Lingo.dev (Translation) MCP server

Lingo.dev is an open-source, AI-powered i18n toolkit that enables instant localization with LLMs. It offers multiple tools to make any application multilingual without requiring extensive changes to your existing codebase.

Installation

To install Lingo.dev, simply run:

npm install lingo.dev

Using the Lingo.dev Compiler

The Lingo.dev Compiler is a middleware that makes React applications multilingual at build time without requiring changes to existing components.

Setup for Next.js

Integrate the compiler in your Next.js configuration file:

import lingoCompiler from "lingo.dev/compiler";

const existingNextConfig = {};

export default lingoCompiler.next({
  sourceLocale: "en",
  targetLocales: ["es", "fr"],
})(existingNextConfig);

Once configured, run your normal build command:

next build

This will automatically generate Spanish and French versions of your application alongside the English version.

Using the CLI

The CLI allows you to translate code and content directly from your terminal:

npx lingo.dev@latest run

The CLI intelligently fingerprints each string, caches results, and only re-translates content that has changed.

Setting up CI/CD Integration

For automated translations in your workflow, add this to your GitHub Actions:

# .github/workflows/i18n.yml
name: Lingo.dev i18n
on: [push]

jobs:
  i18n:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: lingodotdev/lingo.dev@main
        with:
          api-key: ${{ secrets.LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY }}

Using the SDK

The SDK provides instant per-request translation for dynamic content:

import { LingoDotDevEngine } from "lingo.dev/sdk";

const lingoDotDev = new LingoDotDevEngine({
  apiKey: "your-api-key-here",
});

const content = {
  greeting: "Hello",
  farewell: "Goodbye",
  message: "Welcome to our platform",
};

const translated = await lingoDotDev.localizeObject(content, {
  sourceLocale: "en",
  targetLocale: "es",
});
// Returns: { greeting: "Hola", farewell: "Adiós", message: "Bienvenido a nuestra plataforma" }

This is ideal for chat applications, user comments, and other real-time content that needs translation.

Getting Help

If you need assistance with setting up Lingo.dev:

• Visit the documentation at lingo.dev/compiler
• Join the Discord community at lingo.dev/go/discord

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "lingo-dev" '{"command":"npx","args":["lingo.dev@latest","run"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "lingo-dev": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "lingo.dev@latest",
                "run"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "lingo-dev": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "lingo.dev@latest",
                "run"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect