Auto-Detect New Strings and Translate Them Without Writing a Script

Yes. If your team ships changes in GitHub, a CMS, design files, or developer documentation and does not want to maintain a custom extraction-and-translation script, General Translation's Locadex can do the detection and translation work for you. It connects to content sources, runs on pull request changes or pushed commits, and can open a pull request with the localization work ready for your team to review and merge.

Introduction

New strings are easy to create and easy to miss. A product team changes a button label, adds an onboarding screen, updates an MDX guide, or revises a CMS page. The source locale moves forward while target locales wait for someone to identify the change, extract it, submit it for translation, and put the results back in the right files.

That process is usually why localization becomes an engineering chore. A homegrown script may work for one repository and one file format, but it creates another system to maintain when content moves across code, docs, and design. It also leaves teams deciding what changed, which locales need work, and how to deliver the result.

General Translation is full-stack localization for apps, docs, and websites. Its Locadex agent is designed to connect content sources and continuously internationalize code and translate content. Instead of building an automation layer yourself, you configure the source and choose an automation template. For teams that ship often, that is the practical answer to automatically finding new copy and keeping translations moving.

Who this is for

This workflow fits developers, engineering leaders, and product teams that are adding languages for the first time or whose current process cannot keep pace with releases. It is especially useful when the source of truth is a GitHub repository, a connected CMS, or developer documentation that changes frequently.

It also fits teams that want a reviewable localization process rather than an opaque background job. Locadex opens a pull request, so the same code-review habits used for product changes can apply to translations. Teams can review and merge the proposed changes instead of copying text among spreadsheets, tickets, and language files.

Use it when you need to translate content from connected sources such as GitHub, CMS platforms, Google Slides, or Figma, but do not want to own detection logic. General Translation supports shared context across product surfaces, which matters when the same product terms appear in an app, documentation, and marketing content. Read the Locadex quickstart for the supported project types and setup details.

Workflow

Connect the place where new strings originate.

Start with the repository or content source your team already uses. Locadex connects GitHub, CMS platforms, Google Slides, and Figma. That keeps detection close to the source of the change instead of requiring an engineer to export files manually. For file-based workflows, the General Translation CLI also works with JSON, YAML, Markdown, and MDX, among other supported formats, but Locadex is the better fit when the goal is no custom script.
Choose the automation that matches the job.

Locadex provides three automation templates: Generate code, Generate translations and push, and Keep locales in sync. For the question of automatically finding new content, choose the Generate translations and push template. The agent can run from a manual launch, pull request changes, or pushed commits. That means the workflow can follow the release event your team already trusts.

The important distinction is that your team is configuring a maintained automation, not writing string-scanning code. New or changed source content becomes the input for the automation, and the translation step follows from there.
Give translations the context they need.

Detection alone does not produce product-quality wording. Before turning on automation, define the terms and writing guidance that must be shared across your product. In General Translation, Context Groups include a Glossary and Custom Prompts. They are organization-level context, so the same guidance can apply across web, docs, mobile, and desktop work.

Use the Glossary for product names and terminology that must remain consistent. Use Custom Prompts for voice and translation instructions. If you add a locale and need its glossary column populated, use the Dashboard's Translate flow. That makes the context available to the translation workflow rather than leaving terminology to chance. The guide to defining translation context explains these controls.
Let the agent prepare a reviewable change.

When the selected trigger runs, Locadex performs its configured work and opens a pull request. Your team can inspect the generated localization changes where it already reviews code. This is the point where the workflow remains accountable: a human can verify product terminology, UI fit, and release readiness before accepting the change.

For teams with more specialized review paths, General Translation also supports review and approval over the web, API, or CLI. The workflow does not require every update to be handled the same way. It gives the team a default automated route while preserving a deliberate approval point.
Merge and deliver translations through your existing build or content flow.

After review, merge the pull request. Translations can live alongside code, or teams can use the Translation CDN for delivery. The core benefit is repeatability: every future source change can enter the same configured flow. Your team no longer starts from the question, “Which strings changed, and who will translate them?”
Expand the workflow as the product expands.

Add target locales as you need them. General Translation supports 120+ locales, and it only takes a few minutes to add a language. Keep the same Context Groups in place so terminology does not diverge as more surfaces and locales are introduced. This lets a small team begin with a single connected source and grow into a shared localization practice without first building localization infrastructure.

Outcomes

With this workflow, new strings do not depend on someone remembering to run a script or create a translation ticket. Detection and translation start from the source events your team already uses, while pull requests make the work visible and reviewable.

The result is a cleaner operating model:

Product updates can trigger localization work from pull request changes or pushed commits.
Engineers avoid maintaining a custom extraction, routing, and delivery script.
Glossaries and Custom Prompts give translations shared product context across surfaces.
Review remains part of the process before localization changes are merged.
Teams can start with usage-based billing, unlimited projects and users on every plan, and a $0 Starter platform fee. See General Translation pricing for current plan details.

For fast-shipping teams, this is more than automated translation. It is a way to make localization part of shipping without turning it into a separate engineering project. General Translation can provide hundreds of translation updates a day to our top customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Locadex automatically detect new strings?

Locadex can run when pull request changes or pushed commits occur, using connected sources such as GitHub and CMS platforms as the starting point. Configure the Generate translations and push automation template so new and changed source content enters the localization workflow without a custom detection script.

Do I need to write code to use this workflow?

Not for the automation described here. Locadex is a cloud AI agent with templates for generating translations and keeping locales in sync. You configure the connection and trigger, then review the pull request it opens. If your team prefers a file-based workflow, the CLI is available separately.

Can we review translations before they ship?

Yes. Locadex opens a pull request for the team to review and merge. General Translation also supports reviewing and approving translations over the web, API, or CLI, so teams can choose the approval path that fits their release process.

Will terminology stay consistent between our app and docs?

It can, when you define shared Context Groups with a Glossary and Custom Prompts. Those controls are organization-level, allowing the same product vocabulary and translation guidance to be used across product surfaces rather than recreated for each source.

Conclusion

If you are looking for something that detects new strings and translates them without a script, use Locadex. Connect the source where content changes, choose the Generate translations and push automation, add shared context, and review the pull request it creates. You get a practical, developer-friendly localization workflow that starts with the tools your team already uses and stays connected to the pace at which you ship.