Programmatic API

Every operation behind a command is exported from @the-i18n-kit/cli. A tool that needs translation data can call the operation rather than spawning the CLI and parsing its output — which is how the MCP server is built.

Using It

import { detectConfig, getTranslationStatus } from '@the-i18n-kit/cli'

const config = await detectConfig(process.cwd())
const status = await getTranslationStatus({ projectDir: process.cwd() })

console.log(`${config.locales.length} locales across ${config.layers.length} layers`)

Operations take a projectDir and return plain data. Nothing writes to stdout, so the return value is the whole result — there is no output to parse and no JSON contract to work around.

What Is Exported

The same set the MCP server consumes, grouped by what it does:

Result types are exported alongside them, so a consumer types its own handling rather than restating the shape.

Reports Are the Caller's Business

An operation always returns its whole result. Writing that result to a file and handing back { reportFile, summary } instead is what a surface does with it, so outputFile and codequalityOutput are flags and tool parameters rather than operation options, and reportOutput in the project config does not reach a library caller.

The same diversion is exported, for a consumer that wants it:

import { descriptors, divertToReport, findOrphanKeys } from '@the-i18n-kit/cli'

const args = { projectDir: process.cwd(), outputFile: 'orphans.json' }
const result = await findOrphanKeys(args)
const orphans = descriptors.find(descriptor => descriptor.id === 'orphans')!

// { reportFile, summary }, with the full result written to orphans.json
const diverted = await divertToReport(result, orphans, args)

Limits

• The public surface is what @the-i18n-kit/cli exports, and nothing deeper. The build emits content-hashed chunks, so a path into dist is not a stable import and will change on the next release.
• Operations validate their own input and throw a ToolError carrying a code. They do not set an exit code — that is the command's job, not the operation's.
• Translating needs a provider. Called without one, translateMissing returns every key as skipped with reason no-provider rather than throwing; see the translate command.