MCP Server - LibreTranslate

LibreTranslate can give machine translation capabilities to AI agents that support the MCP protocol.

Configuration

Add this to your client’s configuration:

OpenCode

{
  "mcp": {
    "LibreTranslate": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["npx", "-y", "@libretranslate/mcp"],
      "environment": {
        "LIBRETRANSLATE_API_URL": "https://libretranslate.com",
        "LIBRETRANSLATE_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "libretranslate": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@libretranslate/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "LIBRETRANSLATE_API_URL": "https://libretranslate.com",
        "LIBRETRANSLATE_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Variable	Description
`LIBRETRANSLATE_API_URL`	URL of the LibreTranslate API (default: `https://libretranslate.com`)
`LIBRETRANSLATE_API_KEY`	API key for the LibreTranslate service (required for `libretranslate.com`)

Available Tools

`detect`

Detect the language of a given text.

`translate`

Translate text from one language to another.

`languages`

List all supported languages for translation.

See LibreTranslate-MCP for implementation details.

Tools and HTTP endpoints

MCP	Arguments	HTTP request
`detect`	`text`	`POST /detect`
`translate`	`text`, `source`, `target`	`POST /translate`
`languages`	None	`GET /languages`

The translate tool requests three alternatives. The tools return JSON as text in an MCP content block; failed requests carry isError: true.

Where translation runs

The MCP process runs on your machine. Translation happens on the LibreTranslate instance named by LIBRETRANSLATE_API_URL. To use your own instance, set this to its address; see the self-hosting guide.