A Model Context Protocol server for i18n translation — translate your locale files straight from any MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, …). Bring your own LLM, or use no key at all and let the client's own model do the work.

Two ways to run it

BYO key — set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY in the server env; translation calls your model.
Zero-key (sampling) — set no key, and the server asks the MCP client to run the completion via sampling/createMessage. No API key needed; uses whatever model your client runs. (Requires a client that supports MCP sampling.)

Install

Add it to your MCP client config. For Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shipi18n": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@shipi18n/mcp"],
      "env": { "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "sk-ant-..." }
    }
  }
}

Omit the env block to use the zero-key sampling mode. For the OpenAI provider, set OPENAI_API_KEY instead. You'll also need the matching SDK available (@anthropic-ai/sdk or openai) when using BYO key.

Then just ask: "Translate locales/en.json into French, German, and Japanese."

Tools

Tool	Description
`translate_json`	Translate a locale JSON string to one or more languages (returns the translated JSON).
`translate_file`	Read a `.json` locale file, translate it, and write `<lang>.json` files. Supports `incremental`.
`list_languages`	List the language codes/names with friendly names (any BCP-47 code works).
`check_placeholders`	Verify a translation preserves a source string's placeholders (no LLM call).

All translation tools accept optional provider (anthropic/openai) and model arguments to override auto-detection.

Why

Built on @shipi18n/core: structure-preserving JSON translation with placeholder preservation/validation, batching, and incremental (only-changed) mode. Open-source, no Shipi18n account, no hosted API.