Internationalization — ObjectStack I18n Protocol

Translation Configuration

Stack-Level I18n Config

Configure i18n settings in your objectstack.config.ts:

<!-- os:check -->

import { defineStack } from '@objectstack/spec';

export default defineStack({
  i18n: {
    defaultLocale: 'en',
    supportedLocales: ['en', 'zh-CN', 'ja-JP', 'es-ES'],
    fallbackLocale: 'en',
  },
  // translations: [MyTranslations],  ← register your bundles here (see below)
});

BCP-47 Locale Codes: Use standard locale tags (e.g., en-US, zh-CN, pt-BR, en-GB).

Authoring Translation Bundles (objects.*)

The canonical authoring path: one TranslationData per locale, assembled with defineTranslationBundle and registered on the stack. This mirrors the shipped examples/app-todo (src/translations/{en,zh-CN,ja-JP}.ts + index.ts):

<!-- os:check -->

// src/translations/en.ts — one TranslationData per locale
import { defineStack, defineTranslationBundle } from '@objectstack/spec';
import type { TranslationData } from '@objectstack/spec/system';

const en: TranslationData = {
  objects: {
    task: {
      label: 'Task',
      pluralLabel: 'Tasks',
      fields: {
        subject: { label: 'Subject', help: 'Brief title of the task' },
        status: {
          label: 'Status',
          options: {
            not_started: 'Not Started',
            in_progress: 'In Progress',
            completed: 'Completed',
          },
        },
        due_date: { label: 'Due Date' },
      },
      _views: {
        all_tasks: {
          label: 'All Tasks',
          emptyState: { title: 'No tasks yet', message: 'Create your first task' },
        },
      },
      _sections: {
        details: { label: 'Details' },
      },
      _actions: {
        complete: {
          label: 'Complete',
          confirmText: 'Mark this task as completed?',
          successMessage: 'Task completed',
        },
      },
    },
  },
  apps: {
    todo_app: { label: 'Todo Manager', description: 'Personal task management' },
  },
  messages: {
    'common.save': 'Save',
    'common.cancel': 'Cancel',
    'welcome.user': 'Welcome, {{userName}}!',
  },
};

// src/translations/zh-CN.ts — same shape, translated values
const zhCN: TranslationData = {
  objects: {
    task: {
      label: '任务',
      pluralLabel: '任务',
      fields: {
        subject: { label: '主题', help: '任务的简要标题' },
        status: {
          label: '状态',
          options: { not_started: '未开始', in_progress: '进行中', completed: '已完成' },
        },
        due_date: { label: '截止日期' },
      },
    },
  },
  apps: {
    todo_app: { label: '待办管理', description: '个人任务管理' },
  },
  messages: {
    'common.save': '保存',
    'common.cancel': '取消',
    'welcome.user': '欢迎，{{userName}}！',
  },
};

// src/translations/index.ts — assemble the locales into one bundle…
export const TodoTranslations = defineTranslationBundle({
  en,
  'zh-CN': zhCN,
});

// objectstack.config.ts — …and register it on the stack
export default defineStack({
  i18n: { defaultLocale: 'en', supportedLocales: ['en', 'zh-CN'] },
  translations: [TodoTranslations],
});

defineTranslationBundle validates the bundle at authoring time via .parse() — prefer it over a bare : TranslationBundle literal.

Object-Level Translation Structure

All translatable content for a single object is aggregated under objects.{object_name} with these sub-keys:

Top-level groups alongside objects: apps (label, description, navigation), messages, globalActions (object-less actions), dashboards, datasets, pages, flows, settings, metadataForms, settingsCommon.

For the exact Zod shape (and any field that may have been added since), read node_modules/@objectstack/spec/src/system/translation.zod.ts — TranslationDataSchema, ObjectTranslationDataSchema, and FieldTranslationSchema.

Naming Conventions

Critical: Object names and field keys in translation bundles must match the snake_case names defined in your Object and Field schemas.

Option sub-keys are the option's stored value, never its display label: for options: [{ value: 'directmail', label: 'Direct Mail' }] write options: { directmail: '直邮' } — both 'Direct Mail' and 'direct-mail' parse, ship, and resolve to nothing.

os validate / os lint / os compile check this direction and report it as warnings (translation-target-unknown, translation-option-key-unknown): a key naming an object, field, view, tab, action, param, section, validation rule, app, nav item, dashboard, widget or flow screen that does not exist is listed alongside the names that do. A bundle keyed to something since renamed still parses — the label just renders silently in its source locale while every neighbouring one resolves.

File Organization Strategies

Layout is an authoring convention: whichever one you pick, your own import graph assembles it into the TranslationBundle you register on the stack — nothing loads a directory tree for you.

| Layout | Files | Use when | |:--|:--|:--| | Bundled | one crm.translation.ts holding every locale | under 5 objects, 2-3 locales | | Per-locale (recommended) | src/translations/{en,zh-CN,ja-JP}.ts + index.ts | 5-20 objects, 3-5 locales | | Per-namespace | i18n/{locale}/{object}.json, assembled by your own imports | 20+ objects, 5+ locales |

Authoring at Runtime: the translation Item

Translations do not have to ship as files. A translation metadata item — created in the Studio, through the metadata API, or by an agent — carries one locale's worth of the same objects.* groups documented above plus the locale it translates. locale is required, one locale per item, and published items load at boot and on every publish, layering over the file bundles (delete the item and the shipped value returns). There is exactly one shape; nothing converts between formats. Author with defineTranslation; exact Zod shape is TranslationItemSchema in node_modules/@objectstack/spec/src/system/translation.zod.ts.

Message Interpolation

Simple Format (Default)

Both shipped adapters (FileI18nAdapter and the in-memory fallback) substitute double-brace {{variable}} placeholders only — single braces pass through unchanged. (The schema docstring mentions {variable} notation, but that is not what the runtime implements.)

{
  "messages": {
    "welcome": "Welcome, {{userName}}!",
    "pagination": "Showing {{start}} to {{end}} of {{total}} items"
  }
}

Usage:

i18n.t('messages.welcome', 'en', { userName: 'Alice' });
// "Welcome, Alice!"

No ICU MessageFormat

There is no ICU MessageFormat engine — interpolation is always simple {{variable}} substitution (the aspirational messageFormat config knob was removed). Author messages for simple substitution; ICU plural/select strings like {count, plural, one {1 message} other {# messages}} will not be evaluated. To pluralize, select the form in application code before calling t().

Translation Coverage

os i18n check

The working coverage path is the CLI:

os i18n check                          # every locale found in the config
os i18n check --locales=zh-CN          # scope to specific locales
os i18n check --strict --threshold=95  # CI gate: locale parity + minimum coverage

It compares registered bundles against source metadata and reports missing keys per locale for every surface the extractor walks — objects and their sub-keys, global actions, apps, dashboards, pages, flow screens, metadata forms. Gaps in the default locale are errors, --strict promotes the rest, --show-keys lists them all; os lint --i18n-strict folds the same gate into lint.

os i18n extract --check — freshness, not coverage

If you commit generated bundles (*.generated.ts produced by os i18n extract), coverage is only half the gate:

os i18n extract <config> --locales=zh-CN,ja-JP --fill=default \
  --out=src/translations --check

--check writes nothing. It re-renders what a real extract would produce and fails if that differs from what is committed in --out, naming each stale or missing file and printing the regenerate command.

Use both gates — they answer different questions. os i18n check asks are the strings translated? (coverage: human work). extract --check asks are the generated bundles still what the schema produces? (freshness: machine output). Renaming a label or removing a spec key leaves coverage at 100% while bundles go stale — how the platform's own ended up translating keys the schema had deleted.

It runs in the same merge mode as a normal extract, so it never asks for re-translation: an up-to-date bundle re-extracts byte-identically. Requires --out — there is nothing to compare against without it.

Diff & Coverage Schemas

The spec models coverage results for tooling: TranslationCoverageResult (totals, coveragePercent, per-group breakdown) and TranslationDiffItem — key (dot path), status (missing | redundant | stale), locale, optional objectName, optional sourceHash for stale detection, and AI-enrichment fields (aiSuggested, aiConfidence). Full Zod shape: node_modules/@objectstack/spec/src/system/translation.zod.ts — TranslationCoverageResultSchema, TranslationDiffItemSchema.

These schemas back the optional contract methods getCoverage() and suggestTranslations(), which no shipped adapter implements — point coverage workflows at os i18n check / os lint --i18n-strict instead.

Integration with II18nService

Service Contract

II18nService is the kernel service (name 'i18n') that loads bundles and resolves keys with fallback:

import type { II18nService } from '@objectstack/spec/contracts';

(The contract's source .ts is not part of the published package — only src/**/*.zod.ts ships — so import the type from @objectstack/spec/contracts rather than reading node_modules source.)

Methods implemented by both shipped adapters (FileI18nAdapter from @objectstack/service-i18n, and the in-memory fallback @objectstack/core registers when no i18n plugin is present):

• t(key, locale, params?) — dot-path resolution (e.g. objects.account.label)

with {{param}} interpolation and fallback-locale lookup

• getTranslations(locale) — full snapshot for a locale
• loadTranslations(locale, data) — programmatic load; deep-merges, so multiple

plugins can each contribute their own objects.* slice

• getLocales() / setSupportedLocales() / getDefaultLocale() / setDefaultLocale()

The in-memory fallback additionally resolves locale codes (exact → case-insensitive → base language zh-CN → zh → variant zh → zh-CN).

The contract also declares optional methods — getFieldLabels, getCoverage, suggestTranslations — that no shipped implementation provides. Treat them as extension points for a custom workbench or TMS adapter. (getAppBundle / loadAppBundle went with the o.* shape they returned.)

Registration

You do not wire this plugin: os serve registers I18nServicePlugin itself whenever the stack config carries translations or i18n (kernel bootstrap is objectstack-platform → Runtime Boot Sequence). It self-registers GET /api/v1/i18n/locales, /translations/:locale and /labels/:object/:locale.

Translation Workflow Best Practices

1. Extract Skeletons from Metadata

Scaffold ready-to-edit translation files from your stack config:

os i18n extract --locales=zh-CN --out=./src/translations

This writes <locale>.objects.generated.ts TypeScript modules (not JSON), plus a <locale>.metadata-forms.generated.ts companion unless --no-metadata-forms — the default locale is filled from schema labels, other locales follow --fill (empty | default | todo). os i18n extract --help lists the rest: --filter, --default-locale, --no-merge, --objects-only, --source-hashes, --dry-run, --json, …

⚠️ --objects-only is on by DEFAULT, so extract writes only the objects / globalActions subtree — while os i18n check also demands app, navigation, dashboard, widget, page and flow keys. Run the workflow as written and coverage reports gaps the extract never scaffolded. Pass --no-objects-only to include those groups, or author them by hand.

2. Translate

Fill in the values manually.

3. Verify Coverage

os i18n check --locales=zh-CN

Add --strict / --threshold=95 in CI to fail on locale gaps.

4. Register

A stack registers its bundles with defineStack({ translations: [...] }). A package or plugin shipping its own generated bundle — the most common shape in this repo — has one more step: a generated module exports an objects subtree (NonNullable<TranslationData['objects']>), not a TranslationData, so it must be wrapped before it is a bundle at all.

// src/translations/index.ts
import { defineTranslationBundle } from '@objectstack/spec';
import type { TranslationData } from '@objectstack/spec/system';
import { withSourceFallback } from '@objectstack/platform-objects/apps';
import { enObjects } from './en.objects.generated.js';
import { zhCNObjects } from './zh-CN.objects.generated.js';
import { zhCNGeneratedSourceHashes } from './zh-CN.source-hashes.generated.js';

const enSource: TranslationData = { objects: enObjects };

export const StorageTranslations = defineTranslationBundle({
  en: enSource,
  // 4th argument = the `--source-hashes` companion. Without it a leaf whose SOURCE has
  // moved goes on serving the superseded fill under a green `os i18n check` forever.
  // The 3rd stays undefined: it judges hand-authored `apps` / `dashboards` / `pages`,
  // which a fully generated set does not have.
  'zh-CN': withSourceFallback({ objects: zhCNObjects }, enSource, undefined, zhCNGeneratedSourceHashes),
});

A plugin that owns its objects loads that bundle from its own kernel:ready hook rather than registering it on the stack: i18n.loadTranslations(locale, data) deep-merges, so every plugin contributes its own objects.* slice.

Shipped examples

examples/app-crm — the bundled layout (one crm.translation.ts, en + zh-CN). examples/app-todo — the per-locale layout ({en,zh-CN,ja-JP}.ts + index.ts).

Common Pitfalls

❌ The Retired o.* Shape

Everything reads objects.. The o. dialect was removed — not a "Studio format", not a secondary format, just gone. Both doors reject it, files included.

// WRONG — in a file bundle AND in a `translation` item
{ o: { account: { label: '客户' } } }

// CORRECT (TranslationData)
{ objects: { account: { label: '客户' } } }

Same rule for its sibling keys: app → apps, nav → apps.<app>.navigation.<id>.label, dashboard → dashboards, globalOptions → objects.<obj>.fields.<field>.options, meta.locale → top-level locale, and actions.confirmMessage → actions.confirmText.

❌ Ignoring Coverage Reports

Run os i18n check before releases; extract --check is what sees staleness.

Verify your work

os i18n check   # coverage: which keys are missing, per locale
os validate     # the bundle conforms to the protocol schema

os lint --i18n-strict turns coverage gaps into hard errors. For the build and scaffold gates see objectstack-platform → Verify your work.

References

See [references/index.md](./references/index.md) for the full list of Zod schemas (with one-line descriptions) — pointers into node_modules/@objectstack/spec/src/. Always Read the source for exact field shapes; do not rely on memory of property names.

See Also

• objectstack-data — For understanding object and field metadata structure
• objectstack-ui — For view, app, and action translations
• objectstack-automation — For workflow and flow message translations