# General Translation Platform: Generate context
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-US/docs/platform/openapi/reference/context/generate-context.mdx
---

title: Generate context
description: Generate General Translation Project glossary terms and translation instructions from source files. API reference for Generate translation context.

method: POST
---

Queues a background job that generates Project-level translation context — glossary terms and translation instructions — from the source files you reference. Optionally generate per-locale glossaries for target locales.

## Overview [#overview]

```http
POST https://api2.gtx.dev/v2/project/setup/generate
```

**Permission** `project:context:write` · **Rate limit** Medium (120/min)

Build the context that guides future translations. To track the resulting job, use [Get context generation status](/docs/platform/openapi/reference/context/context-status) or [Get translation job status](/docs/platform/openapi/reference/translation/job-status).

## How it works [#how-it-works]

- Target locales that are the same dialect as the Project's default locale are ignored.
- Unless `force` is `true`, generation is skipped when the Project already has context and no requested target locale needs a glossary. In that case the response is `{ "status": "completed" }` and no job is queued.
- Otherwise a context generation job is enqueued and its ID is returned with `status: "queued"`. When target locales are supplied, the Project's current locales are also updated.

## Request [#request]

### Headers

| Header | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `x-gt-api-key` | Project or Organization API key. | Yes |
| `x-gt-project-id` | Project ID. Required when using an Organization key. | No |

### Body

**Content type** `application/json`

| Field | Description | Type | Optional | Default |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [`files`](#files) | Source files to generate context from; cannot be empty. | `object[]` | No | — |
| `locales` | Target locales to generate per-locale glossaries for. | `string[]` | Yes | — |
| `force` | Regenerate context even when it already exists. | `boolean` | Yes | `false` |

#### `files` [#files]

**Type** `object[]` · **Required**

Each element references one source file:

| Field | Description | Type | Optional | Default |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `fileId` | Stable file identifier; cannot be empty. | `string` | No | — |
| `versionId` | Version identifier; cannot be empty. | `string` | No | — |
| `branchId` | Branch the file is attached to. | `string` | Yes | — |

## Response [#response]

**Status** `200 OK`

```json title="Response"
{
  "setupJobId": "job_...",
  "status": "queued"
}
```

When generation is not needed, the response is instead:

```json title="Response"
{
  "status": "completed"
}
```

## Errors [#errors]

| Status | Cause |
| --- | --- |
| `400` | Invalid request body, empty `files` array, or invalid locale. |
| `401` | Missing or invalid API key. |
| `403` | API key lacks `project:context:write`. |
| `429` | Rate limit exceeded. |

## Example [#example]

```bash
curl -X POST https://api2.gtx.dev/v2/project/setup/generate \
  -H "x-gt-api-key: gtx-api-..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "files": [
      {
        "fileId": "file_...",
        "versionId": "ver_..."
      }
    ],
    "locales": ["es", "fr"]
  }'
```