# gt: General Translation CLI tool: SRT
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-US/docs/cli/reference/formats/srt-files.mdx
Docs index: https://generaltranslation.com/llms.txt
Description: Translate SubRip subtitle files with the General Translation CLI. API reference for the SRT file format.

The CLI translates cue text in SubRip (`.srt`) subtitle files while preserving cue numbers, timestamps, separators, and markup. Support requires `gt` 2.22.2 or later.

## Overview [#overview]

| Topic | Description |
| --- | --- |
| [Configuration](#config) | Match source and translated `.srt` paths. |
| [Translation behavior](#behavior) | Preserve cue numbers, timing lines, separators, and subtitle markup. |
| [Encoding](#encoding) | Decode and restore byte-order-marked text encodings. |
| [Validation](#validation) | Skip empty files in the CLI and reject non-empty documents without a valid cue in the API. |

## Configuration [#config]

Add an `srt` entry under `files` with an `include` array of glob patterns. Use the `[locale]` placeholder so the CLI can find source files and save translations to the corresponding locale path.

```json title="gt.config.json"
{
  "defaultLocale": "en",
  "locales": ["es", "fr"],
  "files": {
    "srt": {
      "include": ["subtitles/[locale]/**/*.srt"]
    }
  }
}
```

With this config, source subtitles come from `subtitles/en/`, and translated subtitles are saved under `subtitles/es/` and `subtitles/fr/`. Use [`transform`](/docs/cli/reference/config#files) to rename output paths.

SRT supports only an `SRT` output format; it cannot be converted to another file format with `transformationFormat`. See the [configuration reference](/docs/cli/reference/config#files) for the shared file keys.

## Translation behavior [#behavior]

Only cue text is translated. The pipeline keeps these parts of the source document unchanged:

- Cue numbers
- Timing lines, including trailing position data
- Blank-line separators and content outside valid cues
- Subtitle markup such as `<i>`, `<b>`, `<u>`, `<font>`, and leading `{\an1}`–`{\an9}` position tags

Translated lines use the cue's detected source line ending, while untouched separators remain unchanged. Existing translations for unchanged cues can be reused. The [`--force`](/docs/cli/reference/commands/translate#flags) flag bypasses all reuse, while a Glossary retranslation refreshes cues around changed terms.

## Encoding [#encoding]

The CLI reads unmarked SRT files as UTF-8. When a file starts with a byte order mark, it supports UTF-8, UTF-16 little-endian or big-endian, and UTF-32 little-endian or big-endian. Downloaded translations use the source file's encoding and byte order mark.

If the source file was moved or deleted after upload, the CLI uses the existing translated file's encoding. It defaults to UTF-8 when neither file is available.

An unmarked UTF-16 or UTF-32 file is treated as UTF-8. Add the appropriate byte order mark or save it as UTF-8 before translating.

## Validation [#validation]

The CLI skips an empty SRT file and reports it in the command summary. The API requires at least one cue with a valid timing line. Blocks without a valid timing line remain unchanged and are not translated.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](https://generaltranslation.com/sitemap.md) for all pages.