---
title: "client.languages"
description: "Every method in this namespace: its signature, its parameters, what it returns and an example."
url: "https://openemail.uk/docs/ruby/reference/languages"
area: "Ruby"
category: "Reference"
---

# client.languages

Every method in this namespace: its signature, its parameters, what it returns and an example.

## Methods

Every language a translated send or preview accepts.

### `languages.list`

List every language a message can be sent in

```ruby
list(api_key: nil) -> Array<Hash>
```

Returns the whole language table in one response, with no cursor. It sits behind a key like every other endpoint but needs no scope, because it names no data belonging to anybody. The table is around two hundred rows and changes a handful of times a year, so fetch it once and keep it.

The order is meaningful. The languages people are most likely to be emailed in come first, then regional variants, then the rest by region. A picker should render the rows in the order they arrive until somebody types, then search `native`, `label` and `code` together. Show `native` first, since it is the word someone looking for their own language is scanning for, and never show `flag` on its own: a flag names a country, not a language.

Any row's `code`, `label` or `native` is accepted by `translate.to` on `emails.send` and by `emails.translate`. The gem also ships the same table as `OpenEmail::LANGUAGES` with `OpenEmail.resolve_language`, which is useful before the first request, while this call returns the server's current rows.

**Parameters**

- `api_key` (`String`): Authenticates this call with a different key.

**Returns**

An Array of Hashes, each with `code` (BCP-47), `label` (English name), `native` (endonym), `flag` and `rtl`.

**Example**

```ruby
languages = client.languages.list

german = languages.find { |language| language[:code] == "de" }

puts german[:native] if german
puts languages.count { |language| language[:rtl] }
```

**Notes**

- `rtl` marks right-to-left targets. A translated body for one of them is wrapped in `dir="rtl"` before it is sent.
- The bundled `OpenEmail::LANGUAGES` table can lag the server by however old your installed gem is, so prefer this call when a newly added language matters.

Also available in: API [`GET /languages`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/languages#get-languages); TypeScript [`languages.list()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/languages#list); Python [`languages.list()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/python/reference/languages#list); CLI [`openemail languages list`](https://openemail.uk/docs/cli/reference/languages#languages-list).