Accent

Accent is an open-source, self-hosted translation management application designed for maintaining localizations in web and native applications. It provides a centralized system to manage the asynchronous flow of translation tasks between developers and translators, ensuring that localization updates are tracked and synchronized across different platforms.

The software is deployed as a server application and can be run via an official Docker image or installed manually using Elixir and Node.js. It includes a web-based user interface for managing content and a command line interface to integrate the tool into existing developer workflows. The system is designed to handle the complexities of internationalization by providing a structured environment where translation strings are managed outside of the source code.

Key features

• Full history tracking with action rollback capabilities
• Dedicated user interface for translators and developers
• Command line tool for developer workflow integration
• Centralized discussion threads for translation collaboration
• Open and documented GraphQL API for building plugins and libraries
• Support for Twelve-Factor App architecture via environment variables
• Docker-based deployment and OTP release builds

Built with Elixir, Phoenix, and Ember.js, the application uses a PostgreSQL database for data storage. The architecture relies on a GraphQL API to power the frontend, which allows external tools, custom libraries, or third-party plugins to interact with the translation data. The deployment process is flexible, supporting Heroku and standard Docker environments, and includes a Makefile to simplify common tasks such as linting, testing, and database migrations. It is intended for development teams that require a structured way to track exactly who changed a translation string and when those changes occurred.

Accent serves as a technical infrastructure tool for software localization and internationalization management, focusing on the coordination between technical teams and linguistic experts.