Auto Translate (TT-RSS plugin)

This plugin adds automatic article translation to Tiny Tiny RSS using any LibreTranslate-compatible REST API (e.g. LibreTranslate, Argos Translate, TranslateLocally). It can optionally add translated titles and replace original content inline, providing a smoother reading experience for multilingual feeds.

Features

• Automatic translation: Translate article bodies on view, or request translation manually.
• Title translation: Extend translation to article titles with selectable display (append or replace).
• Flexible display: Choose to append translations under the original text or replace the article content entirely.
• LibreTranslate-compatible: Works with self-hosted instances (recommended) or public endpoints.
• Language detection aware: Skips translation if the detected language already matches your target.

Requirements

• TT-RSS 2024.XX or newer (Plugin API v2).
• PHP with curl/Guzzle (available in standard TT-RSS containers).
• A LibreTranslate-compatible service reachable from the TT-RSS backend (examples below).

Installation

1. Clone or drop this plugin into plugins.local/auto_translate/.

2. Enable the plugin:

   • For system-wide usage, add auto_translate to the TTRSS_PLUGINS environment variable (e.g. in .env) or the advanced configuration as a system plugin.
   • For per-user usage, enable it in Preferences → Plugins.

3. Restart the TT-RSS containers if running under Docker so the environment variable change is loaded:

   docker compose restart app updater web-nginx

Configuration

Open Preferences → Preferences → Article auto-translation to configure:

Option	Description
Service URL	Base URL of your LibreTranslate-compatible API (e.g. http://translate).
API key	Optional API key for services requiring authentication.
Target language	ISO-639-1 code of your preferred language (e.g. en, de).
Mode	Translate automatically and append or Translate manually.
Display translated content	Append translation below original content, or replace the article content inline.
Translate article titles	Toggle title translation.
Display translated titles	Append translated titles under the original or replace the headline text (with a translate icon indicator).

Example: Self-hosted LibreTranslate via Docker Compose

translate:
  image: libretranslate/libretranslate:latest
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment:
    LT_LOAD_ONLY: "en,es,fr,de,nl,ru"
    LT_UPDATE_MODELS: "true"
    LT_HOST: "0.0.0.0"
    LT_PORT: "80"
  ports:
    - "5000:80"
  volumes:
    - argos_translate_data:/root/.local/share/argos-translate

Point the plugin at http://translate inside the Docker network (default). For host access, use http://localhost:5000.

Using the Docker Compose snippet

• Add the service: Drop the snippet above into the services: section of your main docker-compose.yml alongside the TT-RSS containers. Keep the argos_translate_data named volume (defined at the bottom) so downloaded models persist across restarts.
• Match your networks: If your stack defines custom networks, attach the translate service to the same network as the TT-RSS app container. Otherwise the default network is sufficient and no extra configuration is required.
• Expose or hide the API: The service maps to port 80 internally and 5000 externally by default. Override the public port with TRANSLATE_PORT=<port> in your .env file (e.g. TRANSLATE_PORT=5555) or remove the ports entry if you only want in-cluster access.
• Start the translator: Run docker compose up -d translate (or docker-compose up -d translate) from your stack directory. First boot downloads language models to the named volume and can take several minutes; track progress with docker compose logs -f translate.
• Wire it into the plugin: Once the container reports Server is running in the logs, set the plugin's Service URL to http://translate (or http://localhost:<port> if you kept the public mapping) and save the preferences.

Usage Notes

• Translation requests happen on-demand per article; results are cached client-side during the session.
• A subtle translate icon (material-icons) marks translated sections and titles. Tooltips show language hints.
• The plugin sanitizes translation responses and removes SC_ON/SC_OFF markers returned by some services.
• Manual translation is available via the article toolbar button when automatic mode is disabled.

Troubleshooting

• “Requested URL failed extended validation.” Ensure the translation service listens on port 80 or 443; TT-RSS blocks non-standard ports for security reasons. Map your container to host port 5000 but keep the internal service on 80.
• 401/403 errors: Supply the API key if your service requires one.
• Translation skipped: The detected input language already matches your target; adjust the target language or disable detection by setting source to your desired language in the plugin code.
• Service unreachable: Verify network connectivity from the TT-RSS backend container (docker compose exec app curl http://translate/languages with curl installed).

License

MIT License © 2024 — see repository root if bundled.

Contributors

• Original implementation: Derek Linz