workday-translate-sample

Workday Translate Sample - AWS AI Integration

An AWS Lambda function that provides real-time translation services using AWS Translate and Comprehend. This example demonstrates how to integrate Workday Extend with AWS AI/ML services to enable multi-language support for global workforces.

Overview

This example demonstrates:

• Integration with AWS Translate for text translation
• Automatic language detection using AWS Comprehend
• Support for multiple language pairs
• Production-ready error handling and logging
• Serverless deployment using AWS SAM

Architecture

Workday Orchestration → AWS Lambda → AWS Translate/Comprehend → Translated Response

The Lambda function:

1. Receives text and language parameters from Workday
2. Optionally detects source language using AWS Comprehend
3. Translates text using AWS Translate
4. Returns translated text in JSON response

What's Included

• src/index.py - Python Lambda handler with translation logic
• template.yaml - AWS SAM template with Workday-specific configurations
• samconfig.toml - SAM deployment configuration (requires customization)
• events/test-event.json - Sample test event for local testing
• test/payload.json - Additional test payload
• WORKDAY_DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md - Comprehensive deployment instructions

Prerequisites

AWS Tools

• AWS CLI installed and configured
• SAM CLI installed
• Docker Desktop (for SAM builds)
• Python 3.11+

Workday Access

• Workday Developer account
• Development tenant access
• Permissions to create Extend apps and orchestrations

AWS Service Access

This example requires access to:

• AWS Lambda
• AWS Translate
• AWS Comprehend

Quick Start

1. Configure Deployment Settings

Edit samconfig.toml with your Workday tenant information:

stack_name = "app-translate-example"  # Must have "app-" prefix
region = "us-west-2"                  # Your tenant region
s3_bucket = "workday-wcp-<org-short-id>-us-west-2"  # Your org ID and region

2. Deploy to AWS

cd sam-version
sam build && sam deploy

3. Configure Workday Extend

Follow the detailed instructions in WORKDAY_DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md to:

• Create a Workday Extend app
• Build a translation orchestration
• Configure the Lambda invocation
• Test the integration

API Reference

Request Format

{
  "text": "Hello world, this is a test translation",
  "sourceLanguage": "en",
  "targetLanguage": "es"
}

Response Format

{
  "statusCode": 200,
  "body": "{\"translatedText\": \"Hola mundo, esta es una traducción de prueba\", \"sourceLanguage\": \"en\", \"targetLanguage\": \"es\"}"
}

Parameters

• text (string, required): Text to translate
• sourceLanguage (string, optional): Source language code (e.g., "en", "es", "fr"). If omitted, language is auto-detected
• targetLanguage (string, required): Target language code

Supported Languages

AWS Translate supports 75+ languages. Common language codes:

• en - English
• es - Spanish
• fr - French
• de - German
• ja - Japanese
• zh - Chinese (Simplified)
• pt - Portuguese
• ar - Arabic

Full list of supported languages

Testing

Local Testing

sam local invoke TranslateFunction --event events/test-event.json

AWS Testing

aws lambda invoke \
  --function-name WorkdayTranslateFunction \
  --payload file://test/payload.json \
  --region us-west-2 \
  output.json

cat output.json

Deployment Guide

For complete step-by-step deployment instructions, including:

• AWS CLI and SAM CLI installation
• Workday tenant credential configuration
• IAM permissions and VPC setup
• Workday Extend orchestration creation
• Testing and troubleshooting

See: WORKDAY_DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md

Use Cases

This translation service can be used for:

• Global Workforce Communication: Translate messages, announcements, and documents for international teams
• Multi-language Support: Provide real-time translation in Workday custom applications
• Document Translation: Translate job descriptions, policies, and training materials
• Customer Service: Enable support teams to communicate across language barriers
• Compliance: Translate legal and compliance documents for regional requirements

Features

• Automatic Language Detection: Optionally detect source language using AWS Comprehend
• 75+ Languages: Support for major world languages through AWS Translate
• High Quality: Neural machine translation for natural-sounding results
• Scalable: Serverless architecture handles varying translation volumes
• Cost-Effective: Pay only for characters translated
• Fast: Low-latency responses suitable for real-time applications

Extending This Example

Consider enhancing this example with:

• Batch Translation: Process multiple texts in a single request
• Custom Terminology: Use AWS Translate custom terminology for domain-specific terms
• Translation Memory: Store translations in DynamoDB to reduce costs and improve consistency
• Format Preservation: Handle HTML or formatted text translation
• Quality Metrics: Track translation quality and usage patterns
• Caching: Implement caching for frequently translated phrases

Architecture Considerations

Security

• Lambda runs in Workday-managed VPC
• Uses Workday-provided IAM execution role
• Credentials managed through AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
• No sensitive data stored in function code

Performance

• Cold start: ~1-2 seconds
• Warm execution: ~200-500ms
• Scales automatically based on demand
• No infrastructure management required

Cost

• Lambda: Pay per invocation and execution time
• AWS Translate: Pay per character translated
• AWS Comprehend: Pay per language detection request (if used)
• Typical cost: $0.000001 per character for translation

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

• Translation errors: Verify language codes are valid and supported by AWS Translate
• Permission denied: Ensure Lambda has translate:TranslateText and comprehend:DetectDominantLanguage permissions
• Timeout errors: Check VPC configuration and network connectivity
• Invalid JSON: Verify payload includes required text and targetLanguage fields
• Character limit exceeded: AWS Translate has a 10,000 byte limit per request

Related Examples

• Lambda Sum Sample - Simpler example demonstrating basic integration pattern

Resources

• AWS Translate Documentation
• AWS Comprehend Documentation
• Workday Extend Documentation
• AWS Lambda Best Practices

License

This example is licensed under the MIT-0 License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

We welcome improvements and additional features! Please see the repository CONTRIBUTING guide for details.