Smartling MCP Docker

A Docker-based MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that wraps smartling-cli — the official Smartling command-line tool. This MCP server is a thin wrapper and can only do what smartling-cli supports. Refer to the smartling-cli documentation for the full list of capabilities and limitations.

Requirements

• Docker
• Smartling account credentials

Tools

Tool	Description
smartling-cli	Run any smartling-cli command (projects, files, mt)
smartling-ls	List files in /smartling or a subdirectory
smartling-cat	Print the contents of a file inside /smartling

Setup

1. Pull the image

docker pull smartlinginc/smartling-cli-mcp

2. Configure Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartling": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_USER_ID",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_SECRET",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_PROJECT_ID",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_ACCOUNT_ID",
        "-v", "/absolute/path/to/your/project:/smartling",
        "smartlinginc/smartling-cli-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SMARTLING_USER_ID": "your-user-id",
        "SMARTLING_SECRET": "your-secret",
        "SMARTLING_PROJECT_ID": "your-project-id",
        "SMARTLING_ACCOUNT_ID": "your-account-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important: The volume mount must map to /smartling inside the container. The smartling-ls and smartling-cat tools only work within that path.

SMARTLING_ACCOUNT_ID is required for most commands (files push, projects list, glossaries *, etc.). The MCP server injects it automatically as -a <account-id> — it is not natively supported by the CLI as an env var.

To use a custom smartling.yml (e.g. with file type mappings), mount it into /app/smartling.yml inside the container:

"-v", "/absolute/path/to/your/project:/smartling",
"-v", "/absolute/path/to/smartling.yml:/app/smartling.yml",

Restart Claude Desktop after editing the config.

3. Configure Claude Code

Add to your project's .claude/settings.json or run /mcp in Claude Code:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartling": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_USER_ID",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_SECRET",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_PROJECT_ID",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_ACCOUNT_ID",
        "-v", "/absolute/path/to/your/project:/smartling",
        "smartlinginc/smartling-cli-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SMARTLING_USER_ID": "your-user-id",
        "SMARTLING_SECRET": "your-secret",
        "SMARTLING_PROJECT_ID": "your-project-id",
        "SMARTLING_ACCOUNT_ID": "your-account-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

With a custom smartling.yml:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smartling": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_USER_ID",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_SECRET",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_PROJECT_ID",
        "-e", "SMARTLING_ACCOUNT_ID",
        "-v", "/absolute/path/to/your/project:/smartling",
        "-v", "/absolute/path/to/smartling.yml:/app/smartling.yml",
        "smartlinginc/smartling-cli-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SMARTLING_USER_ID": "your-user-id",
        "SMARTLING_SECRET": "your-secret",
        "SMARTLING_PROJECT_ID": "your-project-id",
        "SMARTLING_ACCOUNT_ID": "your-account-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage examples

Once configured, ask Claude naturally:

• "List my Smartling projects"
• "Show files available for translation"
• "Push /smartling/en/strings.json to Smartling with URI en/strings.json"
• "Pull Spanish translations for all JSON files into /smartling"
• "Check translation status for my project"
• "Machine translate /smartling/en/strings.json to French"

Available smartling-cli commands

PROJECTS
  projects list                          List all projects in the account
  projects info                          Show details about the current project
  projects locales                       List target locales
    -s, --short                          Locale IDs only
    --source                             Source locale only
    --format '<go-template>'             Custom output format

FILES
  files list ['<mask>']                  List files in project
    --short                              URIs only
  files push <file> [<uri>]              Upload a file
    --type <type>                        Override file type (e.g. json, plaintext)
    -b, --branch <prefix>                Add branch prefix; @auto detects git branch
    --directive <directive>              Set file-level directive
  files pull ['<mask>']                  Download translated files
    --source                             Download source only
    -l <locale>                          Target locale (repeatable)
  files delete ['<mask>']               Delete files
  files rename <old-uri> <new-uri>       Rename a file URI
  files status                           Show translation progress

MT (Machine Translation)
  mt detect '<mask>'                     Detect source language
    -s, --short                          Output locale code only
    --output table|json                  Output format
  mt translate '<mask>'                  Machine translate files
    -l, --target-locale <locale>         Target locale (repeatable)
    --source-locale <locale>             Source language (auto-detected if omitted)
    --input-directory <dir>              Source directory
    --output-directory <dir>             Output directory

GLOSSARIES
  glossaries list                        List glossaries in the account
    --name <name>                        Filter by name
    --output simple|table|json           Output format
  glossaries create <name>               Create a new glossary
    --locale <locale>                    Add a locale (repeatable)
    --description <text>                 Optional description
    --verification-mode                  Enable verification mode
    --fallback-locale <from>:<to[,to]>   Fallback locale mapping (repeatable)
  glossaries export <uid|name> [file]    Export glossary entries to a file
    --file-type csv|xlsx|tbx             Export file format (required)
    --tbx-version v2|v3                  TBX version (required when --file-type=tbx)
    --focus-locale <locale>              Focus locale for the export
    --locale <locale>                    Include locale in export (repeatable)
    --skip-entries                       Skip glossary entries in the export
    --filter-query <text>                Filter entries by free-text query
    --filter-entry-state <state>         Filter entries by state
    --filter-locale <locale>             Filter by locale ID (repeatable)
    --filter-entry-uid <uid>             Filter by entry UID (repeatable)
    --filter-missing-translation-locale  Filter: locale missing a translation
    --filter-present-translation-locale  Filter: locale with a translation
    --filter-created-date <RFC3339>      Filter by created date
    --filter-last-modified-date <RFC3339> Filter by last modified date
  glossaries import <uid|name> <file>    Import glossary from CSV/XLSX/TBX
    --archive-mode                       Archive entries missing from the file
    --media-type <type>                  Override media type detection

GLOBAL FLAGS
  -a, --account <account-id>             Override account ID
  -p, --project <project-id>             Override project ID

Full documentation: smartling-cli wiki