Use custom code to import and export your multilingual proprietary file format.
Requires Crowdin account
This app allows you to import and export proprietary or uncommon (multilingual) file formats into Crowdin. It ensures that your file's structure, metadata and contextual information are preserved throughout the translation process.
Check the Crowdin Store for the custom file app format if you need to translate a single language file.
Important: The app must be properly configured for it to function as expected. If the configuration is missing, it won’t be able to process files. The app may cause errors during import/export if used without the appropriate configuration.
- Import/Export Custom Formats: Directly handle your unique file formats within Crowdin, with no need for manual conversion.
- Preserve File Structure: Maintain your file’s original structure, including comments and metadata, to ensure context is available for translators.
- Language Mapping: Map non-standard language codes in your files to Crowdin’s standard codes for compatibility (should be done in your code).
- User-Defined Parsing: Define how your files are parsed and reconstructed, allowing Crowdin to support virtually any file format.
To use this app, you will need to provide two code snippets: one for importing your file format into Crowdin and another for exporting translations back into the original format. You can use this GPT to generate the necessary code, tailored specifically to your file format. If you need assistance, the Crowdin Support team is available to help you create these code snippets, ensuring a smooth integration process.

This is the importer and exporter for a JSON file like the following:
{
"en": {
"key1": "string",
"key2": "string 2",
"key3": "string 3"
},
"de": {
"key1": "Zeichenkette",
"key2": "Zeichenkette 2",
"key3": "Zeichenkette 3"
},
"fr": {
"key1": "string",
"key2": "string 2",
"key3": "string 3"
}
}
const languagesMapping = {
en: 'en',
de: 'de',
fr: 'fr'
};
try {
const contentJson = JSON.parse(content);
for (const key in contentJson.en) {
let stringObject = {
identifier: key,
text: contentJson.en[key],
translations: {}
};
for (const langCode in contentJson) {
if (langCode !== 'en' && contentJson[langCode][key]) {
const crowdinLangCode = languagesMapping[langCode];
stringObject.translations[crowdinLangCode] = {
text: contentJson[langCode][key],
status: 'translated'
};
}
}
strings.push(stringObject);
}
} catch (e) {
error = `Failed to parse content: ${e.message}`;
}
const languagesMapping = {
en: 'en',
de: 'de',
fr: 'fr'
};
try {
let contentJson = JSON.parse(content);
for (const stringObj of strings) {
const key = stringObj.identifier;
// Update source text in the "en" section
if (!contentJson.en) contentJson.en = {};
contentJson.en[key] = stringObj.text;
// Update translations
for (const [langCode, translation] of Object.entries(stringObj.translations)) {
const fileLangCode = Object.keys(languagesMapping).find(k => languagesMapping[k] === langCode);
if (!contentJson[fileLangCode]) contentJson[fileLangCode] = {};
contentJson[fileLangCode][key] = translation.text;
}
}
content = JSON.stringify(contentJson, null, 4);
} catch (e) {
error = `Failed to process strings: ${e.message}`;
}
- Importer Code: Transforms the source file into an array of Crowdin string objects.
- Exporter Code: Converts an array of Crowdin string objects back into a file that can be consumed by the user, including translations.
Your importer code should convert the file content into an array of Crowdin string objects. Here’s an example structure:
[
{
"identifier": "string-key-1",
"context": "Some context", // optional
"maxLength": 10, // optional, default null
"isHidden": false, // optional, default null
"labels": ["label-one", "label-two"], // optional, default []
"text": "String source text", // required
"translations": {
"uk": {
"text": "Переклад стрічки", // required
"status": "untranslated | translated | approved" // optional, default "translated"
}
}
}
]
- strings: A global variable, an empty array where your code should populate Crowdin string objects.
- content: Contains the source file content in UTF-8 encoding.
- error: Set this variable to a string if your code encounters an error and cannot form the
stringsarray. - fileName: The name of the source file (e.g., 'source-file.json').
- filePath: The file path within the Crowdin project (e.g., '/main/source-file.json').
- fileId: The unique ID for the file in Crowdin.
- targetLanguages: An array of objects containing details about each target language.
The exporter code should convert Crowdin string objects back into the original file format, with translations included. You will need to:
- Read the source file content from the content variable.
- Update the
contentvariable with the new translated content before the code exits.
Crowdin is a platform that helps you manage and translate content into different languages. Integrate Crowdin with your repo, CMS, or other systems. Source content is always up to date for your translators, and translated content is returned automatically.
Learn More- —Crowdin Enterprise
- —crowdin.com
Released on Aug 11, 2024
Updated on Oct 2, 2025
Published by Awesome Crowdin
Identifier:cmff


