Langtool-CLI

A lightweight Bash-based CLI tool for installing, running, and managing a local LanguageTool server. Provides simple commands to start, stop, restart, and check the status of your LanguageTool instance.

---

Features

• Easy Installation: One-command bootstrap setup or manual installation
• Automatic Configuration: Creates server.properties with sensible defaults during installation
• Smart Version Detection: Handles LanguageTool's inconsistent version naming automatically
• Fast Downloads: Supports aria2c for parallel downloads with automatic fallback to curl
• Better Error Messages: Detailed diagnostics with automatic log display on failure
• Background Operation: Server runs in the background with PID tracking

---

Quick Install

Install quickly using the bootstrap script:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/c0dezer019/langtool-cli-runner/base/setup | bash

This will:

1. Clone the repository to ~/.local/langtool-cli
2. Set up environment variables in ~/.config/environment.d/langtool-cli.conf
3. Create symlinks in ~/.local/bin (if in your PATH)

---

Manual Installation

Clone the repo and set both LT_CLI_DIR (where the CLI lives) and LT_INSTALL_DIR (where LanguageTool will be installed):

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/c0dezer019/langtool-cli.git "$HOME/.local/langtool-cli"

# Create configuration directory and file
mkdir -p "$HOME/.config/environment.d"
cat > "$HOME/.config/environment.d/langtool-cli.conf" <<'EOF'
LT_CLI_DIR="$HOME/.local/langtool-cli"
LT_INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/.local/share/LanguageTool"
EOF

# Load the config into the current shell
export LT_CLI_DIR="$HOME/.local/langtool-cli"
export LT_INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/.local/share/LanguageTool"

# Optional: Add to PATH for easy access
mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
ln -sf "$LT_CLI_DIR/langtool" "$HOME/.local/bin/langtool"

# Make variables persistent for future shells
echo 'export LT_CLI_DIR="$HOME/.local/langtool-cli"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export LT_INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/.local/share/LanguageTool"' >> ~/.bashrc

---

Installing LanguageTool

After installing the CLI, you need to download and install LanguageTool itself:

# Install the latest version (default)
langtool install

# Or install a specific version by date
langtool install 20251121

This will:

• Download LanguageTool snapshot from https://internal1.languagetool.org/snapshots/
• Extract it to your $LT_INSTALL_DIR
• Automatically create a server.properties configuration file with sensible defaults
• Offer to install aria2c for faster downloads (optional)

---

Usage

Basic Commands

langtool start    # Start server in background
langtool stop     # Stop the server
langtool restart  # Restart the server
langtool status   # Show server status (running/not running)
langtool install  # Install/update LanguageTool
langtool help     # Show help information

Starting with a Specific Version

langtool start -v 6.8      # Start a specific installed version

Example Workflow

# First-time setup
langtool install           # Download and install LanguageTool
langtool start            # Start the server

# Later usage
langtool status           # Check if running
langtool restart          # Restart if needed
langtool stop             # Stop when done

---

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
LT_CLI_DIR	Where the CLI scripts are located	(required)
LT_INSTALL_DIR	Where LanguageTool is installed	(required)
LT_VER	LanguageTool version to use	latest

Version Configuration

Set the LT_VER environment variable to control which LanguageTool version is used:

# Use latest version (default)
export LT_VER="latest"

# Use a specific date-based version
export LT_VER="20251121"

# Note: Version numbers like "6.8" may be used internally but
# the naming can vary between downloads

Add this to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to make it persistent.

Server Configuration

After installation, you can customize the server settings by editing:

$LT_INSTALL_DIR/LanguageTool-<version>-snapshot/server.properties

Default configuration includes:

• Maximum text length: 50,000 characters
• Check timeout: 60 seconds
• Result caching: 10,000 entries
• Work queue size: 25 threads

See the LanguageTool HTTP Server documentation for all available options.

---

Server Details

• Port: 8081 (hardcoded)
• PID File: /tmp/langtool.pid
• Log File: $LT_INSTALL_DIR/LanguageTool-<version>-snapshot/languagetool.log
• CORS: Enabled with --allow-origin "*" (accepts requests from any origin)

---

Troubleshooting

Server Won't Start

If the server fails to start, the script will automatically display the last 10 lines of the log file. Common issues:

1. Port 8081 already in use:

   # Check what's using the port
   lsof -i :8081
   # Or try a different port (requires editing the script)

2. Java not installed:

   # Install Java (Ubuntu/Debian)
   sudo apt install default-jre

3. Missing server.properties:

   # Reinstall to regenerate configuration
   langtool install

Check Server Logs

# View the full log
cat "$LT_INSTALL_DIR"/LanguageTool-*/languagetool.log

# Watch log in real-time
tail -f "$LT_INSTALL_DIR"/LanguageTool-*/languagetool.log

Version Mismatch Issues

The script handles LanguageTool's inconsistent version naming automatically. If you encounter issues:

1. Check what's actually installed:

   ls -la "$LT_INSTALL_DIR"

2. The script will automatically find any installed LanguageTool version if the exact version isn't found

Manual Cleanup

# Stop the server
langtool stop

# Remove PID file if stuck
rm -f /tmp/langtool.pid

# Uninstall LanguageTool
rm -rf "$LT_INSTALL_DIR/LanguageTool-"*
rm -rf "$LT_INSTALL_DIR/src"

# Reinstall
langtool install

---

Testing the API

Once the server is running, you can test it:

# Check if server is responding
curl http://localhost:8081/v2/check -d "language=en-US" -d "text=This is a test."

# Or use a more readable format
curl -X POST http://localhost:8081/v2/check \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "language=en-US" \
  -d "text=I has a mistake"

---

Development

Running Directly

# Run without installing
bash lib/langtool start
bash lib/langtool status
bash lib/langtool stop

Syntax Check

# Check for syntax errors
bash -n langtool

# Or use shellcheck if installed
shellcheck langtool

---

Uninstallation

# Run the uninstall script
bash lib/uninstall

# Or manually:
rm -rf "$LT_CLI_DIR"
rm -rf "$LT_INSTALL_DIR"
rm -f "$HOME/.local/bin/langtool"
# Remove the export lines from your shell RC file

---

License

See the repository for license information.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or pull request on GitHub.

Resources

• LanguageTool Official Site
• LanguageTool HTTP Server Documentation
• LanguageTool API Documentation