Lokalise Install & Auth

Overview

Set up Lokalise SDK/CLI and configure API token authentication for translation management. Covers the Node.js SDK (@lokalise/node-api v12+), the CLI (lokalise2), and OAuth2 for Lokalise apps.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ (SDK v9+ is ESM-only)
• Package manager (npm, pnpm, or yarn)
• Lokalise account with project access
• API token from Lokalise profile settings

Instructions

Step 1: Install Node.js SDK

bash
set -euo pipefail
# SDK v9+ is ESM-only — requires "type": "module" in package.json or .mjs files
npm install @lokalise/node-api

# For CommonJS projects that cannot migrate to ESM, pin to v8
npm install @lokalise/node-api@8

Step 2: Install CLI Tool

bash
set -euo pipefail
# macOS via Homebrew
brew tap lokalise/cli-2
brew install lokalise2

# Linux — download latest release binary
LATEST_CLI=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/lokalise/lokalise-cli-2-go/releases/latest \
  | grep -oP '"tag_name": "\K[^"]+')
curl -sL "https://github.com/lokalise/lokalise-cli-2-go/releases/download/${LATEST_CLI}/lokalise2_linux_x86_64.tar.gz" | tar xz
sudo mv lokalise2 /usr/local/bin/

# Verify installation
lokalise2 --version

Step 3: Generate API Token

1. Log into Lokalise
2. Click profile avatar > Profile Settings
3. Go to API tokens tab
4. Click Generate new token
5. Choose Read and write for full access (or Read only for CI download pipelines)
6. Copy the token immediately (shown only once)

Step 4: Configure Authentication

bash
# Set environment variable (recommended)
export LOKALISE_API_TOKEN="your-api-token"

# Or create .env file for local development
echo 'LOKALISE_API_TOKEN=your-api-token' >> .env

# CLI configuration — creates ~/.lokalise2/config.yml
lokalise2 --token "$LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" project list

Step 5: Verify Connection

typescript
import { LokaliseApi } from "@lokalise/node-api";

const lokaliseApi = new LokaliseApi({
  apiKey: process.env.LOKALISE_API_TOKEN!,
  enableCompression: true, // Gzip responses for faster transfers
});

// Test connection by listing projects
const projects = await lokaliseApi.projects().list({ limit: 10 });
console.log(`Connected! Found ${projects.items.length} projects.`);
for (const p of projects.items) {
  console.log(`  ${p.project_id}: ${p.name}`);
}

Step 6: OAuth2 Authentication (for Lokalise Apps)

typescript
import { LokaliseApiOAuth } from "@lokalise/node-api";

// Use token obtained via OAuth2 flow
// OAuth scopes: read_projects, write_projects, read_keys, write_keys, etc.
const lokaliseApi = new LokaliseApiOAuth({
  apiKey: oauthAccessToken,
});

// All SDK methods work identically with OAuth tokens
const projects = await lokaliseApi.projects().list({ limit: 10 });

OAuth2 is required when building Lokalise marketplace apps that act on behalf of users. Standard API tokens are sufficient for internal integrations.

Output

• Installed @lokalise/node-api package (ESM v9+ or CJS v8)
• lokalise2 CLI installed and verified
• Environment variable or .env file with API token
• Successful connection verification listing accessible projects

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | 401 Unauthorized | Invalid or expired token | Generate new token at Profile Settings > API Tokens | | 403 Forbidden | Token lacks required scope | Use read-write token, or check OAuth scopes | | ERR_REQUIRE_ESM | Using require() with SDK v9+ | Use ESM import or downgrade to @lokalise/node-api@8 | | ENOTFOUND api.lokalise.com | Network blocked | Check firewall allows outbound HTTPS to api.lokalise.com | | Cannot find module | SDK not installed | Run npm install @lokalise/node-api |

Examples

TypeScript ESM Setup

typescript
// src/lib/lokalise.ts
import { LokaliseApi } from "@lokalise/node-api";

export function createClient(apiKey?: string): LokaliseApi {
  const key = apiKey ?? process.env.LOKALISE_API_TOKEN;
  if (!key) throw new Error("Set LOKALISE_API_TOKEN or pass apiKey");
  return new LokaliseApi({ apiKey: key, enableCompression: true });
}

CLI Configuration File

yaml
# ~/.lokalise2/config.yml
token: "your-api-token"
project_id: "123456789.abcdef"

Verify Token Permissions (curl)

bash
set -euo pipefail
# Check which projects the token can access
curl -s -H "X-Api-Token: $LOKALISE_API_TOKEN" \
  "https://api.lokalise.com/api2/projects?limit=5" \
  | jq '.projects[] | {project_id, name}'

Resources

• Lokalise Developer Hub
• API Authentication
• Node SDK Documentation
• CLI v2 Documentation
• OAuth2 Guide

Next Steps

After successful auth, proceed to lokalise-hello-world for your first API call.