Google Translate

Translate text to any language using Google Cloud Translation API.

Overview

Google Translate tool uses the Google Cloud Translation API v2 to translate arbitrary text into a target language. It supports both OAuth2 and Service Account (API key) authentication. The translate operation returns the translated text and, when the source language was auto-detected, the detected source language code. Inputs are processed per-item; each item must supply the text to translate and the target language code (e.g. “en”, “fr”, “de”, “ja”).

Category: Utility
Tool Name: google_translate
Version: 1

Appearance: Icon: lucide-Languages | Color: #4285F4

Node Type

Action — processes input items and produces output

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	Input
Output	Output, Error

Credentials

This tool requires Google Translate OAuth2 or Google API (Service Account) credentials — configure the one that matches the Authentication parameter. See the Credentials Guide for setup instructions.

Resources

Resource	Value
Language	language

Operations

Operation	Value	Description
Translate	translate	Translate text to a target language

Parameters

Language: Translate

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Text	string	Yes	—	The input text to translate. Supports plain text, and expressions like {{ $json.body }}.
Translate To	string	Yes	—	The target language code (ISO 639-1). Examples: “en” (English), “fr” (French), “de” (German), “ja” (Japanese), “zh” (Chinese). See https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/languages for the full list. Supports expressions.

All Operations

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Authentication	options	No	oAuth2	Authentication method to use.
				Options: oAuth2 (OAuth2 — recommended), serviceAccount (Service Account)
Google Account	credential	No	—	Connect or select your Google account. (shown when Authentication is oAuth2)
Service Account Email	string	Yes	—	The email address of the Google service account. (shown when Authentication is serviceAccount)
Private Key	string	Yes	—	The private key from the service account JSON key file. Entered as a secret. (shown when Authentication is serviceAccount)
Max Concurrency	number	No	10	Maximum number of items to process concurrently.

Output Data

One output item per input item. The translation is merged into the item JSON at the top level, so the incoming fields stay addressable next to it:

{
  "translatedText": "Bonjour, comment allez-vous ?",
  "detectedSourceLanguage": "en"
}

• translatedText — the translated string. Always present on a successful call.
• detectedSourceLanguage — the ISO 639-1 code Google detected for the input. Present only when Google performed detection, so treat it as optional in downstream expressions.

Binary data on the input item is not carried to the output item — put this node after any step that needs the file, or re-fetch the binary downstream.

Reference the result downstream by expression, e.g. {{ $json.translatedText }}.

Usage Examples

• Translate “Hello, world!” to French
• Auto-detect source language and translate to Japanese
• Translate a product description to German
• Translate customer support messages to English

Example Configuration

Translate a message on the item into French using a connected Google account:

{
  "type": "google_translate",
  "parameters": {
    "authentication": "oAuth2",
    "resource": "language",
    "operation": "translate",
    "text": "{{ $json.message }}",
    "translateTo": "fr"
  }
}

Translate with a service account instead of a user account:

{
  "type": "google_translate",
  "parameters": {
    "authentication": "serviceAccount",
    "resource": "language",
    "operation": "translate",
    "text": "{{ $json.description }}",
    "translateTo": "ja",
    "maxConcurrency": 5
  }
}

Pick the target language from the item itself:

{
  "type": "google_translate",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "language",
    "operation": "translate",
    "text": "{{ $json.originalText }}",
    "translateTo": "{{ $json.targetLanguageCode }}",
    "maxConcurrency": 20
  }
}

Error Handling

Mode	Behavior
stop	Halts workflow on first error
continue	Skips failed items, passes successful ones through
errorPort	Routes failed items to Error output port

Tips

Translate text to any language using Google Cloud Translation API v2.

Important Notes

• resource is always language and operation is always translate — they are the only supported values, and both are set for you by default.
• Language codes follow the ISO 639-1 standard (for example en, fr, de, ja, zh).
• Both Text and Translate To accept expressions, so a single node can translate item-specific content into an item-specific language.
• Authentication defaults to OAuth2. Switch to Service Account for server-to-server runs where no user is present to sign in.
• Leaving the source language unstated is the normal case — the API detects it and reports what it found on detectedSourceLanguage.