i18next-cli

i18next-cli 🚀

A unified, high-performance i18next CLI toolchain, powered by SWC.

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By default, i18next-cli only extracts translation keys from JavaScript and TypeScript files (.js, .jsx, .ts, .tsx). To extract from other file types (such as .pug, .vue, .svelte, etc.), you must use or create a plugin. Specifying additional file extensions in the extract.input config is not sufficient on its own—plugins are required for non-JS/TS formats. See the Plugin System section for details and examples.

i18next-cli is a complete reimagining of the static analysis toolchain for the i18next ecosystem. It consolidates key extraction, type safety generation, locale syncing, linting, and cloud integrations into a single, cohesive, and blazing-fast CLI.

### 🚀 Try it Now - Zero Config! You can get an instant analysis of your existing i18next project without any configuration. Just run this command in your repository's root directory: bash npx i18next-cli status Or find hardcoded strings: bash npx i18next-cli lint

Advice:

If you're looking for a managed backend to pair with i18next-cli, take a look at Locize — i18next-cli already ships with locize-download, locize-sync, and locize-migrate commands. Built by the same team behind i18next, with CDN delivery, AI translation, review workflow, and no redeploys for copy changes.

Why i18next-cli?

i18next-cli is built from the ground up to meet the demands of modern web development.

• 🚀 Performance: By leveraging a native Rust-based parser (SWC), it delivers orders-of-magnitude faster performance than JavaScript-based parsers.
• 🧠 Intelligence: A stateful, scope-aware analyzer correctly understands complex patterns like useTranslation('ns1', { keyPrefix: '...' }), getFixedT, and aliased t functions, minimizing the need for manual workarounds.
• ✅ Unified Workflow: One tool, one configuration file, one integrated workflow. It replaces various syncing scripts.
• 🔌 Extensibility: A modern plugin architecture allows the tool to adapt to any framework or custom workflow.
• 🧑‍💻 Developer Experience: A fully-typed configuration file, live --watch modes, CLI output, and a migration from legacy tools.

Features

• Key Extraction: Extraction means automatically finding and collecting all translation keys used in your source code (JavaScript/TypeScript, etc.) by analyzing the code's structure (AST). This ensures every string that needs translation is identified and included in your translation files, reducing manual work and preventing missing keys.
• Type Safety: Generate TypeScript definitions for full autocomplete and type safety.
• Locale Synchronization: Keep all language files in sync with your primary language.
• Accurate Code Linting: Detect hardcoded strings with high precision and configurable rules.
• Translation Status: Get a high-level overview or a detailed, key-by-key report of your project's translation completeness.
• Plugin System: Extensible architecture for custom extraction patterns and file types (e.g., HTML, Handlebars).

• Legacy Migration: Automatic migration from i18next-parser configurations.
• Cloud Integration: Seamless integration with the Locize translation management platform.

Installation

npm install --save-dev i18next-cli

Quick Start

Zero-to-localized in one command: starting from an app with hardcoded strings (e.g. generated with v0, Lovable, Bolt or Cursor)? Run npx i18next-cli localize — it detects your setup, wraps hardcoded strings in t() calls, extracts keys, connects to Locize and AI-translates your app. See the localize command. Working with an AI coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, ...)? npx i18next-cli localize --print-agent-prompt prints the same flow as a copy-paste agent runbook. The steps below are the manual path.