# AI translate

> A message card where picking a language streams the AI translation in place, sentence by sentence over the dimmed original, with a detected-language chip, a Show original toggle and a status line credited to the model's mark.

- Type: Component (special)
- Access: Arc Pro
- Page: https://uiarc.dev/components/ai-translate
- Markdown: https://uiarc.dev/components/ai-translate/markdown
- Source file: `registry/components/ai-translate/ai-translate.tsx`
- Dependencies: motion, lucide-react, @radix-ui/react-dropdown-menu
- Keywords: special, ai, new, ai translate, translation, inline translation, show original, language picker, detected language, streaming text, multilingual, localization, message translation, claude, llm, i18n

## When to use

- Messages, comments, reviews or support tickets written in another language, translated on demand inside the product.
- Release notes or announcements that readers in several regions open in their own language.
- Any place you want an AI translation to feel inline and reversible, with the original one click away.

## When not to use

- Translating a whole page or app interface; use your i18n framework.
- Long documents with headings and lists; this renders one plain paragraph.
- Live captions or speech; use a realtime stream component.

## Installation

AI translate is part of Arc Pro. The live preview is public; the source and install command need Pro.

### CLI with a Pro token

1. Create a token in your account and set it in the environment (or `.env.local`). Never commit it.

```bash
export ARC_PRO_TOKEN=arc_pro_...
```

2. Add the Pro registry to `components.json`:

```json
{
  "registries": {
    "@uiarc": "https://uiarc.dev/r/{name}.json",
    "@uiarc-pro": {
      "url": "https://uiarc.dev/r/pro/{name}.json",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${ARC_PRO_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

3. Install:

```bash
npx shadcn@latest add @uiarc-pro/ai-translate
```

### Manual

Signed-in Pro members can copy the source from the Manual tab on the docs page.

- Plans: https://uiarc.dev/pricing
- Create a Pro token: https://uiarc.dev/account#pro-access
- Setup guide: https://uiarc.dev/docs/ai#pro-access

## Usage

```tsx
import { AiTranslate } from "@/components/arc/ai-translate/ai-translate";

export function TranslatableMessage({ message }) {
  return (
    <AiTranslate
      text={message.body}
      sourceLanguage={message.language}
      author={{ name: message.author.name, role: message.author.title, avatar: message.author.avatarUrl }}
      timestamp={message.sentAtLabel}
      model={{ name: "Claude Haiku 5.5" }}
      translate={async function* ({ text, from, to, signal }) {
        const response = await fetch("/api/translate", { method: "POST", body: JSON.stringify({ text, from, to }), signal });
        if (!response.ok || !response.body) throw new Error("The translation service is unavailable.");
        const reader = response.body.pipeThrough(new TextDecoderStream()).getReader();
        while (true) {
          const { value, done } = await reader.read();
          if (done) return;
          yield value;
        }
      }}
      onValueChange={language => savePreferredLanguage(language)}
    />
  );
}

// Pre-translated content, no network
<AiTranslate text={post.fr} sourceLanguage="fr" translations={{ en: post.en, de: post.de }} author={null} />
```

## API reference

### AiTranslate

An inline translator for one message or paragraph. A byline with a detected language chip sits above the text; below it, a Translate picker (English, Deutsch, Français, Español, 日本語, Português), a Show original toggle and a status line credited to the model's mark. Picking a language dims the text on screen and streams the translation in place in fast chunks, each new sentence retiring one sentence of the old text, while the card's height springs to fit. Finished translations are cached, so Show original and switching back crossfade instantly. Failures put the previous text back and show Couldn't translate with Retry.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `text` | `string` | `sample release note in French` | The text to translate, in its original language. Changing it clears cached translations and shows the new original. |
| `sourceLanguage` | `"en" \| "de" \| "fr" \| "es" \| "ja" \| "pt"` | – | Language of text. When omitted it is detected from the text with a light stopword check and the chip reads Detected; when passed the chip reads Written in. |
| `languages` | `AiTranslateLanguageCode[]` | `all six` | Languages offered in the picker, in order. The source language appears as Original. |
| `value` | `AiTranslateLanguageCode` | – | The language on screen; the source language means the original. Pair with onValueChange to control it, for example to remember a reader's preferred language. |
| `defaultValue` | `AiTranslateLanguageCode` | `sourceLanguage` | Starting language when uncontrolled. A language other than the source translates on mount. |
| `onValueChange` | `(language: AiTranslateLanguageCode) => void` | – | Called when the reader picks a language or toggles Show original. |
| `translate` | `(request: { text, from, to, signal: AbortSignal }) => Promise<string> \| AsyncIterable<string>` | – | Your translation call. Resolve the whole translation, or return an async iterable that yields text deltas as your model streams them. The signal aborts when the reader picks another language, shows the original or the card unmounts. A thrown Error's message is announced and kept as the error tooltip. Without it, translations are streamed as a simulation. |
| `translations` | `Partial<Record<AiTranslateLanguageCode, string>>` | – | Ready translations, streamed by the simulation. Useful for content you translated ahead of time; a missing language shows the error state. |
| `onTranslate` | `(result: { from, to, text }) => void` | – | Called once a translation has fully arrived, before it is cached. |
| `onError` | `(error: Error, request: { from, to }) => void` | – | Called when a translation fails. Aborted requests never call it. |
| `author` | `{ name: string; role?: string; avatar?: string } \| null` | `sample author` | Who wrote the text, shown with an avatar. Pass null to hide the byline; the language chip stays. |
| `timestamp` | `string` | – | Shown after the role in the byline, for example "Oct 27, 09:14". |
| `model` | `{ name: string; mark?: ReactNode }` | `{ name: "Claude Haiku 5.5", mark: Claude mark }` | The model credited in the status line. The mark leads every status; the name is the idle label. |
| `autoPlay` | `boolean` | `true for the bare sample` | Tours English, Deutsch, 日本語 and Português, then the original, and loops. Pauses off screen and stops for good on the first pointer or key press inside the card. With reduced motion it translates once and stops. |
| `simulated` | `boolean` | `true without translate` | Adds "Simulated, nothing was sent" to the live status. |
| `className` | `string` | – | Class on the root section. |

## Keyboard interactions

| Keys | Action |
| --- | --- |
| Tab | Moves through the Translate picker, the Show original toggle and, after a failure, Retry. |
| Enter / Space / Arrow down | On the picker, opens the language menu with the current language checked. |
| Arrow keys, Home, End | Move through the languages; typing a letter jumps to a language. The list loops. |
| Enter / Space | Picks the highlighted language and closes the menu. Picking the language that just failed retries it. |
| Escape | Closes the menu with focus back on the picker. |

## Accessibility

- The card is a section named after the author. The paragraph carries the lang attribute of the language on screen, and dimmed old sentences keep their own lang, so screen readers pronounce both correctly.
- Start, completion, the original and failures are announced in a polite status region; the paragraph is aria-busy while it streams. The simulation says that nothing was sent.
- The language menu is a radio group with a checkmark on the current language. The Show original toggle is a pressed button whose label switches to Show translation.
- Status is never color alone: the model mark plus a label (Translating to German, Translated from French, Showing original), or a warning icon plus Couldn't translate.
- Every control is at least 32px tall, and labels reserve the width of their longest version, so nothing moves under the pointer.

## Motion

- Streaming: chunks of 3 to 6 words (about 10 characters in Japanese) land every 34ms and only fade in over 140ms. No blur, slide or per word spring.
- The text on screen dims to 45% over 200ms as translating starts, and each sentence that starts in the new language removes one dimmed sentence, so the translation replaces the paragraph sentence by sentence.
- Cached translations and the original swap with one crossfade: the old text leaves in 100ms, the new one fades in over 160ms with a 2px rise.
- The paragraph's height follows its text with a critically damped spring (visualDuration 0.24, no bounce); window resizes cut straight to the new height.
- Status labels crossfade in one shared cell; the picker and toggle labels crossfade inside their reserved width. The menu fades and scales from 98% in 150ms.
- Reduced motion keeps every end state and announcement but drops chunk fades, crossfades and the height spring, and autoplay runs once.

## Responsive behavior

- The card fills its container up to 620px and pads 16px on phones.
- Below a 470px card width the status line drops under the controls, left-aligned with the text; below 380px the chip shows just the language name.
- Names and meta truncate with an ellipsis; the paragraph wraps with text-wrap: pretty. No horizontal scroll at 360px.

## Performance

- Chunks append as spans with a CSS fade, so streaming re-renders one paragraph and never animates layout.
- One ResizeObserver drives the height spring; autoplay pauses through an IntersectionObserver while the card is off screen.
- Every request owns an AbortController; switching language or unmounting cancels the network call and timers.

## Notes for AI

- Wire translate to your model. Return an async generator of deltas to stream real tokens, or a Promise<string> and the component streams it in chunks itself. Always pass the signal to fetch.
- Cache lives per instance and per text; a new text prop clears it. Persist translations yourself (onTranslate) if you want them across sessions, then pass them back in translations.
- Use the source language as value to show the original. Show original remembers the last translated language for Show translation.
- Keep one paragraph or message per instance. For a whole thread, render one AiTranslate per message and control value from a shared preferred language.
- Model names in samples must be current: Claude Haiku 5.5 is the default credit; swap the mark and name for your provider.
- Sentence splitting keeps decimals like 4.2 whole and handles 。！？ for Japanese.

## Related

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- [Social proof toast](https://uiarc.dev/components/social-proof-toast/markdown): A stack of social proof notifications for landing and pricing pages, where recent trials, upgrades and verified purchases from people and companies arrive every few seconds. The stack pauses and fans out on hover, and visitors can dismiss any toast.
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## Guidance for AI tools

AI translate: A message card where picking a language streams the AI translation in place, sentence by sentence over the dimmed original, with a detected-language chip, a Show original toggle and a status line credited to the model's mark. Follow the declared prop types and do not invent props. Keep keyboard access, reduced motion support, and both light and dark themes intact when adapting it.

Full library index: https://uiarc.dev/llms.txt