Serverless Apps

Serverless apps run entirely on Crowdin infrastructure. You write the UI, and Crowdin hosts and runs the app, so there is no backend to deploy or maintain. Serverless apps support UI modules such as project dashboards, editor panels, and menu extensions, and call the Crowdin API on behalf of the person using the app.

You build a serverless app with the Crowdin Serverless Apps SDK and its CLI. The starter templates come with TypeScript, React, a UI kit styled to match Crowdin, and an i18n runtime.

Building a Serverless App

There are two ways to start: hand the work to an AI coding agent, or run the CLI yourself.

Help me build a Crowdin app. Do the following:
1. Install the Crowdin plugin with npx plugins add crowdin/skills.
2. Ask me what the app should do, then use the create-app skill to scaffold, develop, and publish it.
3. After publishing, open a preview so I can see the app inside Crowdin.

The agent signs in to Crowdin in your browser, and asks you to confirm before it registers the app in your organization. The published app is installed in your account. The manifest sets who can use it at first install, and you change that later in Crowdin Apps Permission Configuration.

Or run the serverless CLI yourself:

npm install --global @crowdin/serverless-apps-cli
crowdin-serverless-apps login
crowdin-serverless-apps create my-app
crowdin-serverless-apps dev
crowdin-serverless-apps preview
crowdin-serverless-apps publish

Read more about the requirements and each step in the Quick Start.

Serverless Apps SDKTemplates, SDK guides, CLI commands, and API reference.

When to Build a Self-Hosted App Instead

Serverless apps cover the UI side of Crowdin. When your app needs server-side logic (for example, file processing, AI providers, custom MT engines, or webhook handling), build it as a self-hosted app. The same applies when your app combines an interface with server-side logic: self-hosted apps can include UI modules as well.

A self-hosted app also works with the Crowdin API differently: it makes calls as the account that installed it, not as the person using it.

Read more about building a self-hosted app in the Quick Start.