How to Translate Individual Keys

Individual key translation lets you translate one cell at a time using your configured AI provider. It's the right tool when you want to re-translate a specific key, check a translation for a critical string, or translate just a few new keys without running a full bulk pass.

Requirements#

You need an AI provider configured in Settings → App → AI Providers before the ✨ button appears. See Set Up AI Translation in 5 Minutes.

How to translate a single key#

1. Select a key, then hover any non-base locale in the detail pane — a row in List mode, a card in Grid mode.

2. A ✨ sparkle button appears on cells that are Missing (no translation) or Same (identical to base locale). These are the most actionable candidates.

3. Click ✨. The cell shows a loading indicator.

4. The translation appears and is saved immediately.

Keyboard shortcut#

With a locale field focused, press ⌘⇧T (Ctrl+Shift+T) to translate, or re-translate, only that field. If the Ukrainian value is focused, only Ukrainian is (re)translated; the key's other locales stay untouched. It's the single-field counterpart to ⌘T, which translates the active key into every non-base locale at once. Unlike the ✨ button, ⌘⇧T works even on cells that already have a translation.

One at a time#

Only one cell can be translating at any given moment. While a translation is in progress, ✨ buttons on other cells are disabled. Wait for the current translation to complete (or fail) before starting another.

Error handling#

"Go to Settings" prompt: your API key is missing, expired, or invalid. Click the prompt to open Settings, or press ⌘, and re-enter your key under App → AI Providers.

Banner with error message: a network or API error occurred. The error message appears in a dismissible banner. Try clicking ✨ again: transient errors usually resolve on retry.

Empty result written: the model returned a response that couldn't be parsed as a translation. This is rare. Try a different model or rephrase the string to avoid edge-case model behavior.

Supported cells#

The ✨ button only appears on:

• Missing cells (key not present in this locale)
• Same cells (translation matches the base locale: likely untranslated)

It does not appear on cells with existing translations: to re-translate those, focus the cell and press ⌘⇧T, clear the cell first, or use the Re-translate all group in the sidebar footer's ✨ Translate… popover.