Smartling offers a variety of pre-built integrations, as well as tools for developers that help track and automate events in Smartling, so you can connect your translation platform to any other tools and content platforms used by your organization.
Info: The below list is intended to provide a first overview of available integrations and developer tools. To identify the best solution for your organization, please consult your Smartling representative.
Pre-built integration options
Smartling offers a range of pre-built integration options, allowing you to localize your website, application or files with minimal developer effort.
Global Delivery Network (GDN)
Smartling’s Global Delivery Network (GDN) enables you to easily localize any website or web application, regardless of the underlying technology used to build that site.
The GDN combines a translation proxy to localize HTML content, and a client-side component for Dynamic Content Support.
The combination of these two technologies allows the GDN to automatically extract the translatable text on your site, without the need for any internationalization of your code.
How the GDN works
- The translatable text on each page is ingested into Smartling as the page is first visited.
- Once the translation is completed, the GDN automatically swaps out the source text for the translated text when the localized page is visited again.
- The look, feel and functionality of your original site are fully preserved.
Key benefits
✅ Unlike connectors and plugins, the GDN is stack agnostic and works with most websites.
✅ It provides one of the fastest ways to deploy a translated website or app, and requires only limited developer resources compared to traditional localization approaches.
Considerations
Your site needs to be localization-friendly or will require continuous maintenance, to ensure that the correct content continues to be translated as your site evolves. Our Professional Services team will be able to assist you with further guidance.
Tip: Want to see it in action? Watch our video tutorial on Managing GDN Projects.
Smartling connectors and plugins
A connector or plugin is a pre-built integration that creates a direct link between a content platform (such as a content management system, an email marketing platform, or your knowledge base) and the Smartling translation management system.
Smartling offers out-of-the-box connectors and plugins for many popular content platforms.
A secure authentication process allows you to connect the Smartling Translation Management System to your content platform with minimal effort.
How connectors and plugins work
- You can continue working within your familiar content structure and follow your regular process for creating source content.
- Translation is requested either directly from within your content platform or through a Smartling interface that mirrors your content structure.
- Once the translation is complete, a translated language copy of the original content asset is automatically delivered to your platform.
Key benefits
✅ Seamlessly integrate translation into your existing content management workflows.
✅ Transparent and consistent pricing structure, regardless of the amount of site traffic your localized sites are experiencing.
Tip: For more information, visit our overview of all Connectors & Plugins.
Partner integrations
While the connectors and plugins mentioned above are developed and maintained by Smartling, there are also some additional integrations available which are offered and supported directly by our partners.
As a result, Smartling support for these integrations may be limited, and any feature requests, issues and feedback typically need to be investigated directly by our partner companies.
Tip: For more information, visit our overview of all available Smartling Partner Integrations.
Custom integrations with developer tools
If the pre-built integrations mentioned above are not the right fit for your organization, a wide range of developer tools allow your team to build custom integrations. Regardless of your tech stack, Smartling’s APIs, SDKs and CLI tool enable you to automate the full lifecycle of your translation processes, from the content upload and job authorization to the delivery of completed translations.
Custom integrations can be built by using and combining any of the following tools.
Tip: Developers can find in-depth information about all available tools in our Developer Tools Overview.
Smartling API
An API (Application Programming Interface) facilitates the communication and data exchange between two different applications. The Smartling API allows you to connect Smartling's translation services and data with other platforms used by your organization.
APIs function based on a request/response system: To initiate the interaction, a request (also referred to as an "API call") is sent to the server (e.g., one application asks for some data). The server processes the request and returns a response, typically containing the requested data or the result of the requested operation.
APIs can be used both to send (“post”) data (e.g., when they are used to upload a file to Smartling), and to retrieve (“get”) information (e.g., to download translated files from Smartling). APIs can also be used to update (“put”) or remove (“delete”) data (e.g., to update or delete a translation job).
The type of data or information that can be requested is determined by the available API endpoints. Smartling provides a comprehensive set of API endpoints, allowing you to access many of the resources and functionalities provided by Smartling translation management system. For example, you can:
- Upload files with the desired file directives and batch them into translation jobs
- Retrieve a near-instant machine translation
- Add string tags
- Retrieve a list of users and locales in your Smartling account
- Create and update glossary entries
- And much more.
Tip: Visit our API reference site for detailed documentation on the Smartling API, as well as all available API endpoints.
The Smartling API can be called:
- directly in your application code (either using Smartling SDKs or coding the relevant calls in your development language within your code)
- through an API client (like Postman or Insomnia) or
- from the command line using the Smartling CLI tool.
Smartling SDKs
SDKs (Software Development Kits) are pre-made toolkits that enable developers to build applications with as little coding effort as possible.
Smartling’s SDKs make it easier to embed Smartling functions in your organization's code and to interact with the Smartling API, by providing a pre-built collection of code and tools.
For ease of use, SDKs are written directly in commonly used programming languages. Smartling offers SDKs for Java, Python and Node.js.
Smartling CLI
A command-line interface (CLI) allows developers to interact with the operating system of a computer, as well as with software applications. The CLI does not have a graphical user interface (i.e. it does not have a user interface where you can perform actions simply by clicking on visual symbols and buttons). Instead, pre-defined text commands need to be entered into the computer's terminal to retrieve information or to perform actions. The CLI provides a flexible and lightweight alternative to other tools, such as browser-based API clients.
Smartling's CLI tool allows developers to interact with the Smartling Translation Management Platform directly from their terminal. Dedicated Smartling CLI commands allow developers to interact with a selection of Smartling API endpoints via text commands and to embed them into more complex flows. For example, you can perform actions like managing files and retrieving machine translations directly from your computer's terminal.
Event notification mechanisms: Webhooks, polling and callbacks
Integrations with Smartling’s APIs and SDKs rely on webhooks, polling and/or callbacks to communicate when certain translation events have occurred. For example, these mechanisms can be used to notify you when the translation of a file has been completed, and to automatically trigger the download of translated content.
Webhooks
Webhooks are a lightweight mechanism for one-way data sharing between two applications.
They are typically set up to track repeated actions:
You can subscribe to certain events (see our Events Catalog for full details). For example, you can choose to be notified every time a file is published in a Smartling project.
Webhooks "listen" for that specified event to happen, meaning that they are configured to post notification data when that specific event occurs. When a subscribed event occurs, this information is automatically sent to a URL specified by your team, allowing you to be notified automatically when an event of interest happens.
Webhooks are typically set up when users would like to receive a stream of notifications over time in a consistent format.
💡 Push-based notification method
✅ Main use case: Subscribe to ongoing translation events
Tip: Smartling offers a simple interface for creating and managing webhooks. For more details, see our Webhooks Overview and our guide to Configuring Webhooks in the Smartling Dashboard.
Polling
Similarly to webhooks, a polling mechanism also regularly checks for updates on certain tasks.
However, polling involves making repeated API calls to query a server in regular intervals and checking the status of a task, whereas webhooks send updates automatically when they occur.
Polling puts more load on both your server and the Smartling API compared to webhooks or callbacks, especially if they are used at a high frequency. However, polling can be a suitable choice when you don't need real-time updates and a lower frequency of notifications is sufficient.
For example, custom integrations can implement a polling mechanism in a similar way as Smartling's connectors, where polling is typically used to check for updates to previously translated source content in regular intervals (e.g. typically every 3 hours).
💡 Pull-based notification method
✅ Main use case: Periodic checks when a real-time response isn't required, or as a fallback method when callbacks or webhooks fail due to network or service issues
Callbacks
Smartling’s callback service lets you know immediately when an action is finished. For example, callbacks can be used to notify you immediately when the translations for a file are completed.
The callback notifications and data are sent to a specific web address (called a "callback URL") specified by your team.
Unlike webhooks, which are generally persistent and used to subscribe to ongoing updates, callbacks are typically a good fit to set up immediate notifications for single, one-off actions.
💡 Push-based notification method
✅ Main use case: One-off actions (e.g. “Notify me when this file is translated”)
Integrations with process automation tools
Embed Smartling's translation capabilities into your organization's holistic processes and initiate actions or get translations automatically from within your familiar tools, such as Zapier or your preferred LLM chat client.
Smartling's Zapier app: Integrate Smartling into your Zaps
Zapier is a web automation tool that simplifies complex processes by connecting different applications.
When a specific event occurs in one application, Zapier can automatically perform a corresponding action in another platform. These automated process flows are called Zaps.
With Smartling’s Zapier app, you can automate your localization processes by connecting Smartling's translation capabilities to thousands of other applications (e.g., project management apps like Jira or Trello, communication platforms like Slack, or file management apps like Dropbox or Google Drive).
For example:
- When an Issue is created in Smartling → Send a notification to your Slack channel
- When a file is published in Smartling → Download the translated file from Smartling
- When a new file is added to a specific Dropbox or Google Drive folder → Translate the file with your preferred MT or LLM provider, using Smartling's MT API
Tip: Join our Smartling Community to watch a video walkthrough.
Smartling's MCP Server: Connect your AI chat tools to Smartling
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a framework that allows Large Language Models to connect to external applications, so you can bring additional tools into your AI platform.
Info: If you prefer watching over reading, join our Smartling Community for a video walk-through.
Smartling's MCP server enables seamless data sharing between the Smartling Translation Management System and an LLM chat client (like Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code or Cursor). It enables you to embed advanced localization capabilities into your existing AI-powered processes.
Once a connection with the Smartling MCP Server has been established, you can request translations, initiate actions in Smartling, and retrieve translation data - directly from your LLM chat interface.
A range of Smartling tools function as building blocks, allowing the connected LLM to access resources and assets from your Smartling account (such as your translation memory, glossary, style guide, projects and jobs).
MCP provides a highly flexible framework, allowing you to use and combine all available tools to achieve the desired result. Simply enter a natural language prompt in the chat interface of your AI platform, indicating which Smartling tools you would like to use or which output you would like to achieve. The LLM will then assemble all required tools and return the requested translation or information from Smartling.
Tip: MCP is an innovate and fast-growing technology. If you are interested in using the Smartling MCP Server, please feel free to contact our team to discuss your use case.