Lokalise workflows allow you to automatically generate translation and review tasks as soon as content is added to your project.
Keep in mind, workflows are different from automations. Workflows focus on task creation, while automations handle applying translations to new or updated content.
Creating a new workflow
To create a new workflow, open your Lokalise project and head to the Workflows page.
Under the Overview tab, click the Add new workflow button to begin.
Choosing a workflow template
Workflows can be edited at any time, and changes will apply to future tasks.
You’ll be prompted to select a workflow template:
Review task – automatically creates a review task when the content in the editor meets the conditions set in "Start" step.
Translation task – automatically creates a translation task when the content in the editor meets the conditions set in "Start" step.
Translation task > review task – sets up a chained workflow where a review task is created once the translation task is complete.
Click Preview to see more details about the workflow and its steps.
To select a template, simply click on it and hit Use selected template.
Adjusting the workflow
After selecting a template, you can fine-tune the workflow you’ve created.
To rename your workflow, click the pencil icon in the top panel.
Click Save draft to save your workflow without activating it yet.
Now let's discuss workflow steps.
Workflow steps
Each workflow consists of several steps, represented visually in a steps diagram.
View steps diagram
View steps diagram
The diagram may vary slightly depending on the chosen template. To modify a step, just click on it.
Start step
This step defines the triggering conditions for the workflow — essentially, when and under what circumstances it should be executed.
Start step configuration
Start step configuration
You can adjust the following options:
Title – name of the step.
Scheduled trigger frequency – determines how often the workflow should trigger. Once triggered, the workflow will look for new content in the project (based on the conditions below). If any new content is found, the subsequent steps will be executed.
Monitored language – always set to monitor the project's base language.
Target languages – choose the languages that this workflow will handle.
Monitored key type – specify which keys to monitor.
Newly added keys only – triggers the workflow only when new translation keys are added to the project.
Updated keys only – triggers the workflow only when the base language translation for a key is updated.
Newly added and updated keys – triggers the workflow when either new keys are created or the base language value for an existing key is modified.
Filters – optionally, you can add filters to further refine which keys the workflow will monitor. For example, you can focus only on unreviewed keys.
Task creation step
This step allows you to configure the task creation options for the workflow.
Task creation step configuration
Task creation step configuration
The configuration options are identical to those on the task creation page. For more details, refer to the Tasks article.
Clear translation step
This step is fixed and cannot be modified. It is automatically included in workflows where the initial step involves machine-based actions (e.g., Translation memory or AI/Machine translation). Since these actions do not overwrite existing translations, clearing outdated ones ensures accurate re-translation. Note that this step will also set key-translation pairs as unverified.
Clear translation step configuration
Clear translation step configuration
Translation memory step
This step allows you to apply translation memory (TM) based on a specified threshold. In other words, it can automatically translate texts that closely match entries stored in your translation memory.
Translation memory step configuration
Translation memory step configuration
You can adjust the following options:
Title — the name of the step.
TM match threshold — this sets the percentage of similarity needed between a translation memory entry and the text you're translating for the TM entry to be used. The threshold tells the system how close the match needs to be. A higher number means it’ll only use really close matches, while a lower number allows looser matches to be used.
Special notes on applying TM
The Translation memory step does not overwrite existing translations. It will only apply translations if the target is empty.
It’s important to consider regional variations in language. For example, the English (en) locale differs from English (Canada) (en_CA). As a result, if you’ve previously translated “Hello” from English (en) to German, the corresponding translation memory (TM) entry won’t apply when translating “Hello” from English (Canada) (en_CA) to German.
Activating the workflow
After configuring the workflow, you can either activate it or activate and apply it to your project immediately. To do this, click one of the options from the dropdown in the top panel.
If you choose to apply the workflow immediately, it will attempt to detect any new or updated keys (based on your Start step configuration) since the workflow was created. If no changes are detected, the workflow won't trigger any actions.
Modifying an activated workflow
Even after activating the workflow, you can still make changes. Once you've made edits, click the Push changes to workflow button in the top panel to apply your updates.
This button will be disabled if no changes have been made.
Workflows list
After creating at least one workflow, you’ll find a list of all your workflows on the Workflows page.
For each workflow, you can view the following details:
Name – click to edit workflow details.
State – shows whether the workflow is live or in draft.
Trigger type – displays the type of trigger set for the workflow.
Target languages – lists the languages the workflow applies to.
Last updated – shows when the workflow was last modified.
Last triggered – displays when the workflow was last executed.
Actions:
Pause workflow – temporarily halt the workflow.
Delete – permanently remove the workflow.
Special notes
Why do my workflows get canceled?
Workflows are automatically canceled by the system if they encounter errors during execution.
Below are the top three reasons for workflow cancellations and recommended actions to fix these issues:
Locked keys — all keys included in the workflow's scope are locked. This usually happens when keys are part of an active task or are being worked on by a contributor.
Recommended action: Navigate to the canceled workflow and click Reactivate workflow to set it back to "Live". Once reactivated, the workflow will scan keys that match the set filters from the time of the last cancellation. If any keys remain locked or unchanged, the workflow will skip those keys and continue processing as expected.
Removed target languages — one or more target languages defined in the workflow have been removed from the project, causing the workflow to malfunction.
Recommended action: Review the affected workflow’s Start step to see which target languages are missing. Either reintroduce the missing languages to the project or update the workflow to use only available languages. Once the workflow has the correct target languages, reactivate it.
Removed assignees — the workflow has tasks assigned to contributors who are no longer part of the project. Without valid assignees, the workflow cannot allocate tasks properly.
Recommended action: Go through the workflow’s task steps and check for any missing assignees. If required, add new contributors to the project, then assign them to the relevant tasks in the workflow. After updating the assignees, reactivate the workflow.
If these solutions don’t resolve the issue, please contact our support team for further assistance.
Workflows and automations
Workflows and automations enable more efficient localization processes by automating tasks and translations.
Automations track updates and new keys in your project to execute predefined functions.
Workflows allow you to design multi-step processes that run on a scheduled basis.
Although both features can automate translations, we advise using them simultaneously with caution. Changes made by Workflows may inadvertently trigger actions in Automations, potentially leading to conflicts.
Important: To avoid clashes and unintended update loops, we strongly recommend using either Workflows or Automations for machine-driven translations (e.g., Translation Memory, Machine Translation, AI). Failure to do so could result in excessive content updates and significant overages on your account.