed from the
   repository, so there is usually no need to manage it manually.

.. image:: /screenshots/component-repository.webp

.. seealso::

   * :doc:`/admin/continuous`
   * :doc:`/vcs`