---
id: translation-finder
version: "3.4.0"
license: GPL-3.0-or-later
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# translation-finder — A translation file finder used in Weblate.

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 99.0K/mo

## What it is and what it does

translation-finder is a library that automatically detects and catalogs translation files within a repository by recognizing patterns and metadata from popular localization frameworks. It powers Weblate's file discovery mechanism and can operate on both file listings and live filesystem access, with the latter enabling more accurate detection when encoding or syntax validation is needed.

The package returns structured match objects describing each discovered translation file—including its format, file mask pattern, template file (if applicable), and metadata about which discovery method found it and its priority ranking. It can be used programmatically from Python or via a command-line tool, making it useful both as a library component and a standalone utility for inspecting what translation files exist in a project.

Use it for:

- Automatically map translation files in a monorepo to feed into a continuous localization workflow.
- Validate that a project's translation structure matches expected patterns before syncing to a translation management platform.
- Build tooling that needs to enumerate all localizable resources without hardcoding file paths.
- Detect encoding issues or malformed translation files by combining pattern matching with filesystem inspection.
- Migrate translation infrastructure by discovering all existing translation assets before moving them to a new system.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Discovers and identifies translation files in repositories by scanning for patterns used by common localization frameworks like Gettext, Android resources, and Transifex.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and fills a specific niche: discovering translation files in repositories. It's production-stable and backed by Weblate's real-world use. The GPL-3.0-or-later copyleft license is a consideration for proprietary projects, but poses no barrier for open-source work.

## Install

pip install translation-finder
uv add translation-finder
poetry add translation-finder

## Installing translation-finder

Before you install: Low friction install with three straightforward dependencies. Actively maintained with a release 11 days ago and commits as recent as 2026-08-14, supporting current Python versions (3.11–3.14).

License in practice: GPL-3.0-or-later copyleft license means any derivative work or distribution must also be open source under compatible terms; suitable for open-source projects but requires careful consideration in proprietary contexts.

Quickstart:

pip install translation-finder

from translation_finder import discover
results = discover("path/to/repo")
for result in results:
    print(result.match, result.meta)

Requires Python 3.11 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether filesystem access is required for all use cases or only for encoding/syntax detection in edge cases.
- Performance characteristics when scanning large repositories with many translation files.
- Exact list of supported translation file formats beyond Gettext, Android, and Transifex.

## Package facts

- License: GPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 99.0K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

translation file discovery, i18n file finder, localization file detection, gettext file scanner, weblate translation discovery, multilingual resource locator, l10n file pattern matching, i18n-l10n, file-discovery, weblate-integration

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/translation-finder) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/translation-finder/)