- Multiple input sources: command line arguments, stdin, clipboard, URLs, or files
- OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini models
- Configurable via command line arguments or environment variables
With uv installed, you can run it without the installation:
uvx trn will always run the latest version of the command. You can also install it the
usual way:
uv tool install trn
# or
pip install trnFirst, set the key for your LLM provider. Example for Google Gemini:
uvx --with llm-gemini llm keys set gemini
Second, specify your target language via the TRN_TO_LANGUAGE environment variable or -t argument.
The -t argument takes priority when both are set.
Third, provide text to translate in one of these ways:
- command line arguments
- standard input
- clipboard
The tool checks for arguments first, then standard input, then the clipboard.
You can also translate web pages or local PDF/image files by providing a URL or file path.
# Translate from clipboard to default language
trn
# Translate command line text into French
trn -t french Hello world
# Translate from stdin
echo "Hello world" | trn
# Translate a file
trn document.pdf
# Translate from URL
trn https://example.com/article
# Use custom LLM
trn -m gpt-4o-mini- Python 3.12+
- LLM API key configured
- UV installed (optional, but highly recommended)
Set environment variables for convenience:
export TRN_TO_LANGUAGE=spanish
# optionally:
export TRN_MODEL=gpt-4o-mini
> trn --help
usage: trn [-h] -t TO_LANGUAGE [-m MODEL] [-p PROMPT] [-a PROMPT_ADD] [-w WRAP]
[-v] [-d]
[text ...]
positional arguments:
text Text to translate, or URL, or path to file (default:
None)
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-t, --to-language TO_LANGUAGE
Target language for translation [env var:
TRN_TO_LANGUAGE] (default: None)
-m, --model MODEL LLM to use (run 'uvx llm models' for available models)
[env var: TRN_MODEL] (default: gemini-2.5-flash)
-p, --prompt PROMPT Custom prompt for translation [env var: TRN_PROMPT]
(default: Translate the text (it can be in any language)
into {to_language}. Don't explain that the output is a
translation. Tell me if you don't recognize
'{to_language}' language. If there is a file attached,
translate the contents of the file. {prompt_add})
-a, --prompt-add PROMPT_ADD
Text to append to the prompt [env var: TRN_PROMPT_ADD]
(default: )
-w, --wrap WRAP Wrap output at N chars (use 0 to disable wrapping) [env
var: TRN_WRAP] (default: 80)
-v, --verbose Enable verbose output [env var: TRN_VERBOSE] (default:
False)
-d, --debug Enable debug output [env var: TRN_DEBUG] (default:
False)
In general, command-line values override environment variables which override
defaults.