Tingly Translate

VS Code reading-layer translation for selected editor text.

Features

Translate the current editor selection as inline decorations by default.
Show translations beside selected text without modifying or saving the file.
Trigger translation from the Command Palette, editor title globe button, context menu, keyboard shortcut, or lightbulb Code Action menu.
Keep explicit replace, insert-below, copy, and output-channel commands for editing workflows.
Use free web endpoints, traditional translation APIs, or AI translation providers.
Route requests through an HTTP proxy when needed.

Commands

Tingly Translate: Translate Selection (Cmd+Alt+T on macOS, Ctrl+Alt+T on Windows/Linux)
Tingly Translate: Clear Inline Translations (Cmd+Alt+Shift+T on macOS, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T on Windows/Linux)
Tingly Translate: Replace Selection with Translation
Tingly Translate: Insert Translation Below
Tingly Translate: Copy Translation

Complete JSON Configuration

Put this in your VS Code user or workspace settings.json. Pick one provider, then fill the matching provider group.

{
  "tinglyTranslate.provider": "googleFree",
  "tinglyTranslate.sourceLanguage": "auto",
  "tinglyTranslate.targetLanguage": "zh-CN",
  "tinglyTranslate.outputMode": "inline",
  "tinglyTranslate.inlineMaxChars": 120,
  "tinglyTranslate.publicProviderOptions": {},
  "tinglyTranslate.apiProviderOptions": {},
  "tinglyTranslate.aiProviderOptions": {},
  "tinglyTranslate.timeoutMs": 30000,
  "tinglyTranslate.proxy.enabled": false,
  "tinglyTranslate.proxy.url": "http://127.0.0.1:7890"
}

All available settings:

{
  "tinglyTranslate.provider": "googleFree",
  "tinglyTranslate.sourceLanguage": "auto",
  "tinglyTranslate.targetLanguage": "zh-CN",
  "tinglyTranslate.outputMode": "inline",
  "tinglyTranslate.inlineMaxChars": 120,
  "tinglyTranslate.publicProviderOptions": {
    "libreTranslate": {
      "endpoint": "https://libretranslate.com/translate",
      "apiKey": ""
    },
    "myMemory": {
      "endpoint": "https://api.mymemory.translated.net/get",
      "email": "you@example.com",
      "apiKey": ""
    },
    "lingva": {
      "endpoint": "https://lingva.ml"
    },
    "apertium": {
      "endpoint": "https://apertium.org/apy"
    }
  },
  "tinglyTranslate.apiProviderOptions": {
    "googleCloud": {
      "apiKey": "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY",
      "endpoint": "https://translation.googleapis.com/language/translate/v2"
    },
    "microsoftAzure": {
      "apiKey": "YOUR_AZURE_TRANSLATOR_KEY",
      "region": "eastus",
      "endpoint": "https://api.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com/translate"
    },
    "deepl": {
      "apiKey": "YOUR_DEEPL_KEY",
      "endpoint": "https://api-free.deepl.com/v2/translate"
    },
    "baidu": {
      "appId": "YOUR_BAIDU_APP_ID",
      "apiKey": "YOUR_BAIDU_SECRET_KEY",
      "endpoint": "https://fanyi-api.baidu.com/api/trans/vip/translate"
    },
    "youdao": {
      "appKey": "YOUR_YOUDAO_APP_KEY",
      "apiSecret": "YOUR_YOUDAO_APP_SECRET",
      "vocabId": "",
      "endpoint": "https://openapi.youdao.com/api"
    }
  },
  "tinglyTranslate.aiProviderOptions": {
    "openai": {
      "baseUrl": "https://api.openai.com/v1",
      "apiKey": "YOUR_OPENAI_KEY",
      "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
      "prompt": "Translate the following text from {sourceLanguage} to {targetLanguage}. Return only the translation.\n\n{text}",
      "maxTokens": 2000,
      "temperature": 0.2
    },
    "anthropic": {
      "baseUrl": "https://api.anthropic.com/v1",
      "apiKey": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_KEY",
      "model": "claude-3-5-haiku-latest",
      "prompt": "Translate the following text from {sourceLanguage} to {targetLanguage}. Return only the translation.\n\n{text}",
      "maxTokens": 2000,
      "temperature": 0.2,
      "version": "2023-06-01"
    }
  },
  "tinglyTranslate.timeoutMs": 30000,
  "tinglyTranslate.proxy.enabled": false,
  "tinglyTranslate.proxy.url": "http://127.0.0.1:7890"
}

outputMode values:

inline: show translation at the end of the selected line without changing the document.
replace: replace the selected text.
insertBelow: insert the translation below the selection.
copy: copy the translation to the clipboard.
showOnly: print the translation to the Tingly Translate output channel.

Provider Options

Only one provider is active at a time. Unused provider groups are ignored.

Free or Public Providers

These are best for quick local testing. They may be rate limited or unavailable depending on the public endpoint.

Provider	Required options	Optional options	Notes
`googleFree`	none	none	Unofficial public endpoint.
`microsoftFree`	none	none	Unofficial public endpoint.
`myMemory`	none	`endpoint`, `email`, `apiKey`	Public usage works best with email.
`lingva`	none	`endpoint`	Public instance availability varies.
`apertium`	none	`endpoint`	Requires Apertium language codes.
`libreTranslate`	none	`endpoint`, `apiKey`	Some instances require `apiKey`.

Example:

{
  "tinglyTranslate.provider": "myMemory",
  "tinglyTranslate.sourceLanguage": "auto",
  "tinglyTranslate.targetLanguage": "zh-CN",
  "tinglyTranslate.publicProviderOptions": {
    "myMemory": {
      "email": "you@example.com"
    }
  }
}

Translation API Providers

These use official translation APIs and normally require credentials.

Provider	Required options	Optional options	Notes
`googleCloud`	`apiKey`	`endpoint`	Uses Google Cloud Translation API.
`microsoftAzure`	`apiKey`, `region`	`endpoint`	Uses Azure Translator.
`deepl`	`apiKey`	`endpoint`	Defaults to DeepL free API endpoint.
`baidu`	`appId`, `apiKey`	`endpoint`	`apiKey` is the Baidu secret key.
`youdao`	`appKey`, `apiSecret`	`endpoint`, `vocabId`	Uses Youdao signed API.

Google Cloud example:

{
  "tinglyTranslate.provider": "googleCloud",
  "tinglyTranslate.targetLanguage": "zh-CN",
  "tinglyTranslate.apiProviderOptions": {
    "googleCloud": {
      "apiKey": "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLOUD_API_KEY",
      "endpoint": "https://translation.googleapis.com/language/translate/v2"
    }
  }
}

Microsoft Azure example:

{
  "tinglyTranslate.provider": "microsoftAzure",
  "tinglyTranslate.targetLanguage": "zh-Hans",
  "tinglyTranslate.apiProviderOptions": {
    "microsoftAzure": {
      "apiKey": "YOUR_AZURE_TRANSLATOR_KEY",
      "region": "eastus",
      "endpoint": "https://api.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com/translate"
    }
  }
}

China signed API example:

{
  "tinglyTranslate.provider": "baidu",
  "tinglyTranslate.targetLanguage": "zh",
  "tinglyTranslate.apiProviderOptions": {
    "baidu": {
      "appId": "YOUR_BAIDU_APP_ID",
      "apiKey": "YOUR_BAIDU_SECRET_KEY"
    }
  }
}

For Youdao, use provider: "youdao" with appKey and apiSecret instead.

AI Providers

AI translation is configured separately because it has more knobs. Use it when prompt control or better contextual translation matters.

Provider	Required options	Optional options	Notes
`openai`	`apiKey`, `model`	`baseUrl`, `endpoint`, `prompt`, `maxTokens`, `temperature`	Supports OpenAI-compatible chat completions APIs.
`anthropic`	`apiKey`, `model`	`baseUrl`, `endpoint`, `prompt`, `maxTokens`, `temperature`, `version`	Uses Anthropic Messages API.

OpenAI-compatible example:

{
  "tinglyTranslate.provider": "openai",
  "tinglyTranslate.sourceLanguage": "auto",
  "tinglyTranslate.targetLanguage": "zh-CN",
  "tinglyTranslate.aiProviderOptions": {
    "openai": {
      "baseUrl": "https://api.openai.com/v1",
      "apiKey": "YOUR_OPENAI_KEY",
      "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
      "prompt": "Translate the following text from {sourceLanguage} to {targetLanguage}. Return only the translation.\n\n{text}",
      "maxTokens": 2000,
      "temperature": 0.2
    }
  }
}

For Anthropic, set tinglyTranslate.provider to anthropic and use tinglyTranslate.aiProviderOptions.anthropic with baseUrl, apiKey, model, optional prompt, maxTokens, temperature, and version.

Prompt variables:

{text}
{sourceLanguage}
{targetLanguage}

Notes

Free Google/Bing endpoints are unofficial and may change.
MyMemory, Lingva, and Apertium can be used without local API keys, subject to public instance limits and language-pair support.
Baidu and Youdao use signed API requests and require app credentials.
Inline translations are editor decorations only.
API keys are read from VS Code settings for this prototype. Do not commit workspace settings containing keys.
Proxy support currently expects an HTTP proxy URL and tunnels HTTPS requests with CONNECT.
SOCKS and PAC proxy support are not implemented yet.

tingly-translate

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