---
title: "verbatra report"
description: "Print a read-only project report. The provenance report lists where each translation came from and whether a person reviewed it."
type: "reference"
---
# verbatra report

Print a read-only project report. The provenance report lists where each translation came from and whether a person reviewed it.

<AvailableFrom version="0.12.0" />

`verbatra report provenance` reads `verbatra.provenance.json`, the lock file and the locale files, and prints per target locale how many values a machine wrote, how many a person reviewed, and how many people wrote or imported. It calls no provider, needs no API key, and writes nothing. The report is supporting evidence, not legal advice.

## Synopsis [#synopsis]

```bash
verbatra report <report> [flags]
```

- `<report>`: the report to print. `provenance` is the only one today; any other name is a usage error.

## Examples [#examples]

```bash
# counts per locale: machine and unreviewed, machine and reviewed, human, imported, and the rest
verbatra report provenance

# every key's origin and review state, for an audit file
verbatra report provenance --json > provenance-report.json

# only the German locale
verbatra report provenance --locales de
```

## Flags [#flags]

| Flag | Argument | Default | Effect |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `--locales` | `<list>` | all configured targets | report only this comma-separated subset; an unconfigured locale fails with `UNKNOWN_LOCALE` and an empty list with `INVALID_LOCALES`, both exit `2` |

Also takes the [global flags](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/cli.md#global-flags) `--cwd`, `--config` and `--json`.

## Behavior [#behavior]

### Output [#output]

```text output
verbatra report provenance (source en, verbatra 0.12.0, 2026-09-29T08:00:00.000Z)
  locale  machine, unreviewed  machine, reviewed  human  import  external  unrecorded  unknown  total
  de      12                   40                 3      85      1         0           0        141
Supporting evidence from verbatra.provenance.json, not legal advice. --json lists every key.
```

The first line names the source locale, the verbatra version and when the report was made. Each row counts the keys that have a value in both the source and that locale. [Machine-translation evidence](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/provenance-evidence.md#the-provenance-report) describes the buckets, what the report can and cannot show, and the full JSON schema.

There is no `--out`: the report goes to stdout, like `check` and `diff`, so redirect it to keep it.

### JSON output [#json-output]

Schema: [`report-envelope.json`](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/schema/v1/report-envelope.json) validates the whole envelope; [Schemas](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/cli/output.md#schemas) lists the others.

`--json` prints one [envelope](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/cli/output.md#json-output) whose `result` lists every key's origin, review state, provider, model and reviewer, for an audit file. When the provenance file cannot be read, the result is `{ "available": false, "reason": "provenance-unreadable" }`.

### Unreadable provenance [#unreadable-provenance]

A report built without a readable provenance file would list every value as `unrecorded`, which is not the same as having no record. The command fails closed with exit `1` instead, like [`check --require-reviewed`](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/cli/check.md), so a CI job does not archive an empty audit file.

### Terminal feedback [#terminal-feedback]

The command shows one line while it reads the files. When machine translations wait for review, it suggests Studio:

```text output
verbatra: reading the provenance record... done (0.1s)
next: verbatra studio (approve or reject the 12 machine translations no person has reviewed yet)
```

These lines go to stderr, and `--quiet` drops them. See [Terminal output](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/cli/output.md#terminal-output).

## Exit codes [#exit-codes]

| Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `0` | the report was printed |
| `1` | no report: `verbatra.provenance.json` is corrupt or was written by a newer verbatra |
| `2` | could not run: a config error, an unreadable source or lock file, an unconfigured or empty `--locales` value (`UNKNOWN_LOCALE`, `INVALID_LOCALES`), or an unknown report name |

See [the exit-code contract](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/cli/output.md#exit-codes).

## Related [#related]

- [Machine-translation evidence](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/provenance-evidence.md) covers the report, its schema, and the machine-translation markers in XLIFF and TMX exports.
- [The lock file](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/the-lock-file.md#provenance-who-wrote-each-value) explains the provenance file the report reads.
- [`verbatra check --require-reviewed`](https://verbatra.kreitz-webdev.de/docs/cli/check.md) fails CI while a machine translation is not approved.