Available for
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All Phrase plans, currently at no additional cost
The Phrase MCP Server (Model Context Protocol Server) connects AI assistants, such as Claude, to Phrase. It brings Phrase's language intelligence into these tools, allowing assistants to work with projects, jobs, and translations using natural language. The server spans Phrase TMS, Phrase Strings, and other Phrase capabilities exposed through the API, and operates above these individual products rather than within one of them.
Capabilities
MCP Server brings Phrase's language intelligence into AI tools already in use, enabling content, jobs, and translations to be acted on with natural language wherever the work happens. Typical tasks include:
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Asking questions about projects and jobs.
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Troubleshooting quality issues across content without opening individual files or languages.
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Creating jobs or reassigning projects.
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Performing bulk updates instead of updating one item at a time.
Connection Options
MCP Server supports two connection methods.
Remote Connection (Recommended)
Remote connection uses sign-in with an existing Phrase account and requires no installation. This method works with AI tools that support connecting to a remote server.
Remote connection authenticates using OAuth, the only authentication protocol currently supported for this method. Custom or third-party workflow tools that require manual header-based authentication, such as bearer tokens or API keys, are not currently supported for remote connection.
Stale Authentication in VS Code
Visual Studio Code (VS Code) caches the client ID registered with an MCP server, keyed to the server URL rather than the display name. If that client ID no longer exists on the Phrase server, VS Code continues sending the stale ID instead of triggering a new registration. This results in a 400 Bad Request error reporting an unmatched client_id and redirect_uri, rather than the expected consent screen. Removing and reinstalling the server entry, or renaming it, in mcp.json does not clear the cached registration, since the cache is keyed to the server URL.
To resolve this issue in VS Code 1.101 or later, follow these steps:
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Open the Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P) and run Authentication: Remove Dynamic Authentication Providers, then select the Phrase MCP server entry.
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Open the menu, locate the account tied to the Phrase server, and open Manage Trusted MCP Servers to revoke it, or sign out of that account entry.
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In the MCP view, or via MCP: List Servers, stop and restart the server connection, or run Developer: Reload Window.
The next tool call triggers a fresh registration and displays the consent screen.
Note
If these steps do not clear the stale registration, clear the stored authentication manually from the operating system (OS) credential store (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, or libsecret on Linux) and VS Code's global storage. This clears authentication for any other configured MCP servers.
Self-Hosted Connection (Deprecated)
Self-hosted connection runs on infrastructure managed by the team and requires Node.js and a configuration file.
Getting Started
Find full setup steps for both connection options, including commands for different AI tools, in the Developer Hub article Phrase MCP Server.
After connecting, find a curated list of starter prompts organized by task in the Developer Hub article Server Starter Prompts.
Permissions
When connecting, the account holder selects the level of access granted to the assistant: view data, create data, or modify and delete data. This applies in addition to existing Phrase role permissions, not instead of them, so the assistant cannot exceed what the account already allows.
Review or revoke access at any time from Phrase profile settings, under the tab.