Using ChatGPT for automatic translation in Loco
Our ChatGPT translator uses OpenAI's Chat Completions API to perform batch processing of many (effectively separate) source strings. Thus it will behave more like a 'regular' translation API. The advantages are custom prompting, and its understanding of context, but it tends to be much slower than other providers.
This bot is still somewhat experimental, so please let us know if you encounter any issues.
Loco is not affiliated with OpenAI, and is not charging for access to ChatGPT. You will need your own OpenAI account and API key.
Configure a bot to use ChatGPT
- Navigate to the Bots tab wherever you see the :robot icon: in the Loco dashboard.
- Click "New bot", choose ChatGPT, and enter your OpenAI API key into the first text field.
- Save the bot and it's ready to run. See also how to run a translation bot.
Steps for generating an OpenAI API key
- Sign up for an OpenAI account.
- Go to the API Keys section of the dashboard.
- Check you have sufficient credit for your needs in the billing section.
See our general recommendations for key security and note that your OpenAI key requires write access to use the Chat Completions API.
Model compatibility
Your bot will be configured to use gpt-4o-mini by default, but you can enter any model as long as it's compatible with both the
Chat Completions API and
Structured Outputs.
See Model endpoint compatibility and supported models for structured outputs
Custom prompt
You can enter a custom prompt into your bot configuration. This will be sent in all requests for translations in addition to the basic prompt that Loco sends. You might want to add something general about your project, or the style of text you want, but there's no need to ask it to translate anything; Loco takes care of that.
Avoid entering language specific prompts, unless you plan to use the bot for only that language.
Loco prompts for formal or informal language styles according to each project locale formality setting.
Context
Loco provides ChatGPT with both the context and notes properties of each asset being translated. This is intended to provide meaning when sending single words or very short phrases.
For example, results for the text "Home" will be quite different (in some languages) if you enter "Where the heart is" vs "Button text for website navigation".
Formatted strings
This bot doesn't use the same placeholder protection that we provide for dedicated translation APIs, as it seems to understand most syntax automatically. If you run into problems, try adding something into your custom prompt to explain how the text is formatted.