Thunderbird Translator

(Local Ollama · Google Translate · LibreTranslate)

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A Thunderbird addon that replaces the email body with its translation (in-place) into multiple languages using Ollama local, Google Translate, or LibreTranslate (Euro-friendly).

✨ Features

• 🏠 Local translation - With Ollama: no data sent online, everything stays on your PC
• 🤖 Supports all Ollama models - Translategemma, Llama, Mistral, Neural Chat, etc.
• 🌐 Multiple translation services - Ollama, Google Translate, LibreTranslate
• 🌍 Multi-language translation - Supports 10 languages: Italian, English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean
• 🖱️ Simple interface - Right-click on email and choose service and language
• 💾 Persistent settings - Your configurations are saved automatically
• 🌐 Multilingual interface - The addon is available in 7 languages: 🇮🇹 Italian, 🇬🇧 English, 🇩🇪 German, 🇫🇷 French, 🇪🇸 Spanish, 🇵🇹 Portuguese, 🇷🇺 Russian (automatically adapts to Thunderbird's language)

📋 Requirements

For Ollama (local, more private)

1. Ollama installed on your PC

   • Download from: https://ollama.ai

2. An Ollama model downloaded

   • Recommended: ollama pull translategemma (3GB, optimized)
   • Alternatives: llama3.2, mistral

3. Thunderbird 128 or later (ESR and non-ESR)

⚠️ Important note: Before using Ollama, you'll need to configure OLLAMA_ORIGINS (see "Initial Configuration" section below).

For Google Translate or LibreTranslate (online, free)

• No requirements - They work immediately
• Internet connection required

📦 Installation

Method 1: XPI File (Recommended)

1. Download the thunderbird-translator.xpi file
2. Open Thunderbird
3. Go to Menu > Tools > Add-ons
4. Click the gear icon ⚙️ in the top right
5. Select "Install Add-on from file..."
6. Select the .xpi file
7. Confirm installation

Method 2: From Folder (Development)

1. Extract files to a folder
2. Open Thunderbird
3. Press Ctrl+Shift+A (or from Menu > Tools > Add-ons)
4. Click the gear icon ⚙️
5. Select "Debug Add-ons"
6. Click "Load Temporary Add-on..."
7. Select the manifest.json file from the folder

⚙️ Initial Configuration

1. Open addon settings

• Menu > Tools > Add-ons > "Thunderbird Translator" > Preferences

2. Choose service and language

• Service: Ollama (local) / Google Translate / LibreTranslate
• Language: Italian, English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean

3. If using Ollama: REQUIRED Configuration

⚠️ Configure OLLAMA_ORIGINS

Why is it needed? For security reasons, Ollama blocks requests from browser extensions. You must explicitly authorize Thunderbird.

Recommended value (more secure):

OLLAMA_ORIGINS=moz-extension://*

Allows only Firefox/Thunderbird extensions to access Ollama. Blocks all external websites.

How to configure:

Windows (CMD):

setx OLLAMA_ORIGINS "moz-extension://*"

Then close and reopen the terminal and start Ollama:

ollama serve

Linux (permanent):

echo 'export OLLAMA_ORIGINS="moz-extension://*"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
ollama serve

macOS (permanent):

echo 'export OLLAMA_ORIGINS="moz-extension://*"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
ollama serve

Alternative option (if you also need local apps):

OLLAMA_ORIGINS=moz-extension://*,http://localhost:11434

4. Configure URL and model

• Ollama URL: http://localhost:11434 (default)
• Test connection: Click to verify that Ollama is reachable
• Model: Select translategemma (recommended) or another installed model

5. Save

• Click "Save"

🎯 How to Use

Context Menu (Recommended)

1. Open an email you want to translate
2. Right-click on the email body
3. Choose the translation service:
   • "Translate with Ollama" → Local and private translation (requires Ollama installed)
   • "Translate with Google Translate" → Free online translation
   • "Translate with LibreTranslate" → Open-source online translation
4. Select the target language from the submenu
   • The selected language will appear in bold
   • This choice becomes the default for that service
5. Wait for the message "Translation completed"

Example: If you select "Translate with Google Translate > Español", all subsequent translations with Google Translate will be in Spanish (until you choose another language).

Show Original

• After translation, right-click on the text
• Select "Show Original" to restore the original text

🔒 Security

✅ What is Secure

• Ollama mode: 100% local — no data sent online, everything processed on your PC
• Google Translate / LibreTranslate mode: email text is sent to external servers for translation (no other data is shared)
• No tracking - No statistics, tracking, or remote logs
• No credentials - Doesn't save passwords or sensitive information
• Minimal permissions - Only accesses email text for translation

Want total privacy? Use the Ollama-only version: Thunderbird Ollama Translator — zero external connections, everything stays on your machine.

🛡️ Required Permissions

• messagesRead - Reads email content (for translation)
• messagesModify - Modifies displayed text (to show translation)
• menus - Adds context menu
• storage - Saves settings
• tabs - Injects script into email
• Host permissions (only if using Google Translate or LibreTranslate):
  • https://translate.google.com/* - Google Translate API
  • https://translate.fedilab.app/* - LibreTranslate instance
  • http://localhost/* - For local Ollama

No access to:

• ❌ Address book, calendar, chat
• ❌ Account credentials
• ❌ Thunderbird database
• ❌ File system (except localhost for Ollama)

🚨 Troubleshooting

LibreTranslate: random errors or slow responses

LibreTranslate uses free public instances. The addon automatically tries 3 instances in sequence — if one fails, it moves to the next. Random errors (timeouts, 429 rate-limit, 503 server down) are normal and expected with free public instances. Simply retry after a few seconds.

"Error: Ollama error: 403 Forbidden" ⚠️

CAUSE: Ollama blocks requests from browser extensions for security reasons.

COMPLETE SOLUTION:

1. Stop Ollama if it's running (Ctrl+C in the terminal where ollama serve is running)

2. Configure the environment variable (recommended value for security):

   Windows (CMD):

   setx OLLAMA_ORIGINS "moz-extension://*"
   

   Linux:

   echo 'export OLLAMA_ORIGINS="moz-extension://*"' >> ~/.bashrc
   source ~/.bashrc
   

   macOS:

   echo 'export OLLAMA_ORIGINS="moz-extension://*"' >> ~/.zshrc
   source ~/.zshrc
   

3. Close and reopen the terminal, then start Ollama:

   ollama serve
   

4. Verify the configuration:

   • Open Thunderbird
   • Go to addon settings
   • Click "Test connection"
   • Should show "Connection successful: X models available"

Note: moz-extension://* allows only Firefox/Thunderbird extensions to access Ollama, blocking external websites (more secure).

📜 Changelog

v1.5.0

• Deterministic tab/preview routing — translating from a separate email tab no longer interferes with the preview pane (and vice versa)
• Context menu now appears only in the email body (not in folder pane or message list)
• Programmatic messageDisplayScripts registration for broad Thunderbird compatibility (128 ESR to 147+)

v1.0.0

• Initial release with Ollama, Google Translate, and LibreTranslate support

📝 License

MIT License - Free to use, modify and distribute.

🤝 Support

If you have problems:

1. Open the console (Ctrl+Shift+I in a Thunderbird tab)
2. Right-click on the email > Select service and translation language
3. Look for blue messages [Translator] in the console
4. Copy error messages and share them

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Happy translating! 🎉