Installation & Setup

Complete guide to setting up LangCTL for your team, including both the web dashboard and CLI tool.

Prerequisites

Before installing LangCTL, ensure you have:

For Dashboard

• Modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
• Valid email address
• Internet connection

For CLI

• Node.js 16 or higher (Download)
• npm or yarn package manager
• Terminal/Command line access
• LangCTL account (for API key)

Verify Node.js Installation

node --version
npm --version

1. Navigate to app.langctl.com/signup
2. Fill in registration form:
   • Full Name: Your first and last name
   • Email: Valid email address (you’ll receive confirmation)
   • Password: Minimum 8 characters, include letters and numbers
3. Click “Sign Up”

[IMAGE: signup-form.png - Registration form with all fields]

After signing up:

1. Check your email inbox
2. Open the verification email from LangCTL
3. Click the verification link
4. You’ll be redirected to the app

After verifying your email and signing in:

1. You’ll be redirected to the “Create Organization” page
2. Enter your organization name:
   • Can be your company name, team name, or project name
   • Examples: “Acme Inc”, “My Startup”, “Personal Projects”
3. Click “Create Organization”

[IMAGE: create-organization.png - Organization creation form]

After creating your organization, you’ll see the main dashboard:

[IMAGE: dashboard-first-view.png - Empty dashboard with tour highlights]

• Sidebar Navigation: Access projects, team, API keys, settings
• Quick Actions: Create project, invite team
• Stats Overview: Projects, team members, keys count
• Recent Activity: Latest changes and updates

1. Click on your organization name (top-right)
2. Select “Organization Settings”
3. Configure:
   • Organization name
   • Subscription plan
   • Billing information (for paid plans)

npm install -g langctl

The -g flag installs langctl globally, making it available from any directory.

yarn global add langctl

Run without installing:

npx langctl --version

langctl --version
langctl --help

If you see the version number, installation was successful!

If you get command not found: langctl after npm install:

1. Check npm global bin path:

   npm config get prefix

   Copy

2. Add to PATH (macOS/Linux):

   export PATH="$PATH:$(npm config get prefix)/bin"

   Copy

3. Reload shell:

   source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc

   Copy

If you get permission errors:

npx langctl

mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
npm install -g langctl

On Windows, ensure Node.js bin directory is in PATH:

1. Open System Properties -> Environment Variables

2. Edit PATH variable

3. Add: %APPDATA%\\npm

4. Restart terminal

5. Log in to app.langctl.com

6. Navigate to Organization -> API Keys

7. Click ”+ Create API Key”

8. Enter a descriptive name:

   • Examples: “My Laptop”, “CI/CD”, “Development”

9. Click “Create”

10. Copy the API key immediately (it’s shown only once!)

[IMAGE: api-key-creation.png - API key creation modal] [IMAGE: api-key-display.png - API key display with copy button]

langctl init

[IMAGE: cli-init.png - Terminal showing init process]

langctl auth lc_your_api_key_here

For CI/CD or temporary use:

export LANGCTL_API_KEY=lc_your_api_key_here
langctl projects list  # No authentication needed

langctl org info

If you see your organization info, authentication was successful!

The CLI stores configuration in ~/.langctl/config.json:

{
"apiKey": "lc_****...****",
"organizationId": "uuid-here",
"organizationName": "My Company",
"defaultLanguage": "en",
"defaultProject": null
}

langctl config

langctl config set defaultLanguage es

langctl config set defaultProject my-app

To switch between organizations or environments:

export LANGCTL_API_KEY=lc_prod_key_here
langctl export my-app

export LANGCTL_API_KEY=lc_dev_key_here
langctl import my-app test.json

✅ DO:

• Store API keys in environment variables for CI/CD
• Use separate API keys for different environments
• Revoke unused API keys
• Rotate keys periodically (every 90 days)
• Use descriptive names to track key usage

❌ DON’T:

• Commit API keys to version control
• Share API keys via email or chat
• Use production keys in development
• Store keys in plain text files in your repository

.langctl/
langctl.config.json
.env

LANGCTL_API_KEY=lc_your_key_here

export LANGCTL_API_KEY=$(cat .env | grep LANGCTL_API_KEY | cut -d '=' -f2)

Use secrets management:

• GitHub Actions: Use repository secrets
• GitLab CI: Use CI/CD variables
• CircleCI: Use environment variables
• Jenkins: Use credentials plugin

- name: Export translations
env:
  LANGCTL_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.LANGCTL_API_KEY }}
run: |
  langctl export my-app -l en

1. Navigate to Organization -> Team
2. Click ”+ Invite Member”
3. Enter email address
4. Select role:
   • Owner: Full access (cannot be changed)
   • Admin: Manage team, projects, translations
   • Member: Edit translations
   • Viewer: Read-only access
5. Click “Send Invitation”

[IMAGE: invite-member.png - Member invitation modal]

langctl team invite [email protected] --role member
langctl team invite [email protected] --role admin

1. Team member receives invitation email
2. Clicks invitation link
3. Creates account (if new) or signs in
4. Automatically added to organization
5. Can access projects based on role

Now that you’re set up, continue with:

• Dashboard Overview - Learn the web interface
• CLI Reference - Master CLI commands
• Quick Start - Create your first project
• Platform Integrations - Integrate with your framework

If you need to uninstall LangCTL:

npm uninstall -g langctl

yarn global remove langctl

rm -rf ~/.langctl

Delete Dashboard Account

1. Log in to dashboard
2. Go to Organization Settings
3. Scroll to “Danger Zone”
4. Click “Delete Organization”
5. Confirm deletion