WordPress POT/PO/MO Generator - GitHub Action

This Action generates the .pot, .po, and .mo files for your WordPress plugin or theme repository.

Configuration

Required secrets

• GITHUB_TOKEN

Secrets are set in your repository settings. They cannot be viewed once stored.

Other optional configuration

Key	Default	Description
destination_path	./languages	Destination path to save generated files.
slug	The GitHub repository name	Plugin or theme slug.
text_domain	The plugin or theme slug	Text domain to look for in the source code.
generate_pot	1	Whether to generate the .pot file.
generate_po	0	Whether to generate the .po file.
generate_mo	0	Whether to generate the .mo file.
generate_lang_packs	0	Whether to generate the .po/.mo language packs.
merge_changes	0	Whether to merge changes with existing files.
headers	{}	Additional headers in JSON format to use when generating files.

Workflow files

To get started, you will want to copy the contents of one of these examples into .github/workflows/generate-translations.yml and push that to your repository. You are welcome to name the file something else.

Example Workflow File (Pushes)

Super simple workflow

This only generates the .pot file in the /languages folder.

name: Generate Translations
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - develop
env:
  FORCE_JAVASCRIPT_ACTIONS_TO_NODE24: true
jobs:
  generate-translations:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: WordPress POT/PO/MO Generator
      uses: strangerstudios/action-wp-pot-po-mo-generator@main
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Customize certain options

name: Generate Translations
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - develop
env:
  FORCE_JAVASCRIPT_ACTIONS_TO_NODE24: true
jobs:
  generate-translations:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: WordPress POT/PO/MO Generator
      uses: strangerstudios/action-wp-pot-po-mo-generator@main
      with:
        destination_path: './languages'
        slug: 'SLUG_OF_PLUGIN_OR_THEME'
        text_domain: 'TEXT_DOMAIN_OF_PLUGIN_OR_THEME'
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Example Workflow File (On Demand)

For more details of how to use this action on demand, read up on Manual Triggers.

name: Generate Translations
on: workflow_dispatch
env:
  FORCE_JAVASCRIPT_ACTIONS_TO_NODE24: true
jobs:
  generate-translations:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: WordPress POT/PO/MO Generator
      uses: strangerstudios/action-wp-pot-po-mo-generator@main
      with:
        destination_path: './languages'
        slug: 'SLUG_OF_PLUGIN_OR_THEME'
        text_domain: 'TEXT_DOMAIN_OF_PLUGIN_OR_THEME'
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Credits

This action is based on this script by Theunis Coetzee (@ipokkel) and this action by Dharmesh Patel (@iamdharmesh)