REST API

Everything the web UI does goes through these endpoints, so they get exercised by ordinary use. Base URL: https://patois.sabiapps.com

Auth and CSRF. Browser clients are session-based and must send the token from GET /api/csrf in an x-csrf-token header on unsafe methods. Server-to-server clients send x-api-key instead and are exempt from CSRF. Rate limits: 300 requests per 15 minutes overall, 40 for model-backed endpoints.

POST /api/translate

The main endpoint. Returns the translation plus the full derivation.

Request

curl -sX POST https://patois.sabiapps.com/api/translate \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -H 'x-api-key: YOUR_KEY' \
  -d '{
    "text": "I am going to the market to buy food.",
    "from": "en",
    "to": "pcm",
    "register": "casual",
    "refine": true,
    "save": false
  }'

Fields

Field	Type	Default	Notes
`text`	string	—	Required, 1–2000 characters.
`from`	`en` \| `pcm` \| `jam`	`en`	Must differ from `to`.
`to`	`en` \| `pcm` \| `jam`	—	Required.
`register`	`polite` \| `casual` \| `street`	`casual`	Controls slang and how phonetic the spelling is.
`refine`	boolean	`true`	Run the model pass. Ignored when no provider is configured, or when rule confidence is already high.
`save`	boolean	`true`	Record in the session's history.

Response

{
  "id": 41,
  "source": { "text": "I am going to the market to buy food.", "lang": "en" },
  "target": { "text": "I dey go di market to buy food.", "lang": "pcm" },
  "register": "casual",
  "confidence": 0.96,
  "coverage": 1,
  "engine": "rules",
  "ruleText": null,
  "alternatives": [],
  "gloss": [
    { "source": "I",  "target": "I",   "via": "lexicon:function", "note": null },
    { "source": "am going", "target": "dey go", "via": "rule:prog-present",
      "note": "progressive" }
  ],
  "rulesFired": [
    { "id": "prog-present", "desc": "\"am/is/are V-ing\" → progressive",
      "gloss": "progressive aspect", "count": 1 }
  ],
  "unknownWords": [],
  "pivotVia": null,
  "notes": [],
  "ai": null
}

confidence is derived, not guessed: it starts from the share of content words the lexicon could resolve, is penalised for words passed through untouched, and — when the model pass runs — is blended with the model's own stated confidence. via tells you exactly which stage produced each output token, so a bad translation can be traced to a missing lexicon entry or a misfiring rule rather than to a black box.

POST /api/translate/compare

One English text, both creoles, for side-by-side comparison.

{ "text": "This food is very good.", "register": "casual" }

POST /api/translate/registers

One text at all three registers — the clearest way to see what register does.

{ "text": "Please help me.", "to": "pcm" }

Reference data

Endpoint	Returns
`GET /api/languages`	Language codes, endonyms, speech-synthesis locales, registers and valid pairs.
`GET /api/grammar/:lang`	The full marker table, pronoun paradigm and rule list for `pcm` or `jam`.
`GET /api/dictionary/:lang?q=&pos=&direction=&limit=`	Lexicon search, both directions, with fuzzy fallback.
`POST /api/dictionary/:lang/explain`	Lexicon entry if known; otherwise a model explanation, clearly labelled as unverified.
`GET /api/phrasebook`	The hand-written phrasebook, by category.
`GET /api/engine/stats`	Lexicon sizes, rule counts, provider stats and usage.

Session data

Endpoint	Purpose
`GET /api/history?page=&perPage=&favorites=`	This session's translations.
`POST /api/history/:id/favorite`	Toggle saved state.
`DELETE /api/history/:id`	Delete one entry.
`DELETE /api/history?keepFavorites=`	Clear history.
`GET /api/history/export?format=json\|csv`	Download your history.
`POST /api/corrections`	Submit a better wording for a translation we produced.
`POST /api/contributions`	Submit a missing lexicon entry.
`GET /api/contributions?status=&lang=`	Browse the review queue.
`POST /api/contributions/:id/vote`	Vote for a pending submission.
`GET /api/contributions/:lang/export`	Approved entries in lexicon-file shape.

Errors

Every failure is the same shape, with a stable code.

{
  "error": {
    "code": "unprocessable",
    "message": "Some fields need attention.",
    "details": [ { "path": "to", "message": "Pick two different languages." } ],
    "requestId": "8f1c…"
  }
}

Status	Code	Meaning
400	`bad_request`	Malformed request.
403	`forbidden`	Missing or stale CSRF token.
404	`not_found`	No such route or resource.
409	`conflict`	Duplicate submission — the response carries the existing id.
422	`unprocessable`	Validation failed; see `details`.
429	`rate_limited`	Slow down; check the `RateLimit-*` headers.
503	`internal_error`	Database unreachable. `GET /healthz` reports component state.

A model outage never produces a 5xx: the refinement pass fails soft and you get the rule-engine translation with a note in notes.