Releases
Control when your translation changes go live with releases
Releases let you control exactly when translation changes go live in your application. Edit freely, then publish a release when you're ready.
Think of it like Git commits for your translations. Your app always sees the latest release, not your work-in-progress edits.
The latest release. This is what your API returns by default. Changes to translations don't affect your app until you create a new release.
Edits made since the last release. These are saved but not yet live. Create a release to publish them.
Why This Matters
You can safely edit translations, test them in the LocaleLens UI, and only push them live when ready. No more accidental deployments of half-finished work.
Make changes in the Translations tab. Changes are saved immediately but marked as pending.
Go to the Releases tab to see how many changes are pending since the last release.
Click "Create Release" to make your changes live. Your app will immediately start using the new translations.
Before creating a release, you can review all pending changes. After releasing, you can compare any two releases to see what changed.
Click the compare icon next to any release to open the comparison dialog. Select a second release or compare against current translations.
What you can do:
- Summary shows added, modified, and removed translation counts
- Changes are grouped by key for easy review
- Filter changes by locale to focus on specific languages
Common use cases:
- Review what will go live before releasing
- Troubleshoot translation issues by finding when they were introduced
- Create audit trails for compliance
The LocaleLens API always returns the latest release. This ensures your production app never shows incomplete or untested translations.
GET /api/v1/projects/:projectId/translations/:localeWhat the API returns:
- If you have at least one release → translations from that release
- If you have no releases yet → current live translations (for initial setup)
You do not need to change your API integration to use releases.
This is intentional. Work-in-progress translations stay hidden until you explicitly release them.
Made a mistake? You can restore any previous release to immediately revert your translations.
When you restore:
- An automatic backup is created (so you can undo the restore)
- Translations are reverted to match the selected release
- The restored release becomes the new "current" release
Auto-Backup Protection
Before any restore, LocaleLens automatically creates a backup release. You can never lose work — you can always restore to the auto-backup if needed.
Every release is logged with full metadata, giving you a complete history of your translation deployments.
Each release shows:
- Date and time created
- Who created it
- Number of keys, locales, and translations at that point
- Optional label (e.g., "v1.2.0", "Sprint 23")
LocaleLens automatically creates backup releases in certain situations:
- Before restoring to a previous release
- Auto-backups are labeled "Auto-backup" in the release list
- The 10 most recent auto-backups are kept; older ones are pruned automatically
Manual releases are never automatically deleted.
| Action | Owner | Admin | Translator | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| View releases | ||||
| Create release | ||||
| Restore release | ||||
| Delete release |
Add labels to important releases for easy identification later:
v1.2.0Sprint 23Q1 2025 Release
For team collaboration:
- Make edits throughout the day
- Review pending changes before releasing
- Create a release when ready to deploy
Ready to Get Started?
Releases work automatically with your existing API integration. Just start creating releases when you want your changes to go live.