Retranslation

The Lingo.dev CLI provides manual retranslation options for refreshing translations when the source text hasn't changed - after switching AI models, updating translation prompts, or improving localization engine configuration.

For automatic retranslation triggered by source text changes, see Automatic Retranslation.

Complete retranslation#

Bypass the lockfile and retranslate all content:

npx lingo.dev@latest run --force

This retranslates every key in every target language and recreates the i18n.lock file.

Targeted retranslation#

By language#

npx lingo.dev@latest run --force --target-locale es

Retranslates only Spanish while preserving all other languages.

By bucket type#

npx lingo.dev@latest run --force --bucket json

Retranslates only JSON files, leaving Markdown and other formats unchanged.

By key#

npx lingo.dev@latest run --force --key welcome.title

Retranslates a single key across all target languages. Supports glob patterns.

By file#

npx lingo.dev@latest run --force --file blog.[locale].json

Retranslates specific files. Multiple --file flags can be combined.

Combined#

npx lingo.dev@latest run --force --bucket json --target-locale es

Options combine for precise control - this retranslates all JSON content for Spanish only.

Efficient retranslation with purge#

For best performance, use purge before run instead of --force. This leverages the CLI's built-in caching mechanism:

# Remove existing translations for a specific key
npx lingo.dev@latest purge --key welcome.title

# Then regenerate (without --force)
npx lingo.dev@latest run

When to retranslate#

Next Steps#