Quickstart: Azure AI Translator REST APIs

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Try the latest version of Azure AI Translator. In this quickstart, get started using the Translator service to translate text using a programming language of your choice or the REST API. For this project, we recommend using the free pricing tier (F0), while you're learning the technology, and later upgrading to a paid tier for production.

Prerequisites

You need an active Azure subscription. If you don't have an Azure subscription, you can create one for trial

  • Once you have your Azure subscription, create a Translator resource in the Azure portal.

  • After your resource deploys, select Go to resource and retrieve your key and endpoint.

    • You need the key and endpoint from the resource to connect your application to the Translator service. You paste your key and endpoint into the code later in the quickstart. You can find these values on the Azure portal Keys and Endpoint page:

      Screenshot: Azure portal keys and endpoint page.

      Note

      • For this quickstart it is recommended that you use a Translator text single-service global resource.
      • With a single-service global resource you'll include one authorization header (Ocp-Apim-Subscription-key) with the REST API request. The value for Ocp-Apim-Subscription-key is your Azure secret key for your Translator Text subscription.
      • If you choose to use an Azure AI multi-service or regional Translator resource, two authentication headers will be required: (Ocp-Api-Subscription-Key and Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Region). The value for Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Region is the region associated with your subscription.
      • For more information on how to use the Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Region header, see Text Translation REST API headers.

Headers

To call the Translator service via the REST API, you need to include the following headers with each request. Don't worry, we include the headers for you in the sample code for each programming language.

For more information on Translator authentication options, see the Translator v3 reference guide.

Header Value Condition
Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key Your Translator service key from the Azure portal. • Required
Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Region The region where your resource was created. • Required when using an Azure AI multi-service or regional (geographic) resource like China North.
• Optional when using a single-service global Translator Resource.
Content-Type The content type of the payload. The accepted value is application/json or charset=UTF-8. • Required
Content-Length The length of the request body. • Optional

Important

Remember to remove the key from your code when you're done, and never post it publicly. For production, use a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials like Azure Key Vault. For more information, see the Azure AI services security article.

Translate text

The core operation of the Translator service is translating text. In this quickstart, you build a request using a programming language of your choice that takes a single source (from) and provides two outputs (to). Then we review some parameters that can be used to adjust both the request and the response.

For detailed information regarding Azure AI Translator service request limits, see Text translation request limits.

Set up your Go environment

You can use any text editor to write Go applications. We recommend using the latest version of Visual Studio Code and Go extension.

Tip

If you're new to Go, try the Get started with Go Learn module.

  1. Make sure the latest version of Go is installed:

    • Download the Go programming language version for your operating system.

    • Once the download is complete, run the installer.

    • Open a command prompt and enter the following to confirm Go was installed:

        go version

Build your Go application

  1. In a console window (such as cmd, PowerShell, or Bash), create a new directory for your app called translator-app, and navigate to it.

  2. Create a new GO file named translation.go from the translator-app directory.

  3. Copy and paste the provided code sample into your translation.go file. Make sure you update the key variable with the value from your Azure portal Translator instance:

package main

import (
    "bytes"
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
)

func main() {
    key := "<YOUR-TRANSLATOR-KEY>"
    endpoint := "https://api.translator.azure.cn/"
    uri := endpoint + "/translate?api-version=3.0"

    // location, also known as region.
    // required if you're using a multi-service or regional (not global) resource. It can be found in the Azure portal on the Keys and Endpoint page.
    location := "<YOUR-RESOURCE-LOCATION>"

    // Build the request URL. See: https://go.dev/pkg/net/url/#example_URL_Parse
    u, _ := url.Parse(uri)
    q := u.Query()
    q.Add("from", "en")
    q.Add("to", "fr")
    q.Add("to", "zu")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    // Create an anonymous struct for your request body and encode it to JSON
    body := []struct {
        Text string
    }{
        {Text: "I would really like to drive your car around the block a few times."},
    }
    b, _ := json.Marshal(body)

    // Build the HTTP POST request
    req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", u.String(), bytes.NewBuffer(b))
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    // Add required headers to the request
    req.Header.Add("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key", key)
    // location required if you're using a multi-service or regional (not global) resource.
    req.Header.Add("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Region", location)
    req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

    // Call the Translator API
    res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    // Decode the JSON response
    var result interface{}
    if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    // Format and print the response to terminal
    prettyJSON, _ := json.MarshalIndent(result, "", "  ")
    fmt.Printf("%s\n", prettyJSON)
}

Run your Go application

Once you add a code sample to your application, your Go program can be executed in a command or terminal prompt. Make sure your prompt's path is set to the translator-app folder and use the following command:

 go run translation.go

Translation output:

After a successful call, you should see the following response:

[
    {
        "detectedLanguage": {
            "language": "en",
            "score": 1.0
        },
        "translations": [
            {
                "text": "J'aimerais vraiment conduire votre voiture autour du pâté de maisons plusieurs fois!",
                "to": "fr"
            },
            {
                "text": "Ngingathanda ngempela ukushayela imoto yakho endaweni evimbelayo izikhathi ezimbalwa!",
                "to": "zu"
            }
        ]
    }
]

Next steps

That's it, congratulations! You just learned to use the Translator service to translate text.

Explore our how-to documentation and take a deeper dive into Translation service capabilities: