Interactive Translation Review

Sometimes you need more control over your translations. Maybe you're working with legal content where accuracy is non-negotiable, or you want that another language to sound completely different. That's where Lingo.dev's interactive mode comes in.

Why Use Interactive Mode?

Not all content is created equal. Here's when you might want hands-on control:

1. Brand Voice: When maintaining consistent brand messaging across languages is crucial
2. Technical Content: When precise terminology matters more than speed
3. Legal Content: When accuracy is non-negotiable
4. Training: When teaching the AI your preferred translation style
5. Quality Assurance: When setting up initial quality baselines for new content

How It Works

Enable interactive mode with the --interactive flag:

npx lingo.dev@latest i18n --interactive

This transforms Lingo.dev from an automatic translator into a collaborative tool that works with you.

The Review Process

When running in interactive mode, you'll go through three main stages:

1. Content Presentation

For each piece of content, you'll see:

Reviewing changes for [file/record]:

Source text (English):
"Your original content"

Current value (Target Language):
"Existing translation (if any)"

Suggested value:
"AI-proposed translation"

2. Decision Making

You'll then choose from three options:

Choose action:
> Approve changes    (Accept the proposed translation)
> Skip changes      (Keep the current translation)
> Edit individually (Manually review each change)

3. Optional Editing

If you choose "Edit individually":

• Your default editor opens
• You see the context and current translations as comments
• Edit the translation directly
• Save and close to continue

Pro Tips

1. Selective Review: Combine with other flags for focused reviews:

   # Review only French translations
   npx lingo.dev@latest i18n --interactive --locale fr
   
   # Review only documentation content
   npx lingo.dev@latest i18n --interactive --bucket docs

2. Initial Setup

   • Use interactive mode when first translating important content
   • Document your translation decisions
   • Build a glossary of approved translations for future reference, e.g. for legal or deeply technical content. Use Lingo.dev's localization engine dashboard to configure the glossary.

The Rationale

We built interactive mode because we understand that while AI is powerful, human preferences are irreplaceable in certain contexts. This feature bridges the gap between automation and precision, giving you the best of both worlds.