Crowdin CLI 5.0 pre-release - try it and share feedback

[andrii-bodnar]

Hi everyone,

We've published the first pre-release of Crowdin CLI 5.0, and we'd like your help testing it before the stable release.

v5 is a full rewrite of the CLI, from Java to TypeScript. It ships as a single self-contained native binary - no Java or JRE to install - and starts almost instantly (roughly 2 ms versus ~220 ms in 4.x), which is especially noticeable in CI. The command tree, crowdin.yml configuration, and exit codes stay the same, so most workflows carry over unchanged.

A few things that are new in 5.0:

• Machine-readable output via the global -o, --output option: json, toon (compact, LLM-friendly), and plain
• A refreshed interactive experience (init, select menus, spinners, graceful cancellation)
• More control over auto-translation
• Stable cached uploads (upload sources --cache is no longer experimental)
• Better shell autocompletion
• ~90% tests coverage ✅
• ➡️ See full list

Try it:

npm i -g @crowdin/cli@next

The binary matching your platform is installed automatically (macOS arm64/x64, Linux x64/arm64 with glibc & musl, Windows x64).

There are a few breaking changes (command renames, flag changes, some config behavior). They're listed in the release notes - please skim them before upgrading scripts.

What we're looking for:

• Does it work in your setup - local, CI, and across platforms?
• Anything that behaved differently from v4?
• How's the new output / interactive experience?

This is a pre-release, so expect the occasional rough edge. Reply here with what you find. Thanks for helping us get 5.0 right.