Check translations from Make or npm scripts

Makefile

Install the checker once with pip install kaeris. The recipe line starts with a tab. Making test depend on i18n-check runs the check before the tests.

.PHONY: i18n-check test

i18n-check:
	kaeris check --source locales/en.json --langs de,fr --ci

test: i18n-check
	./run-tests.sh

npm scripts

The script only calls kaeris from your PATH, so the checker is the Python package from pip install kaeris. pretest runs before test and stops it when the check fails.

{
  "scripts": {
    "i18n:check": "kaeris check --source locales/en.json --langs de,fr --ci",
    "pretest": "npm run i18n:check",
    "test": "jest"
  }
}

npm test

Output of npm test with the scripts above (the test script was echo in this run). Left: files that are fine. Right: de.json with {nam} instead of {name} and the checkout key missing; npm stops before test.

$ npm test

> [email protected] pretest
> npm run i18n:check


> [email protected] i18n:check
> kaeris check --source locales/en.json --langs de,fr --ci

✓ de: complete & placeholder-safe
✓ fr: complete & placeholder-safe
✓ all locales complete & placeholder-safe

> [email protected] test
> echo tests would run here

tests would run here
exit code: 0

$ npm test

> [email protected] pretest
> npm run i18n:check


> [email protected] i18n:check
> kaeris check --source locales/en.json --langs de,fr --ci

✗ de: 1 missing key(s): checkout
✗ de: 1 placeholder mismatch(es):
    greeting: missing ['{name}'], added ['{nam}']
✗ de: 2 translation fault(s):
    greeting: lost placeholder {name}
    greeting: invented placeholder {nam} (not in source)
✓ fr: complete & placeholder-safe
✗ 1 missing key, 1 placeholder mismatch, 2 translation faults
exit code: 1

The Makefile recipe line

The same command that the i18n-check target runs, and its exit code.

$ kaeris check --source locales/en.json --langs de,fr --ci
✓ de: complete & placeholder-safe
✓ fr: complete & placeholder-safe
✓ all locales complete & placeholder-safe
exit code: 0

$ kaeris check --source locales/en.json --langs de,fr --ci
✗ de: 1 missing key(s): checkout
✗ de: 1 placeholder mismatch(es):
    greeting: missing ['{name}'], added ['{nam}']
✗ de: 2 translation fault(s):
    greeting: lost placeholder {name}
    greeting: invented placeholder {nam} (not in source)
✓ fr: complete & placeholder-safe
✗ 1 missing key, 1 placeholder mismatch, 2 translation faults
exit code: 1

1. Install the checker

   Run pip install kaeris on the machine or in the CI image that runs your tests.

2. Add the target or the script

   Add the i18n-check target to the Makefile or the i18n:check and pretest scripts to package.json, with your own --source and --langs.

3. Run your usual command

   make test or npm test now runs the check first and stops with a non-zero exit code when a translation is broken.

• What ran

  npm test with the scripts above, except that test was an echo (npm 11.17, Node 24), and kaeris 0.2.35 from PyPI on the PATH. Clean files: exit code 0, tests ran. Broken de.json: exit code 1, tests did not run.

• What did not run

  make is not installed on the machine where this was checked. The recipe line was run through the shell, which is what make does with it, so the exit code above is real, but the Makefile itself was not run by make.

• npm

  There is no kaeris package on the npm registry yet, so this page does not send you to npm for it. Node projects call the Python package, as above.

• Fail on stale keys too

  --strict also fails when a translation has keys that the source no longer has.

• Keep brand names as written

  --glossary 'KAERIS,GitHub' fails a target that dropped one of the terms. The same list can live under keep in kaeris.json.

• Different file layout

  --out is the folder with the translations and --pattern '{lang}/common.json' their file names. Default: the layout kaeris translate writes.

• No flags at all

  With a kaeris.json in the project (kaeris init writes one), kaeris check takes the source, languages and folder from it.

Other recipes: GitHub Actions · GitLab CI · pre-commit

CLI reference · Check reference · GitHub Action reference · Free check in the browser · Translate in the browser