Lingui Configuration¶

Configuration is read from 3 different sources (the first found wins):

from lingui section in package.json
from .linguirc
from lingui.config.js

Default config:

{
 "catalogs": [{
   "path": "<rootDir>/locale/{locale}/messages",
   "include": ["<rootDir>"],
   "exclude": ["**/node_modules/**"]
 }],
 "compileNamespace": "cjs",
 "extractBabelOptions": {},
 "fallbackLocales": {},
 "format": "po",
 "locales": [],
 "orderBy": "messageId",
 "pseudoLocale": "",
 "rootDir": ".",
 "runtimeConfigModule": ["@lingui/core", "i18n"],
 "sourceLocale": "",
}

catalogs
compileNamespace
extractBabelOptions
fallbackLocales
format
formatOptions
locales
orderBy
pseudoLocale
rootDir
runtimeConfigModule
sourceLocale

catalogs ¶

Default:

[{
   path: "<rootDir>/locale/{locale}/messages",
   include: ["<rootDir>"],
   exclude: ["**/node_modules/**"]
}]

Defines location of message catalogs and what files are included when extract is scanning for messages.

path shouldn’t end with slash and it shouldn’t include file extension which depends on format. {locale} token is replaced by catalog locale.

Patterns in include and exclude are passed to minimatch.

path, include and exclude patterns might include <rootDir> token, which is replaced by value of rootDir.

{name} token in path is replaced with a catalog name. Source path must include {name} pattern as well and it works as a * glob pattern:

{
   "catalogs": [{
      path: "./components/{name}/locale/{locale}",
      include: ["./components/{name}/"],
   }]
}

Examples¶

Let’s assume we use locales: ["en", "cs"] and format: "po" in all examples.

All catalogs in one directory¶

{
   catalogs: [{
      path: "locales/{locale}",
   }]
}

locales/
├── en.po
└── cs.po

Catalogs in separate directories¶

{
   catalogs: [{
      path: "locales/{locale}/messages",
   }]
}

locales
├── en/
│   └── messages.po
└── cs/
    └── messages.po

Separate catalogs per component, placed inside component dir¶

{
   catalogs: [{
      path: "components/{name}/locale/{locale}",
      include: "components/{name}/"
   }]
}

components/
├── RegistrationForm/
│   ├── locale/
│   │  ├── en.po
│   │  └── cs.po
│   ├── RegistrationForm.test.js
│   └── RegistrationForm.js
└── LoginForm/
    ├── locale/
    │  ├── en.po
    │  └── cs.po
    ├── LoginForm.test.js
    └── LoginForm.js

Separate catalogs per component, placed inside shared directory¶

{
   catalogs: [{
      path: "locale/{locale}/{name}",
      include: "components/{name}/"
   }]
}

.
├── locale/
│   ├── en/
│   │   ├── RegistrationForm.po
│   │   └── LoginForm.po
│   └── cs/
│       ├── RegistrationForm.po
│       └── LoginForm.po
└── components/
    ├── RegistrationForm/
    │   ├── RegistrationForm.test.js
    │   └── RegistrationForm.js
    └── LoginForm/
        ├── LoginForm.test.js
        └── LoginForm.js

compileNamespace ¶

Default: cjs

Specify namespace for exporting compiled messages. See compile command.

cjs¶

Use CommonJS exports:

/* eslint-disable */module.exports={messages: {"..."}}

es¶

Use ES6 named export:

/* eslint-disable */export const messages = {"..."}

(window|global).(.*)¶

Assign compiled messages to window or global object. Specify an identifier after window or global to which the catalog is assigned, e.g. window.i18n.

For example, setting compileNamespace to window.i18n creates file similar to this:

/* eslint-disable */window.i18n={messages: {"..."}}

extractBabelOptions ¶

Default: {}

Specify extra babel options used to parse source files when messages are being extracted. This is required when project doesn’t use standard Babel config (e.g. Create React App).

{
  "extractBabelOptions": {
    "plugins": ["@babel/plugin-syntax-dynamic-import"]
  }
}

fallbackLocales ¶

Default: {}

fallbackLocales by default is using CLDR Parent Locales, unless you disable it with a false:

{
  "fallbackLocales": false
}

fallbackLocales object let’s us configure fallback locales to each locale instance.

{
  "fallbackLocales": {
      "en-US": ["en-GB", "en"],
      "es-MX": "es"
  }
}

On this example if any translation isn’t found on en-US then will search on en-GB, after that if not found we’ll search in en

Also, we can configure a default one for everything:

{
  "fallbackLocales": {
      "en-US": ["en-GB", "en"],
      "es-MX": "es",
      "default": "en"
  }
}

Translations from fallbackLocales is used when translation for given locale is missing.

If fallbackLocales is false default message or message ID is used instead.

format ¶

Default: po

Format of message catalogs. Possible values are:

po¶

Gettext PO file:

#, Comment for translators
#: src/App.js:4, src/Component.js:2
msgid "MessageID"
msgstr "Translated Message"

po-gettext¶

Uses PO files but with gettext-style plurals, see PO File with gettext Plurals.

minimal¶

Simple JSON with message ID -> translation mapping. All metadata (default message, comments for translators, message origin, etc) are stripped:

{
   "MessageID": "Translated Message"
}

lingui¶

Raw catalog data serialized to JSON:

{
  "MessageID": {
    "translation": "Translated Message",
    "defaults": "Default string (from source code)",
    "origin": [
      ["path/to/src.js", 42]
    ]
  }
}

Origin is filename and line number from where the message was extracted.

Note that origins may produce a large amount of merge conflicts. Origins can be disabled by setting origins: false in formatOptions.

formatOptions ¶

Default: { origins: true }

Object for configuring message catalog output. See individual formats for options.

locales ¶

Default: []

Locale tags which are used in the project. extract and compile writes one catalog for each locale. Each locale must be a valid BCP-47 code.

orderBy ¶

Default: messageId

Order of messages in catalog:

messageId¶

Sort by the message ID.

origin¶

Sort by message origin (e.g. App.js:3)

pseudoLocale ¶

Default: ""

Locale used for pseudolocalization. For example when you set pseudoLocale: "en" then all messages in en catalog will be pseudo localized. The locale has to be included in locales config.

rootDir ¶

Default: The root of the directory containing your Lingui config file or the package.json.

The root directory that Lingui CLI should scan when extracting messages from source files.

Note that using <rootDir> as a string token in any other path-based config settings will refer back to this value.

runtimeConfigModule ¶

Default: ["@lingui/core", "i18n"]

Module path with exported i18n object. The first value in array is module path, the second is the import identifier. This value is used in macros, which need to reference the global i18n object.

You only need to set this alue if you use custom object created using setupI18n():

// If you import `i18n` object from custom module like this:
import { i18n } from "./custom-i18n-config"

// ... then add following line to Lingui configuration:
// "runtimeConfigModule": ["./custom-i18n-config", "i18n"]

You may use a different named export:

import { myI18n } from "./custom-i18n-config"
// "runtimeConfigModule": ["./custom-i18n-config", "myI18n"]

In some advanced cases you may also need to change the module from which Trans is imported. To do that, pass an object to runtimeConfigModule:

// If you import `i18n` object from custom module like this:
import { Trans, i18n } from "./custom-config"

// ... then add following line to Lingui configuration:
// "runtimeConfigModule": {
//   i18n: ["./custom-config", "i18n"],
//   Trans: ["./custom-config", "Trans"]
// }

Locale of message IDs, which is used in source files. Catalog for sourceLocale doesn’t require translated messages, because message IDs are used by default. However, it’s still possible to override message ID by providing custom translation.

The difference between fallbackLocales and sourceLocale is that fallbackLocales is used in translation, while sourceLocale is used for the message ID.