# gt-node: General Translation Node.js SDK: Quickstart
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-GB/docs/node/quickstart.mdx
---

title: Quickstart
description: Install the General Translation gt-node library and translate your first Node.js service.
related:
  links:
    - /docs/node/guides/translating-strings
    - /docs/node/guides/detecting-locale
    - /docs/node/guides/configuring
    - /docs/node/guides/storing-translations

---

`gt-node` translates strings in Node.js servers and services. You initialise it once, bind the locale for each incoming request, and translate strings in your handlers.

Use `gt-node` for backend services such as Express or Fastify APIs. For React apps, use [`gt-react`](/docs/react/react-quickstart); for Next.js, use [`gt-next`](/docs/react/nextjs-quickstart).

*Note: `gt-node` requires Node.js 18 or later. Per-request locale binding uses `AsyncLocalStorage` from `node:async_hooks`.*

## What gt-node does [#what-it-does]

`gt-node` gives you:

* **String translation** with [`getGT`](/docs/node/reference/functions/get-gt), for handler-local strings.
* **Registered messages** with [`msg`](/docs/node/reference/functions/msg) and [`getMessages`](/docs/node/reference/functions/get-messages), for shared constants and errors.
* **Runtime translation** with [`tx`](/docs/node/reference/functions/tx), for dynamic content.
* **Per-request locale** binding with [`withGT`](/docs/node/reference/functions/with-gt), plus helpers to detect the request locale.

## Quickstart [#quickstart]

Install the library, initialise it, bind a locale to each request, and translate a string.

### 1. Install `gt-node`

Install `gt-node` as a dependency and the [`gt` CLI](/docs/cli/quickstart) as a dev dependency.

<Tabs items={['npm', 'yarn', 'bun', 'pnpm']}>
  <Tab value="npm">
    ```bash
    npm install gt-node && npm install gt --save-dev
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab value="yarn">
    ```bash
    yarn add gt-node && yarn add --dev gt
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab value="bun">
    ```bash
    bun add gt-node && bun add --dev gt
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab value="pnpm">
    ```bash
    pnpm add gt-node && pnpm add --save-dev gt
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### 2. Initialise the library

Call [`initializeGT`](/docs/node/reference/functions/initialize-gt) once on start-up, before handling requests. Pass your locales and credentials — `gt-node` does not automatically read `gt.config.json` or environment variables.

```ts title="server.js"
import { initializeGT } from 'gt-node';

initializeGT({
  defaultLocale: 'en',
  locales: ['en', 'es', 'fr'],
  projectId: process.env.GT_PROJECT_ID,
});
```

### 3. Bind the request locale

Wrap each request in `withGT` so translation functions know the target locale. Use [`getRequestLocale`](/docs/node/reference/functions/get-request-locale) to detect it from the `Accept-Language` header.

```ts title="server.js"
import express from 'express';
import { withGT, getRequestLocale } from 'gt-node';

const app = express();
app.use((req, res, next) => withGT(getRequestLocale(req), () => next()));
```

### 4. Translate a string

Inside a handler, await `getGT` to get a translation function for the request&#39;s locale, then translate strings. Interpolate values with ICU placeholders.

```ts title="server.js"
import { getGT } from 'gt-node';

app.get('/api/greeting', async (req, res) => {
  const gt = await getGT();
  res.json({ message: gt('Hello, {name}!', { name: 'Alice' }) });
});
```

### 5. Generate translations

Run the CLI before you deploy to production so translations are available at runtime.

```bash
npx gt translate
```

See [Translating strings](/docs/node/guides/translating-strings) for when to use `getGT`, `msg`, and `tx`, and [Configuring gt-node](/docs/node/guides/configuring) for credentials and delivery.
## Next steps

- /docs/node/guides/translating-strings
- /docs/node/guides/detecting-locale
- /docs/node/guides/configuring
- /docs/node/guides/storing-translations