> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gitlocalize.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How it works

> The round trip between your repository and GitLocalize, and the segment model everything else is built on.

[GitLocalize](https://gitlocalize.com) is a continuous localization platform. It connects to a GitHub
repository, makes the files in it translatable, tracks how the translations drift from the source as
the source changes, and sends finished translations back as pull requests.

## The round trip

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/gitlocalize/lskpih6euvpzy4qL/images/github-workflow.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=lskpih6euvpzy4qL&q=85&s=03fd1edf5731f41fd87cb65d4c94817d" alt="The round trip between GitHub and GitLocalize" width="990" height="400" data-path="images/github-workflow.png" />
</Frame>

1. GitLocalize pulls source files from the repository, following the configured
   [paths](/paths).
2. Translators work on those files in the editor. Each contributor's work becomes their own commit.
3. A finished translation goes to a Language Moderator as a **review request**.
4. Once approved, the moderator opens a **pull request** against the repository.
5. Merging that pull request puts the translation live.

Source files stay under your control in Git the whole time. GitLocalize never writes to the
repository directly — every change arrives as a pull request you review like any other.

## Segments

GitLocalize does not treat a file as one block of text. It parses the file into **segments** —
translatable chunks that can be tracked individually. Markdown, Jupyter Notebook and several other
formats are segmented this way.

Each segment in a translation file is **linked** to the segment it translates in the source file.
That link is what makes continuous localization work:

* **Progress can be counted.** A file is 60% translated because 60% of its segments have
  translations, not because someone estimated it.
* **Changes are localized.** Editing one paragraph in the source marks that one segment as needing
  attention, instead of invalidating the whole file.
* **Translators see the pairing.** The editor puts source and translation side by side, segment by
  segment, and highlights the ones with nothing on the translation side.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/gitlocalize/lskpih6euvpzy4qL/images/diff-management.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=lskpih6euvpzy4qL&q=85&s=d4a0ab0db1adfe43dbe7f08a56d029be" alt="Source and translation segments side by side in the editor" width="1874" height="1048" data-path="images/diff-management.png" />
</Frame>

When GitLocalize imports translations that already exist in your repository, it tries to link each of
their segments to a source segment automatically. Segments it cannot match become
[conflicts](/conflicts).

### Segment states

Statistics count segments in these states, by characters and by words:

| State        | Meaning                                       |
| ------------ | --------------------------------------------- |
| Untranslated | No translation submitted                      |
| Translated   | A translation exists                          |
| Unapproved   | Translated, still awaiting moderator review   |
| Approved     | Reviewed and approved by a Language Moderator |

See [Statistics](/statistics) for where these are reported.

## Where to go next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Connect a repository and translate a first file.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Repositories" icon="link" href="/repositories">
    The form fields, private repositories, and what happens after.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>