Lokalise

# Fix list: Lokalise

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lokalise, the October 2026 research run, assessed 8 October 2026. Grade BB, 71.3 out of 100.

This is everything the published grade says the listing lacks, the biggest possible gain to the total first. It comes from the reason given for each score, the checklist each category was scored against (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist), the provenance checks, the deductions, what we couldn't check and what the review panel asked for. A fix counts at the next check, once it's public.

For a coding agent working on Lokalise: work through the items below in the product, its docs and its public pages. Each category gives the reason for its score, with the points each checklist item earned, and the checklist itself, so the gap is the items that earned less than their points. Change the product, not the wording, and keep a note of what you changed and where it's published.

## 1. Payments & pricing, 30 out of 100, up to 8.8 more on the total

Why it scored 30: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public at $149, $379 and $1,049 a month billed yearly, with no per-unit price for processed words on the page we read, so plan-only credit (10). A 14-day trial with no card (20). A person signs up in a browser, and the MCP server's dynamic client registration still ends in a Lokalise account login (0).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-payments):

The published rubric, also on the [x402 page](https://www.anchorterminal.com/x402/).

- 40, a machine payment protocol (x402, MPP or L402) on the tool's own endpoints. 10 to 30 when it covers only some endpoints or only goes through a third party, and the note says which.
- 20, per-call or per-unit pricing published without a login. 10 for public plan-only pricing, 0 for "contact sales" or prices behind a login.
- 20, a free tier or trial that doesn't need a card.
- 20, autonomous onboarding, meaning an agent can get access without a person signing up in a browser (keyless use, x402, a programmatic key API).

Payment platforms and agent wallets rarely charge for their own API over a machine protocol, so the first line has steps for them, and the highest one that applies counts. 40 when x402, MPP or L402 runs on all their own endpoints, 30 when it runs on part of their own API, 25 when their merchants can accept one, 20 for running a facilitator, 15 for paying as a buyer, and 0 when the only protocol is their own. Merchant acceptance sits above a facilitator because the platform's own customers can charge agents through it, while a facilitator settles for sellers who wire up the protocol themselves. The counter-argument (a facilitator does more for the protocol as a whole) has a point. Each note says which step applied.

Open-source software you run yourself is scored on its hosted or paid option if it has one. A free, self-hosted package with nothing to buy gets 20, 20 and 20 for the last three lines, and 0 to 40 for the first only if it ships a payment protocol.

## 2. Agent ergonomics, 69 out of 100, up to 5 more on the total

Why it scored 69: API reading of the checklist. `include_translations`, `include_comments` and similar flags and a `limit` size the responses, and the MCP server splits its tools into two toolkits of 22 and 16 documented actions (18 of 25). Page and cursor paging with `X-Pagination-*` headers and filters by tag, file name, platform and untranslated state (20). Errors carry a code and a message, and bulk calls return an error per failed item, but messages are short and codes are HTTP statuses only (13 of 20). No idempotency key was found in the OpenAPI files, and we could not read the MCP tool annotations without an account. File imports return a process to poll (4 of 20). Few required fields (one on a task, three on an upload) and official clients for Node, Python, Ruby and PHP plus a CLI written in Go (14 of 15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-ergonomics):

- 0 to 25, context cost. For MCP, the number and size of the tool definitions (25 for ten or fewer compact tools, 15 for 11 to 30, 5 for more than 30, plus up to 10 back for toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subsets). For APIs, whether responses can be sized (field selection, limits, summaries).
- 20, pagination, filtering and output-size controls.
- 20, actionable, documented error responses, codes and messages an agent can recover from.
- 20, idempotency or safe retries, and for MCP the `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint` annotations.
- 15, sensible defaults, few required parameters, and official SDKs in at least two languages.

Models are read for tool use, structured output, prompt caching, context length, batch and SDKs. Frameworks for how much code and how many defaults a tool-calling agent with MCP needs.

## 3. Security & auth, 73 out of 100, up to 4.7 more on the total

Why it scored 73: OAuth 2 with read and write scopes per resource, and personal API tokens that are read-only or read/write and revocable. Tokens never expire and carry all of the creating user's access, and the MCP server adds PKCE and dynamic client registration (26 of 30). Read-only tokens, scopes and role-based project permissions limit access, but no confirmation step was found for calls such as emptying a project (13 of 20). The API returns strings written by translators and contributors, and no guidance on untrusted content was found in the reviewed documentation (3 of 15). `GET /v1/audit-logs` returns team audit events in OCSF 1.3.0, and the security page says logs are kept 12 months (13 of 15). security.txt valid to 20 August 2027, a disclosure policy at vdp.lokalise.com, a private bug bounty on YesWeHack, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 per the security page (18 of 20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-security):

- 0 to 30, the credential model. 30 for OAuth 2.1 with scopes, or scoped and revocable keys with rotation. 20 for plain revocable API keys. 10 for one all-powerful key. 10 off when a secret can travel in a URL query string as a documented option.
- 0 to 20, read-only or least-privilege modes, and confirmation or approval for destructive actions.
- 0 to 15, prompt-injection posture where the tool returns untrusted content (documented mitigations or guidance). A tool that returns no untrusted content gets 10.
- 0 to 15, audit logs or per-call visibility for the operator.
- 0 to 20, a security programme. security.txt or a disclosure policy, a bug bounty, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, advisories handled in public.

Models are read for retention, whether API data trains models (and whether that's off by default), zero-retention options and certifications. Frameworks for telemetry defaults, approval hooks, guardrails and sandboxing.

## 4. Schema & documentation, 76 out of 100, up to 3.9 more on the total

Why it scored 76: Three public OpenAPI 3.0.3 files, the default-projects one with 63 paths and 109 operations (25). llms.txt with about 160 reference links and a Markdown twin of each page (10). Every operation has a description that names the admin right and OAuth scope it needs and which project types it works on, with little on when not to call it (14 of 20). 65 enums and required fields marked, but boolean flags are numbers 0 and 1 and many filters are comma-separated strings (9 of 15). 213 examples, but 108 of 109 operations document only the 200 response and the error list is one general page (8 of 15). The path is versioned at `/api2` and there is a dated API changelog, whose newest entry is 29 May 2025 while later API changes appear only in the product changelog (10 of 15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-schema):

APIs and MCP servers.

- 25, a machine-readable contract (a public OpenAPI file or similar; for MCP, typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool).
- 10, llms.txt or Markdown docs served for agents.
- 0 to 20, descriptions that say what a tool is for, when to use it and when not to, read from the tool definitions in the source or the API reference.
- 0 to 15, typed inputs with enums, constraints and required fields, and no free-form JSON blobs.
- 0 to 15, examples and documented error responses.
- 15, versioning and a public changelog.

Models are read from the API reference, the OpenAPI file, llms.txt, the structured-output and tool-use docs and the model cards. Frameworks from docs a model can follow, typed interfaces, examples and the API reference.

## 5. Reliability, 84 out of 100, up to 3.2 more on the total

Why it scored 84: Graded on the REST API with the hosted lines. Statuspage site at status.lokalise.com with five components and history back to 2022 (20). Two incidents in the 90 days to 8 October 2026, a 42-minute search outage on 17 August marked critical and three hours of partial email delivery failures on 14 September marked major, neither an hour of the core API down (20 of 30). Limits published as 6 requests a second per token and per IP and 10 concurrent requests per project (15). 429 is documented with advice to back off exponentially, and responses carry `X-RateLimit-*` headers, but no Retry-After is documented and writes take no idempotency key (9 of 15). The Master Service Agreement commits to 99.5 per cent a month with service credits (10). The REST API is generally available, while the MCP server is in beta (10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-reliability):

Hosted APIs, MCP servers, models and platforms.

- 20, a public status page with component history (Statuspage, Instatus, BetterStack or the vendor's own).
- 0 to 30, the incident record for the last 90 days on that page. 30 for a clean record or trivial incidents only, 20 for minor incidents only, 10 for one major outage (an hour or more of a core API down, or errors across the board), 0 for several. 5 when there's no history we could read, and the note says so.
- 15, rate limits documented with numbers.
- 15, documented 429 or overload handling (Retry-After, backoff guidance), and idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance where writes are involved.
- 10, an SLA published for any paid tier.
- 10, the surface agents use is generally available, not beta or preview.

Local packages, SDKs, frameworks and stdio MCP servers.

- 20, installs from an official package with supported runtimes stated.
- 25, a public CI and test suite, passing on the default branch.
- 0 to 25, open crash or regression issues relative to activity (25 for few and handled, 0 for many, old and unanswered).
- 15, semver discipline and breaking changes called out in a changelog.
- 15, version 1.0 or later, or declared stable.

Protocols are read from their reference implementations, the public facilitators or servers, spec stability and test vectors.

## 6. Transparency & trust, 81 out of 100, up to 1.7 more on the total

Made of editorial 63, provenance 98.

Why it scored 81: Closed service with a published Master Service Agreement, and the CLI and SDKs under BSD 3-Clause (15). Privacy policy of March 2026, a DPA dated 21 March 2023, an AI statement and a sub-processor list. The agreement deletes inactive account data after 30 days. The privacy policy says customer data doesn't train general-purpose models, and the AI statement says it can train Lokalise's own models with consent. We did not read the DPA PDF (22 of 30). No deprecation policy found. The API changelog carries dated notices from 2021 and 2022, and the Developer Program Agreement allows changes to API access with or without notice (6 of 20). Sub-processors listed with purpose and location, updated 1 August 2026, and customer data hosted on AWS in EU regions (20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-transparency):

- 0 to 30, source availability and licence clarity. 30 for open source under an OSI licence, 15 for closed with clear terms, 0 for unclear terms.
- 0 to 30, data handling and retention statements that agree with each other (privacy policy, DPA, retention periods, subprocessors).
- 0 to 20, a deprecation policy or notices with dates.
- 0 to 20, telemetry disclosed with an opt-out (local software), or subprocessors and data locations disclosed (hosted).

The other half of Transparency and trust is the provenance score, computed from checked facts (below). The category score is the mean of the two.

Provenance checks not met in full (half of this category, computed from checked facts):

- Terms of service: read, states 7 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 1 clause that costs points (8 of 10)

## 7. Maintenance & community, 84 out of 100, up to 1.4 more on the total

Why it scored 84: `python-lokalise-api` 4.3.0 on 5 October 2026, `@lokalise/node-api` 16.6.0 on 21 September and a product changelog entry on 1 October (30). Seven Node SDK releases and twelve changelog entries since 6 July (20). Public changelog and 24/7 support listed on the pricing page. The Node SDK has 1 open issue, while the CLI has 62 open issues and pull requests and went from May 2025 to July 2026 without a release (11 of 15). Official SDKs are current (15). The Node SDK runs CI on GitHub Actions and needs Node 22.19 or later, and the CLI builds with GoReleaser (8 of 10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-maintenance):

- 0 to 30, time since the last release, or the last published model or API change for a closed service. 30 within 30 days, 20 within 90, 10 within 180, 0 older.
- 20, at least three releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days.
- 0 to 25, responsiveness. Issues and pull requests answered on GitHub (the open issues and how recent the replies are). For closed services, a public changelog and a support or community channel that answers, 0 to 15.
- 15, presence in the official MCP registry under a verified namespace (MCP servers), or current official SDKs (APIs and models).
- 10, package health, current dependencies and CI.

Models are read for deprecation notice periods and model churn rather than release counts.

## What we couldn't check

What we couldn't read counted as absent. Publishing it on a page a plain HTTP fetch can read (not only in a browser) lets the next check count it.

- unchecked: the MCP server's tool definitions and annotations, which need a Lokalise account to list. The counts of 22 and 16 come from the help centre table of actions.
- unchecked: plan allowances (processed words, seats, projects) and monthly-billing prices, which the pricing page draws by script.
- unchecked: the DPA PDF and Annex B of the Master Service Agreement (service credits), which we did not read.
- unchecked: the AI sub-processor list at lokalise.com/ai-subprocessor-list and its retention periods.
- Which plans include API access is not stated on the pages we read. The MCP article says teams on a plan with API access, and the changelog of 23 September 2026 says the MCP server is available on all plans.
- The lead's category is machine translation. Lokalise is a translation management system that runs AI and machine translation as tasks, so it sits in this category as the nearest fit, with no synchronous translate call.
- The Master Service Agreement forbids benchmarking or competitive analysis, which matters before our probes run. Recorded as a fact, with no deduction.
- The help centre calls the MCP server beta, while the product page shows no beta label.

## Weaknesses

- The Master Service Agreement forbids using the service for benchmarking or competitive analysis
- No free plan. Explorer is $149 a month billed yearly after a 14-day trial without a card
- No idempotency keys in the OpenAPI files, though the errors page mentions an idempotent key under 409
- API tokens never expire and carry every permission of the user who made them
- The Developer Program Agreement lets Lokalise change or end API access with or without notice
- The MCP server is labelled beta in the help centre article

## What costs an agent a turn today

The notes we give agents before they call it. Each one is a workaround an agent shouldn't need.

- Send the token in the `X-Api-Token` header to `https://api.lokalise.com/api2`. OAuth access tokens go in `Authorization: Bearer` and expire after about 60 minutes.
- Stay under 6 requests a second per token and 10 concurrent requests per project. On 429, back off exponentially and read `X-RateLimit-Reset`.
- Use a read-only token for reads. A read/write token can call `PUT /projects/{project_id}/empty`, which deletes every key and translation.
- Use `pagination=cursor` on `/keys` and `/translations`, with `limit` at most 500 on keys, and follow `X-Pagination-Next-Cursor`.
- Projects above 10,000 key-language pairs need `/files/async-download`. Poll `/processes/{process_id}` for the bundle URL, and do the same after `/files/upload`.

## When it's done

Send what changed and where it's published as a dispute (https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/#disputes, or `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/contact` with `"kind": "dispute"`). Disputes are answered in public, and the listing is checked again by the same checklist. Paying for an audit or a listing claim changes nothing here.