Crowdin (File-Based)

Crowdin (File-Based)

· #500 most-used

Localise every file, automatically and on schedule

CommunicationProductivityProjectsDocumentsDeveloperAIAutomation

Crowdin (File-Based) is the localisation management platform built for teams that translate files — software locale JSON, Markdown documentation, mobile strings, and document formats. Connect it to Actionist and your agents can upload source files, monitor translation and approval progress per language, trigger builds, download translation archives, manage glossaries, generate cost reports, and create proofreading tasks — all without a human logging into the Crowdin dashboard for routine operations.

Average time saved
13 hours
per person · per month
≈ 2 workdays back

Eliminates manual work. Agents eliminate the manual cycles of uploading source files, creating per-locale tasks, polling build status, downloading archives, and compiling localisation cost reports — all tasks that currently consume multiple hours per week across engineering, marketing, support, and finance teams.

Schedule

What your Crowdin (File-Based) agent runs on autopilot

A week of scheduled jobs your Actionist agent will execute on your behalf.

28Scheduled jobs
7Agents at work
24/7Always on
Agents
MonWed
Mon
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Wed
7a
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11a
12p
1p
2p
3p
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6p
Multi-app workflows

Crowdin (File-Based) × every other app you use

End-to-end automations that span multiple apps — each one a real business outcome.

6Workflows
6Apps spanned
~16 hrsSaved / week
6Personas served
For engineering
Featured3 apps

Source file update triggers Crowdin push and TM pre-fill

When a developer merges updated locale files to the main branch on GitHub, the agent uploads the new source file to Crowdin storage, updates the file in the project, applies a Translation Memory pre-fill, and posts a summary to Slack — translators see only the genuinely new strings, and the localisation clock starts ticking from the moment the code lands.

~5 hrs

Time saved for your team — every week, on autopilot

The flow
Trigger·When locale files are updated in a GitHub merge to main
Result
Upload updated source file to Crowdin storageUpdate or Restore File in the Crowdin projectApply Translation Memory pre-translation to new stringsPost new source version summary to #localisation Slack channel
The win
Saved per run
40 min
Runs / week
~8×
Localisation starts within minutes of every code merge, not days later
Driven byOperations Agent
ROI

Savings

What your team gets back — two angles: what you stop doing manually, and what that's worth.

Without Actionist

What you do manually today

With Actionist

What your agent runs for you

  • Sales
    45 min / week
    Manual localisation status tracking

    Sales teams manually check Crowdin every few days to see if target-language product pages are ready, creating delays between translation completion and market activation.

    Sales Agent
    0 min
    Agent monitors localisation status and notifies sales automatically

    The sales agent checks translation completion for all product pages each week and alerts the commercial team when a new locale is launch-ready — no manual status checks in Crowdin before each regional campaign.

  • Marketing
    60 min / week
    Manual campaign copy upload and task creation

    The marketing manager manually uploads each source file to Crowdin, creates tasks for each locale, and follows up with translators — consuming an hour per campaign that could go toward content strategy.

    Marketing Agent
    0 min
    Agent uploads, assigns, and tracks campaign localisation automatically

    When campaign copy is ready, the agent uploads source files to Crowdin, creates translation tasks per locale, and tracks completion — the marketing team never logs into Crowdin for routine localisation management.

  • Customer Support
    30 min / week
    Manual help article localisation upload

    The support team manually submits translation requests for each new article, often days after English publication — non-English customers face outdated or missing help content for days to weeks.

    Customer Support Agent
    0 min
    Agent keeps the knowledge base localised within 24 hours of English publication

    New help articles are uploaded to Crowdin and queued for translation within minutes of English publication — the gap between English and localised support content stays under a day.

  • Human Resources
    40 min / week
    Manual HR policy translation upload and coordination

    HR manually submits updated policies to the localisation team, often waiting a week or more before the localisation process starts — creating periods where employees in non-English markets work from outdated policy versions.

    Human Resources Agent
    0 min
    Agent pushes updated HR policies to translation the same day

    When HR policy documents are updated, the agent uploads the new source version to Crowdin and applies a TM pre-fill so only genuine changes need human translation — global employees get updated policies in their language within days.

  • Finance
    50 min / week
    Manual translation cost reporting

    Finance manually requests translation cost data from the localisation manager, waits for a Crowdin export, and copies figures into the budget spreadsheet — a monthly task that often happens after the invoices have already arrived.

    Finance Agent
    0 min
    Agent generates and distributes translation cost reports automatically

    Monthly translation cost reports are generated from Crowdin, downloaded, and written to the budget tracker automatically — finance has cost data before translator invoices arrive, not after.

  • Operations
    120 min / week
    Manual localisation pipeline management

    Localisation managers manually check multiple Crowdin projects for task status, overdue items, and completed builds — spending several hours a week on coordination that adds no translation value.

    Operations Agent
    0 min
    Agent keeps translation pipelines moving without manual project management

    The operations agent monitors task queues, flags overdue items, triggers builds, and distributes archives — the entire localisation pipeline runs with minimal manual coordination from the operations team.

  • Legal
    35 min / week
    Manual legal document localisation handover

    Legal teams email the localisation manager each time a document needs translation, then follow up days later — creating bottlenecks when multiple jurisdictions need localised legal documents simultaneously.

    Legal Agent
    0 min
    Agent initiates legal document localisation the same day English is approved

    Legal documents are uploaded to Crowdin and jurisdiction-specific proofreading tasks are created within hours of English approval — regulatory filing deadlines are met without a manual handover from legal to the localisation team.

+ 100s of other Crowdin (File-Based) automations
Average time saved
38 hrs / person / month
Calculator

Calculate what your team saves

Team size
8 people
Hourly rate
$35 / hr
Hours saved / week
26
Hours saved / year
1,280
Annual ROI
$44,800

Based on Crowdin (File-Based)'s typical team usage — the visible tasks plus a few other automations the agent runs: ~3.2 hrs / person / week of admin work automated.

Connect

How to plug Crowdin (File-Based) into Actionist

Pick the connection method that suits your environment.

Connect using Crowdin's OAuth2 flow for secure, scope-limited access to your projects, files, and translation data. Recommended for most teams.

1
Open the Apps tab

Find Crowdin (File-Based) in the Apps tab and click Connect. OAuth2 is selected by default.

2
Authorise in Crowdin

A Crowdin OAuth window opens — sign in and grant Actionist the scopes your agents need (at minimum 'project' for file and translation access). The handshake completes in seconds.

3
Test the connection

Actionist runs a read-only test call to confirm the connection. You are ready to start automating localisation tasks.

Actions

15 actions your agent can call

Read and write operations available to your Actionist agent.

Triggers

6 events your agent can react to

Events your agent watches for, and the actions it kicks off in response.

FAQs

Questions about Crowdin (File-Based) + Actionist

How does Actionist connect to Crowdin (File-Based)?
Go to the Apps tab, find Crowdin (File-Based), and click Connect. The recommended path is OAuth2 — Actionist opens a Crowdin OAuth window, you authorise the connection, and the agent gains access to your projects, source files, and translations. If you prefer a Personal Access Token, go to Crowdin → Account Settings → API → Personal Access Tokens, generate a token, and paste it into the API key field instead. Either way, Actionist runs a read-only test call to confirm the handshake before any actions run.
Can I connect with OAuth2 and a Personal Access Token at the same time, or is it one or the other?
Yes. Crowdin (File-Based) supports both OAuth2 and Personal Access Tokens. OAuth2 is recommended for most teams — it uses scoped permissions and is easier to revoke. Personal Access Tokens are better for server-side agent tasks where a browser-based login isn't practical. When using OAuth2, request only the scopes your agents actually need (for example, 'project' for read/write project access, 'tm' for translation memory, 'glossary' for glossaries). Narrower scopes reduce risk if a connection is ever compromised.
How does a file-based project workflow differ from a string-based one when using the API?
The file-based workflow in Crowdin expects source files to be uploaded to Storage first before they are added to a project. Your agent calls Add Storage to upload the file, gets back a storageId, and then calls Add File in your project using that storageId. Files held in Crowdin storage are available for 24 hours — so the add-to-project step should follow upload within the same agent run. If the agent only needs to update an existing file's content, use Update or Restore File instead.
How do I trigger a translation build and download the translated files automatically?
Use the Build Project Translation action followed by Download Project Translations. The Build step is asynchronous — the agent kicks it off and then polls Check Project Build Status until the build is complete (typically within a minute on most project sizes). Once the build reaches 'finished' status, the Download action retrieves the ZIP of translated files. If you only want one language or one file, Export Project Translation gives you a single-language export without rebuilding the full project.
Can my agent create and manage translation tasks for specific team members?
Crowdin tasks let you assign specific files or strings to translators or proofreaders with due dates. Use Add Project Task to create a task, Get Project Task to check its status, and Edit Project Task to update the assignee or deadline. The agent can also list open tasks with List Project Tasks and post comments on them with Add Project Task Comment — useful for flagging blockers or leaving context for the translator without leaving Crowdin.
How do I check translation progress at the project, file, and language level?
Use Get Project Progress for a project-wide view, Get File Progress to drill into a specific file, Get Language Progress to see how far a given target language has come, and Get Branch Progress if you are using Git-style branches for version management. Translation Status checks return both translation percentage and approval/proofreading percentage — so your agent can distinguish between 'translated but not reviewed' and 'fully approved and ready to ship'.
When does the 'File Translated' trigger fire, and how is it different from 'Project Translated'?
The File Translated trigger fires within about a minute of a project file reaching 100% translation. The File Approved trigger fires when that file also passes proofreading. Project Translated fires when every string across the entire project is translated. These webhook-based triggers let you chain Crowdin milestones directly into your release pipeline — for example, auto-triggering a build, notifying a Slack channel, or creating a GitHub pull request — without polling the API manually.
Can Actionist manage my Crowdin glossary to keep terminology consistent across projects?
Yes. The Glossaries resource lets your agent add terms with definitions, part-of-speech tags, and usage notes so translators see consistent terminology in the Crowdin editor. Use Add Term to create new entries, List Terms to audit the glossary, and Export Glossary to download the full list as a CSV or TBX file for review. If you manage multiple glossaries, Add Glossary creates a new one scoped to a specific project or shared across your organisation.