modix-translator - A translation bot for discord

modix-translator aims to help break down the language barrier experienced when conversing with server members from all over the world. modix-translator leverages Azure Cognitive Services translator api in order to provide a more natural translation. See https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/translator-text-api/ for more details

Usage

The bot can translate single phrases into a given language, it can also create pairs of channels that are getting translated automatically to allow fluent conversations. For example, if you enter the command ??translate create de, two channels will be created: #de-to-en and #en-to-de. Messages that are typed into #de-to-en in german are then translated (to english, in this case) and posted into the paired channel #en-to-de

Commands:

• ??translate <Language> <Phrase>

Returns the translation of the <Phrase> into <Language>. The language of <Phrase> is auto-detected.

• ??translate create <Language>

Creates a channel pair from english to <Language>. These channels will be deleted automatically after 4 hours of inactivity (see https://github.com/discord-csharp/modix-translator/blob/master/src/ModixTranslator/TranslationConstants.cs#L11) For archival purposes the translations will be posted into a #History channel, too. [Question: where is this configured?]

Where <Language> is one of the language codes listed in the translator api docs

The base language, English in these examples, will be picked by the locale of the discord guild. Setting that might be only available if the server is partnered. The default is English.

Getting Started

Below is a guide on how to start developing modix-translator. Development is straight forward requiring only the latest preview of .net 5

Prerequisites

To work on modix-translator, you need a few things:

• A Discord application set up - go here to create one, add a bot to it, and copy the token from the page. You can then add the bot to your server by going to https://discordapp.com/oauth2/authorize?scope=bot&permissions=1342565456&client_id=[ID HERE], replacing [ID HERE] with the Client ID of your bot (not the token).
• The latest .NET 5 SDK for your chosen platform (currently 7)
• Optional: Docker. You do not need Docker if you're just developing locally - it's mostly just to test if your changes are significant enough that they might break CI, or if you prefer to keep your dev environment clean. If you're on Windows, make sure you switch to Linux containers.

Setting Configuration

Config file

This project leverages UserSecrets to provide a bot token and api key to the project. Additionally, the hosting environment can be set with an environment variable.

Environment Variables

If you prefer to use environment variables for configuration, they must all be prefixed with BOT_. For example, BOT_DiscordToken, BOT_AzureTranslationKey, etc.

List of config options

• Required
  • AzureTranslationKey - This is the key for the azure translator service.
  • DiscordToken - this is the bot token modix-translator should use to connect to the Discord API. See above.

Azure Translator Service

This service can be used with the free tier of the Azure translator in the global region.

Hosting

Due to the costs associated with high volume translation, we cannot offer this as a hosted service. You will need to create your own Azure translation service account and self-host this bot.