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Argos Translate
Offline Python translation library with extensible language models
Argos Translate provides offline machine translation in Python, supporting a wide range of languages via installable .argosmodel packages, with CLI, library, and GUI options, plus automatic pivoting.
Overview
Overview
Argos Translate is a Python‑based library that delivers offline machine translation. By installing language model packages (files with a .argosmodel extension) you can translate between more than 30 languages without any network connection.
Capabilities
The library can be used directly in code, through a command‑line interface, or via a separate GUI application. It automatically pivots through intermediate languages when a direct model is unavailable, expanding coverage at the cost of some quality loss. GPU acceleration is available by setting the ARGOS_DEVICE_TYPE environment variable, leveraging CTranslate2 for faster inference. Additional utilities enable HTML and file translation, and the same engine powers the LibreTranslate API and web app.
Deployment
Install with a single pip install argostranslate command, then manage models with the argospm tool or the Python API. The solution runs on any platform that supports Python, and can be bundled into virtual environments or container images for reproducible deployments.
Highlights
Installable language model packages (.argosmodel) covering 30+ languages
Python library, CLI, and separate GUI for flexible integration
Automatic pivot translation when direct model is missing
GPU acceleration via CTranslate2 with ARGOS_DEVICE_TYPE
Pros
- Runs fully offline, preserving privacy
- Broad language coverage through community models
- Simple pip installation and virtualenv support
- Supports GPU for faster inference
Considerations
- Translation quality may drop when using pivot languages
- Model files can be large, requiring storage space
- Limited to models compatible with OpenNMT/CTranslate2
- No built-in web UI; separate LibreTranslate needed
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Fit guide
Great for
- Developers needing on‑device translation in Python applications
- Researchers prototyping multilingual NLP pipelines without internet
- Enterprises requiring privacy‑preserving translation services
- Educators building offline language learning tools
Not ideal when
- Projects that rely on real‑time cloud translation APIs
- Users needing extensive domain‑specific fine‑tuning out of the box
- Environments without Python or GPU support
- Applications requiring a built‑in web interface without extra setup
How teams use it
Localizing a desktop application
Translate UI strings on the user's machine without external calls
Batch translating documents
Process large sets of files offline, preserving confidentiality
Integrating translation into a chatbot
Provide multilingual responses without latency from external services
Running translation on edge devices
Deploy on Raspberry Pi with GPU acceleration for fast on‑device inference
Tech snapshot
Python95%
Shell5%
Frequently asked questions
How do I install a new language model?
Use `argospm update` to refresh the index, then `argospm install translate-<src>_<tgt>` or install via the Python API with `package.install_from_path(...)`.
Can Argos Translate run on a GPU?
Yes, set `ARGOS_DEVICE_TYPE=cuda` (or `auto`) before running; the library forwards the setting to CTranslate2 for accelerated inference.
What happens if there is no direct model for my language pair?
Argos Translate automatically pivots through an intermediate language (e.g., source → English → target) using available models.
Is there a web interface included?
The core library does not provide a UI, but the separate `argostranslategui` package offers a desktop GUI, and LibreTranslate builds a web API on top of Argos Translate.
How is the software licensed?
Argos Translate is released under the MIT license.
Project at a glance
Stable- Stars
- 5,572
- Watchers
- 5,572
- Forks
- 415
LicenseMIT
Repo age5 years old
Last commit3 months ago
Primary languagePython
Last synced 12 hours ago