string-catalog-cli

CLI for managing Xcode String Catalog (.xcstrings) files. Query, inspect, and update translations from the terminal.

Install

npm install -g string-catalog-cli
# or
bun add -g string-catalog-cli

Commands

All commands take a path to an .xcstrings file as the first argument. Add --json to any command for machine-readable output.

scat languages <file>

List all languages with translation coverage.

scat languages App.xcstrings

scat stats <file>

Detailed statistics broken down by state (translated, needs_review, new, stale).

scat stats App.xcstrings
scat stats App.xcstrings --json

scat keys <file>

List all string keys. Supports pagination.

scat keys App.xcstrings
scat keys App.xcstrings --limit 50 --offset 0

scat search <file> <query>

Case-insensitive substring search over key names.

scat search App.xcstrings "button"

scat get <file> <key>

Show all translations for a specific key with their states.

scat get App.xcstrings "Cancel"
scat get App.xcstrings "Cancel" --json

scat missing <file>

List keys with missing translations, optionally filtered to one language.

scat missing App.xcstrings
scat missing App.xcstrings --language de
scat missing App.xcstrings --language de --json

scat stale <file>

List keys marked stale by Xcode's extraction state or by translation state.

scat stale App.xcstrings

scat update <file> <json-or-path>

Update translations from an inline JSON string or a path to a JSON file.

scat update App.xcstrings translations.json
scat update App.xcstrings '{"data":[{"key":"Cancel","translations":[{"language":"de","value":"Abbrechen"}]}]}'

JSON format:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "key": "Hello %@",
      "translations": [
        { "language": "de", "value": "Hallo %@" },
        { "language": "fr", "value": "Bonjour %@" }
      ],
      "comment": "Greeting with user name"
    }
  ]
}

For plural strings, use pluralForms instead of value:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "key": "%lld items",
      "translations": [
        {
          "language": "de",
          "pluralForms": {
            "one": "%lld Element",
            "other": "%lld Elemente"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

iOS Format Placeholders

Preserve these in all translations:

Placeholder	Meaning
%@	String / object
%d, %lld	Integer
%f	Float
%1$@, %2$@	Positional (order can change per language)

Build from source

bun install
bun run build
node dist/cli/index.js --help

Test

bun test

Related

• string-catalog-mcp — MCP server that wraps this library for use with Claude and other AI tools