Why TRmnl?

AI command-line tools (Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, Aider) take exclusive control of your terminal input. This blocks system-level input methods (IME) that non-English speakers rely on for typing Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other languages.

TRmnl bridges that gap. Type in English (or any language), get instant translations, auto-copied to your clipboard — paste directly into any terminal.

Quick Start

1. Install

npm install -g trmnl

2. Get a DeepL API Key

1. Go to deepl.com/your-account/keys
2. Sign up for the free plan (500,000 characters/month)
3. Copy the API key (looks like 459ba905-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx:fx)

3. Run

trmnl

On first run, you'll be prompted for your API key. It's saved to ~/.config/trmnl/config.json and never asked again.

Usage

$ trmnl

   _____ ___  __  __ __  _ _    __
  |_   _| _ \  V  |  \| | |   \ \
    | | | v / \_/ | | ' | |_   > >___
    |_| |_|_\_| |_|_|\__|___| /_/____|

  translating to Chinese (simplified)
  Tab-complete commands: /lang <code>, /langs, /quit

  TRmnl >_ Hello, how are you?
  你好，你好吗？
  ✓ copied to clipboard

  TRmnl >_ /lang ja
  ● Now translating to Japanese (ja)

  TRmnl >_ Thank you
  ありがとうございます
  ✓ copied to clipboard

  TRmnl >_ /quit
  再见 — Bye.

REPL Commands

| Command | Description | |---|---| | /lang <code> | Switch target language (e.g. /lang ja). Press Tab for autocomplete. | | /langs | List all 30+ supported target languages | | /quit or /q | Exit |

CLI Flags

| Flag | Description | |---|---| | trmnl --setup | Reconfigure your DeepL API key | | trmnl --help | Show help message |

Supported Languages

| Code | Language | |---|---| | bg | Bulgarian | | cs | Czech | | da | Danish | | de | German | | el | Greek | | en-gb | English (British) | | en-us | English (American) | | es | Spanish | | et | Estonian | | fi | Finnish | | fr | French | | hu | Hungarian | | id | Indonesian | | it | Italian | | ja | Japanese | | ko | Korean | | lt | Lithuanian | | lv | Latvian | | nb | Norwegian (Bokmal) | | nl | Dutch | | pl | Polish | | pt-br | Portuguese (Brazilian) | | pt-pt | Portuguese (European) | | ro | Romanian | | ru | Russian | | sk | Slovak | | sl | Slovenian | | sv | Swedish | | tr | Turkish | | uk | Ukrainian | | zh | Chinese (simplified) | | zh-hant | Chinese (traditional) |

Shortcuts: en → en-us, pt → pt-br

Configuration

Config is stored at ~/.config/trmnl/config.json with permissions 600 (owner read/write only).

{
  "apiKey": "your-deepl-api-key",
  "targetLang": "zh"
}

To reset your API key:

trmnl --setup

To change default language, use /lang <code> inside the REPL — it saves automatically.

Troubleshooting

"Error: Authorization failure, check auth_key"

Your DeepL API key is invalid or expired. Run trmnl --setup to enter a new key.

"Error: Quota has been exceeded"

You've hit the DeepL free tier limit (500k characters/month). Check your usage at deepl.com/your-account/usage or upgrade to DeepL Pro.

Clipboard not working

Clipboard access depends on your system:

• macOS — works out of the box (pbcopy)
• Linux — install xclip or xsel:

  # Debian/Ubuntu
  sudo apt install xclip
  # Arch
  sudo pacman -S xclip

• Windows WSL — clipboard may not work in all WSL setups. Translations still display in the terminal — copy manually if needed.
• SSH sessions — clipboard is not available over SSH. Translations are still printed to the terminal.

"command not found: trmnl"

Make sure the npm global bin directory is in your PATH:

# Check where npm installs global binaries
npm config get prefix

# Add to your shell profile (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, etc.)
export PATH="$(npm config get prefix)/bin:$PATH"

Tab completion not working

Tab completion works in the default Node.js readline. Some terminal emulators may intercept Tab for their own completion. If /lang + Tab doesn't show suggestions, type /langs instead to see all codes.

Node.js version

TRmnl requires Node.js 14 or later. Check your version:

node --version

How It Works

TRmnl is a lightweight Node.js REPL that:

1. Reads your input line by line
2. Sends it to the DeepL API with auto-detected source language
3. Prints the translation and copies it to your clipboard
4. Remembers your target language between sessions

No background processes, no browser, no electron — just a terminal and an API key.

Uninstall

npm uninstall -g trmnl
rm -rf ~/.config/trmnl

License

MIT

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome at github.com/vauugnn/TRmnl.