Accent

Accent is a self‑hosted, developer‑first translation platform built to streamline the entire localization workflow for web and native applications. At its core, Accent exposes a GraphQL API that models translation strings, locales, projects, and collaborative discussions. The API is intentionally open‑ended: any client—whether a web UI, CLI tool, or custom integration—can query and mutate translation data with the same expressive power. The platform also ships a lightweight UI that consumes this GraphQL layer, providing real‑time collaboration and audit trails without compromising on performance.

Technical Stack & Architecture

Accent is a Phoenix/Elixir application. The web layer uses Phoenix LiveView for the real‑time UI and GraphQL (via Absinthe) for the API. All state is persisted in PostgreSQL, with optional support for external authentication providers through OAuth2. The codebase follows the Twelve‑Factor App methodology: configuration is read from environment variables, secrets are injected at runtime, and the application can be containerized with a single Dockerfile. The CLI tool is a separate Go binary that talks to the same GraphQL endpoint, allowing developers to fetch, push, and rollback translations from the command line. This separation of concerns keeps the core service lightweight while giving developers a flexible SDK for automation.

Core Capabilities

• Full audit history – Every mutation is stored with actor, timestamp, and diff. Rollbacks are a single GraphQL mutation.
• Collaborative discussions – Threads can be attached to any string or locale, enabling context‑aware communication between translators and developers.
• CLI integration – The Go CLI supports accent import, accent push, and accent rollback, making it trivial to weave Accent into CI/CD pipelines.
• Extensible GraphQL – Custom scalar types and directives allow plugins to expose additional metadata (e.g., translation quality scores or external references).
• Webhooks – Events such as translation_updated can trigger downstream actions, perfect for synchronizing with translation memory services or static site generators.

Deployment & Infrastructure

Accent’s minimal external dependency is a PostgreSQL instance; all other services are bundled in the Docker image (mirego/accent). The application is stateless apart from its database, so horizontal scaling is straightforward: spin up multiple containers behind a load balancer and share the same database. For development, a single container suffices; for production, consider PostgreSQL replication or managed services (e.g., Cloud SQL, RDS). The Docker image is built on top of a lightweight Alpine‑based Elixir runtime, keeping the final artifact under 200 MB and ensuring quick start‑ups.

Integration & Extensibility

Developers can hook into Accent in several ways:

• GraphQL client libraries (e.g., Apollo, urql) for custom dashboards or mobile SDKs.
• CLI hooks that run as part of build scripts (mix accent:sync).
• Webhooks & API for triggering translation exports to third‑party services (e.g., Lokalise, Transifex).
• Plugin architecture: while Accent currently exposes a single plugin point (GraphQL schema extensions), the open source nature means you can fork or contribute new adapters without waiting for upstream releases.

Developer Experience

The project’s documentation is concise yet thorough, with a dedicated “Getting Started” section that covers Docker, environment variables, and the Mix command lifecycle. The GraphQL playground is available at /graphiql, providing instant schema introspection and mutation testing. Community support is active on Gitter, and the CI pipeline ensures that any pull request passes unit tests, integration tests, and code coverage checks before merging. The licensing is permissive (MIT), allowing commercial use without copyleft constraints.

Use Cases

• Continuous Localization Pipelines – Automate extraction of strings, push to Accent, let translators edit via the UI, and pull back translations during CI builds.
• Multi‑Locale Web Apps – Centralize all locale files in a single database, reducing duplication and simplifying fallback logic.
• Mobile App Localization – Use the CLI to sync string resources with Accent, then export JSON or XLIFF files for iOS/Android.
• Real‑Time Collaboration – Enable product owners to discuss context directly next to the string, ensuring translators have all necessary information.

Advantages Over Alternatives

Accent’s primary differentiator is its developer‑centric API and real‑time audit trail, which many UI‑only tools lack. The open GraphQL surface allows tight integration with existing toolchains, and the lightweight Elixir/Phoenix stack offers low latency even under heavy concurrent editing. Licensing freedom (MIT) and container‑ready deployment make it a low‑friction choice for teams that prefer self‑hosting over SaaS. Finally, the built‑in CLI and webhook support give developers full control over automation without needing additional adapters.