Translate in your terminal.

A fast, pipe-friendly translation tool. Translate text, files, and structured documents — right from the command line. No context switching. No copy-paste.

brew install psmakes/tap/yaku

Read the docs→

$ echo "お会計お願いします" | yaku --to en
Check, please.


$ yaku --to es -f email-draft.md


$ pbpaste | yaku --to en

Translation without the detour

Stop switching windows just to understand or write in another language.

No browser tabs

Translate right where you work. No copy-paste, no context switching, no waiting for a web page to load.

No prompt engineering

You don't need to write "please translate this to English and keep the formatting." Just pipe it in and get results.

No setup required

Install and go. The hosted service works out of the box — no API keys, no accounts, no configuration files.

Translation that fits your workflow

Pipe in anything, get clean translations out. No sign-up required.

Pipe-native

stdin in, stdout out. Chain with any command — translate emails, documents, web content, or clipboard text in one line.

$ pbpaste | yaku --to en
$ cat menu.txt | yaku --to en

Format-aware

Translate Markdown, JSON, and YAML without breaking structure. Headings, links, and code blocks stay untouched.

$ yaku --to zh-TW -f post.md
# headings, links stay intact

Polish mode

Not translating — just refining. Fix grammar and improve fluency in any language. Perfect for emails and messages.

$ echo "I want talk about" \
  | yaku --mode polish
I'd like to talk about

Glossary

Keep specific terms untranslated or force consistent translations. Brand names, product names, and jargon stay exactly how you want.

$ echo "Enjoy Frappuccino" \
  | yaku --to zh-TW
享受 Frappuccino

Domain context

A single hint changes everything. Translate a restaurant menu differently from a medical report — same words, right meaning.

$ yaku --to en \
  --context "menu" \
  "紅燒獅子頭"
Braised pork meatballs

Multiple backends

Works out of the box with the hosted service. Or bring your own key — Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, and more.

$ yaku --to en "Bonjour"
$ yaku --backend ollama \
  --to ja "Hello"

Two ways to use it

Hosted — just install

yaku works out of the box with a free hosted service. No API keys, no config. Install, translate, done.

Zero configurationFree tier includedOptimized for quality

Bring your own key

Already have an API key? Use your own Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, or even a local Ollama model. Full control, no limits.

Your key, your quotaAny OpenAI-compatible APILocal models via Ollama

For anyone who crosses language barriers

Writing an email in another language

Draft in your language, pipe it through yaku, send with confidence. Or polish your second-language draft until it reads like a native wrote it.

Translating docs without breaking formatting

Markdown headings, code blocks, and links stay intact. Translate a README or blog post and commit it directly — no cleanup needed.

Reading foreign-language content

Paste a Japanese error message, a Korean recipe, or a French article. Get a clear translation in seconds without leaving your terminal.

Get started in seconds

$ brew install psmakes/tap/yaku

Or: go install github.com/psmakes/yaku-cli@latest