Ruby SDK - Lingo.dev SDK

Introduction

The Lingo.dev Ruby SDK translates text, Hash objects, and chat conversations with support for batch operations, progress tracking, and concurrent processing. It handles large payloads by automatically chunking content into optimal batch sizes and supports glossaries for consistent terminology.

Installation

gem

gem install lingodotdev

Bundler

Add to your Gemfile:

gem 'lingodotdev'

Then run:

bundle install

Quick translation

Skip the instance management for one-off translations. These methods handle engine lifecycle automatically and default to fast mode, making them ideal for CLI tools and scripts.

require 'lingodotdev'

# Translate text
text_result = LingoDotDev::Engine.quick_translate(
  'Hello world',
  api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'],
  target_locale: 'es'
)
puts "Text: #{text_result}"

# Translate object
object_result = LingoDotDev::Engine.quick_translate(
  { greeting: 'Hello', farewell: 'Goodbye' },
  api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'],
  target_locale: 'fr'
)
puts "Object: #{object_result}"

Basic usage

The SDK requires an API key from Lingo.dev.

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

result = engine.localize_text(
  'Welcome! We missed you.',
  target_locale: 'es'
)
puts result

Text translation with progress

Track translation progress with a callback. Even single text strings go through the chunker, enabling progress reporting for long texts and providing consistent behavior across all content types.

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

result = engine.localize_text(
  'We sent a confirmation email.',
  target_locale: 'es'
) do |progress|
  puts "Progress: #{progress}%"
end

puts "Result: #{result}"

Object translation

Translate nested Hashes while preserving structure. The SDK recursively processes all string values regardless of depth.

require 'lingodotdev'

content = {
  title: 'Welcome',
  cta: 'Start your free trial',
  footer: {
    legal: 'All rights reserved.',
    help: 'Need help?'
  }
}

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

result = engine.localize_object(content, target_locale: 'es')
puts result

Batch translation to multiple languages

Translate content to multiple target languages in a single call. Returns an array with one result per target locale, in the same order as requested.

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

# Translate text to multiple languages
text_results = engine.batch_localize_text(
  'Welcome to our application',
  target_locales: ['es', 'fr', 'de'],
  fast: true
)
puts "Text results: #{text_results}"

Batch object translation

Localize multiple objects to the same target locale. Useful for processing collections of content items efficiently.

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

objects = [
  { title: 'Welcome', body: 'Hello there' },
  { title: 'About', body: 'Learn more about us' },
  { title: 'Contact', body: 'Get in touch' }
]

results = engine.batch_localize_objects(
  objects,
  target_locale: 'es',
  concurrent: true
)

results.each do |result|
  puts "#{result[:title]}: #{result[:body]}"
end

Chat translation

Translate chat messages while preserving speaker names. Each message must have both :name and :text keys. Useful for localizing support conversations, chat logs, or dialogue systems without losing conversation structure.

require 'lingodotdev'

chat = [
  { name: 'Alice', text: 'Hello everyone!' },
  { name: 'Bob', text: 'How are you doing?' },
  { name: 'Alice', text: 'Great, thanks for asking!' }
]

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

result = engine.localize_chat(chat, target_locale: 'es')

result.each do |message|
  puts "#{message[:name]}: #{message[:text]}"
end

Sequential processing with progress

Sequential mode enables detailed progress callbacks. The callback receives progress percentage for each batch processed, useful for debugging translation issues or showing detailed progress in UIs.

require 'lingodotdev'

content = {
  welcome: 'Hello',
  goodbye: 'Farewell',
  help: 'Need assistance?'
}

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

result = engine.localize_object(content, target_locale: 'es') do |progress|
  puts "#{progress}% complete"
end

puts result

Concurrent processing

Process chunks in parallel for faster translation. This mode sacrifices progress tracking for speed, making it ideal for production workloads where throughput matters more than user feedback.

require 'lingodotdev'

content = {
  header: { title: 'Welcome', subtitle: 'Get started' },
  body: { intro: 'Learn more', details: 'Full description' },
  footer: { copyright: '2024', contact: 'Email us' }
}

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

result = engine.localize_object(
  content,
  target_locale: 'es',
  concurrent: true
)

puts result

Reference data

Provide glossaries or previous translations to ensure consistency. Reference data is sent with every chunk to the API, so keep it reasonably sized. Use this for brand terms, technical vocabulary, or maintaining translation consistency across product updates.

require 'lingodotdev'

content = { cta: 'Start your free trial', title: 'Welcome' }

reference = {
  es: { cta: 'Comienza tu prueba gratuita' },
  fr: { cta: 'Commencez votre essai gratuit' }
}

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

result = engine.localize_object(
  content,
  target_locale: 'es',
  reference: reference,
  concurrent: true
)

puts result

Configuration

Control batching behavior and API endpoints. The SDK splits large payloads based on key count and word count constraints, preventing API timeouts and improving reliability for large translation jobs.

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(
  api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'],
  api_url: 'https://engine.lingo.dev',
  batch_size: 25,              # Items per chunk (1-250)
  ideal_batch_item_size: 250   # Words per chunk (1-2500)
)

result = engine.localize_text(
  'Reset your password',
  target_locale: 'es',
  fast: true
)

puts result

You can also configure using a block:

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY']) do |config|
  config.batch_size = 50
  config.ideal_batch_item_size = 500
end

result = engine.localize_text('Hello world', target_locale: 'es')
puts result

Language detection

Detect the language of a text string. Useful for automatically routing content to the correct translation pipeline or validating user input language.

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

locale = engine.recognize_locale('Guten Morgen')
puts "Detected language: #{locale}"

API key introspection

Check which account owns an API key. Returns nil if authentication fails. Useful for debugging authentication issues or displaying account information in admin tools.

require 'lingodotdev'

engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])

user = engine.whoami
if user
  puts "Authenticated as: #{user[:email]}"
else
  puts 'Authentication failed'
end

Error handling

The SDK defines custom exception classes for different error scenarios. Distinguish between user errors (ValidationError) and infrastructure problems (ServerError, APIError) for appropriate retry logic.

require 'lingodotdev'

begin
  engine = LingoDotDev::Engine.new(api_key: ENV['LINGODOTDEV_API_KEY'])
  result = engine.localize_text('Hello', target_locale: 'es')
  puts result
rescue LingoDotDev::ValidationError => e
  puts "Invalid parameters or bad request: #{e.message}"
rescue LingoDotDev::AuthenticationError => e
  puts "Authentication error: #{e.message}"
rescue LingoDotDev::ServerError => e
  puts "Server or network error: #{e.message}"
rescue LingoDotDev::APIError => e
  puts "API error: #{e.message}"
rescue LingoDotDev::Error => e
  puts "Error: #{e.message}"
end