Translation File Formats

Paraglide JS works with any message syntax and file format via inlang plugins (opens in a new tab). This means you can use JSON, YAML, i18next format, or any other format that has a plugin.

Choosing a Plugin

Plugin	Best For	File Format
Inlang Message Format (opens in a new tab)	New projects, full inlang feature support	`messages/{locale}.json`
i18next (opens in a new tab)	Migrating from i18next	`locales/{locale}.json`
JSON (opens in a new tab)	Simple key-value translations	`{locale}.json`

Browse all plugins at inlang.com/c/plugins (opens in a new tab).

Message Syntax Examples

Inlang Message Format

messages/en.json

{
  "greeting": "Hello {name}!",
  "items_count": "{count, plural, one {# item} other {# items}}",
  "welcome_message": "Welcome to {appName}, {username}!"
}

messages/de.json

{
  "greeting": "Hallo {name}!",
  "items_count": "{count, plural, one {# Artikel} other {# Artikel}}",
  "welcome_message": "Willkommen bei {appName}, {username}!"
}

i18next Format

locales/en.json

{
  "greeting": "Hello {{name}}!",
  "items_count": "{{count}} item",
  "items_count_plural": "{{count}} items"
}

Simple JSON

en.json

{
  "greeting": "Hello!",
  "goodbye": "Goodbye!"
}

Installing a Plugin

Add the plugin URL to the modules array in your project.inlang/settings.json:

[!NOTE] Refer to each plugin's documentation for specific configuration options.

{
  "baseLocale": "en",
  "locales": ["en", "de"],
  "modules": [
-    "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@inlang/plugin-message-format@latest/dist/index.js"
+    "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@inlang/plugin-i18next@latest/dist/index.js"
  ]
}

Using Multiple Plugins

You can use multiple plugins to support different file formats in the same project:

{
  "baseLocale": "en",
  "locales": ["en", "de"],
  "modules": [
    "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@inlang/plugin-message-format@latest/dist/index.js",
    "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@inlang/plugin-i18next@latest/dist/index.js"
  ]
}

This is useful when migrating from one format to another, or when different parts of your app use different translation formats.

Static Site Generation (SSG)Variants