Configuration

Configuration

The CLI reads a config file named i18n-smell.config.mjs by default. It also supports .js, .cjs, and .json.

Minimal Config

export default {
  baseLocale: 'en',
  locales: {
    en: './src/locales/en.json',
    zh: './src/locales/zh.json',
    'zh-Hans': './src/locales/zh-Hans.json'
  },
  source: [
    'src/**/*.{vue,js,jsx,ts,tsx}'
  ]
};

Full Example

export default {
  preset: 'recommended',
  baseLocale: 'en',
  checks: {
    identical: true,
    hardcoded: true,
    placeholders: true
  },
  locales: {
    en: './src/locales/en.json',
    zh: './src/locales/zh.json',
    'zh-Hans': './src/locales/zh-Hans.json',
    ja: './src/locales/ja.json'
  },
  source: [
    'src/**/*.{vue,js,jsx,ts,tsx}'
  ],
  allowIdenticalKeys: [
    'brand.*',
    /^protocol\./
  ],
  allowIdenticalValues: [
    'OK',
    'ID',
    'API'
  ],
  doNotTranslate: [
    {
      values: ['PRODUCT_X', /^MODEL-\d+$/],
      category: 'product-name',
      reason: 'Official product terminology',
      owner: 'localization-team'
    }
  ],
  placeholderPatterns: [
    '\\{\\{[^}]+\\}\\}',
    '(?<!\\{)\\{[^{}]+\\}(?!\\})',
    '%[sdif]',
    '%\\([^)]+\\)[sdif]'
  ],
  hardcoded: {
    vueAttributes: ['placeholder', 'title', 'alt', 'aria-label', 'aria-description'],
    jsxAttributes: ['placeholder', 'title', 'alt', 'aria-label', 'aria-description'],
    functions: ['toast.success', 'toast.error', 'alert', 'confirm'],
    ignoreFiles: ['src/generated/**'],
    ignoreValues: ['OK', 'ID'],
    ignorePatterns: ['^v\\d+$'],
    technicalTerms: ['PROTOCOL_X', /^MODEL-\d+$/],
    sinks: {
      calls: [{ callee: 'notify', arguments: [0] }],
      assignments: ['error.value'],
      properties: ['summary', 'detail']
    }
  },
  ignoreCodeLike: true,
  ignoreSameLanguageFamily: true,
  trimWhitespace: true,
  ignoreCase: false,
  includeIgnored: false,
  format: 'console',
  baseline: '.i18n-smell-baseline.json',
  failOn: 'high'
};

Important Options

Option	Purpose
baseLocale	Locale used as the source language.
preset	Optional preset. Use recommended for defaults or strict for stricter CI.
locales	Map of locale code to JSON locale file.
source	Files scanned by check-hardcoded.
checks	Enables checks for the combined check command.
allowIdenticalKeys	Allows copied values for matching locale keys.
allowIdenticalValues	Allows copied values for exact values or regex matches.
doNotTranslate	Categorized, auditable identical-value suppressions.
placeholderPatterns	Defines placeholder tokens used by locale checks.
hardcoded.vueAttributes	Vue static attributes to scan.
hardcoded.jsxAttributes	JSX/TSX static attributes to scan.
hardcoded.functions	JS/TS function calls whose static string arguments are scanned.
hardcoded.sinks	Precise call arguments, assignment targets, and object properties to scan recursively.
hardcoded.technicalTerms	Project-specific technical values that should receive low confidence.
hardcoded.ignoreFiles	Source files excluded from hardcoded scanning.
failOn	Lowest severity that exits with code 1.

Locale keys that contain -, such as 'zh-Hans', must be quoted in JavaScript config files.

Dollar-number placeholders such as $1 are opt-in. Add '\\$\\d+' to placeholderPatterns only when the project uses that syntax and the values cannot be confused with currency.

Presets

preset: 'recommended' keeps the default behavior.

preset: 'strict' is useful once a project has already tuned allowlists and baselines. It currently:

• sets failOn to medium
• sets ignoreSameLanguageFamily to false

Explicit options in your config win over preset defaults.

Path Resolution

locales, source, baseline, and output paths are resolved relative to the config file location when applicable.