Next.js with lingui for localization

Complete guide: Integrate lingui localization solution in Next.js project, including SWC plugin configuration, PO file management, multi-language routing, and translation workflow.

Implementation

lingui-workflow

Install dependencies

pnpm add @lingui/core @lingui/react
pnpm add @lingui/cli @lingui/loader @lingui/swc-plugin -D

Configure nextjs swc plugin to parse `.po` file

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  output: "export",
+  webpack: (config) => {
+    config.module.rules.push({
+      test: /\.po$/,
+      use: {
+        loader: "@lingui/loader",
+      },
+    });
+    return config;
+  },
+  experimental: {
+    swcPlugins: [["@lingui/swc-plugin", {}]],
+  },
  transpilePackages: ["three"],
};

Lingui configuration

lingui.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from '@lingui/cli'

export default defineConfig({
  sourceLocale: 'en',
  locales: ['zh', 'en'],
  catalogs: [
    {
      path: '<rootDir>/src/locales/{locale}/messages',
      include: ['src'],
    },
  ],
})

Localization

Parse the message.po file, provide a global context

i18n.ts

import { setupI18n } from '@lingui/core'
import linguiConfig from '../lingui.config'
import 'server-only'
import type { I18n, Messages } from '@lingui/core'

export const { locales, sourceLocale } = linguiConfig
type SupportedLocales = string

async function loadCatalog(locale: SupportedLocales): Promise<{
  [k: string]: Messages
}> {
  const { messages } = await import(`./locales/${locale}/messages.po`)
  return {
    [locale]: messages,
  }
}
const catalogs = await Promise.all(locales.map(loadCatalog))

export const allMessages = catalogs.reduce((acc, oneCatalog) => {
  return { ...acc, ...oneCatalog }
}, {})

type AllI18nInstances = { [K in SupportedLocales]: I18n }

export const allI18nInstances: AllI18nInstances = locales.reduce(
  (acc, locale) => {
    const messages = allMessages[locale] ?? {}
    const i18n = setupI18n({
      locale,
      messages: { [locale]: messages },
    })
    return { ...acc, [locale]: i18n }
  },
  {},
)

export const getI18nInstance = (locale: SupportedLocales): I18n => {
  if (!allI18nInstances[locale]) {
    console.warn(`No i18n instance found for locale "${locale}"`)
  }
  return allI18nInstances[locale]! || allI18nInstances.en!
}

provider

LinguiClientProvider.tsx

"use client";
import { setupI18n } from "@lingui/core";
import { I18nProvider } from "@lingui/react";
import { useState } from "react";
import type { Messages } from "@lingui/core";

export function LinguiClientProvider({
  children,
  initialLocale,
  initialMessages,
}: {
  children: React.ReactNode;
  initialLocale: string;
  initialMessages: Messages;
}) {
  const [i18n] = useState(() => {
    return setupI18n({
      locale: initialLocale,
      messages: { [initialLocale]: initialMessages },
    });
  });

  return <I18nProvider i18n={i18n}>{children}</I18nProvider>;
}

Global configuration

import { setI18n } from "@lingui/react/server";
import { Inter } from "next/font/google";
import { Toaster } from "react-hot-toast";
+import { getI18nInstance } from "~/i18n";
+import { LinguiClientProvider } from "~/providers/LinguiClientProvider";
import { Providers } from "../providers";
import "./globals.css";
import type { Metadata } from "next";
import type { ReactNode } from "react";

const inter = Inter({ subsets: ["latin"] });

export const metadata: Metadata = {
  title: "Magic tools",
  description: "a magic tools for developers",
  icons: ["/favicon.ico"],
};

export function getRootLayout(lang: string) {
  function RootLayout({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
+    const i18n = getI18nInstance(lang);
+    setI18n(i18n);

    return (
      <html lang={lang}>
        <body className={inter.className}>
          <Toaster />
+         <LinguiClientProvider
+            initialLocale={lang}
+            initialMessages={i18n.messages}
+          >
            <Providers>{children}</Providers>
+          </LinguiClientProvider>
        </body>
      </html>
    );
  }
  return RootLayout;
}

Routing

The effect to be achieved is that there are two en and zh, and the en path can be hidden, the specific idea is to implement two RootLayout

en-and-zh-directory

Then in the lang path, import the corresponding component

layout.tsx

export { default, metadata } from '../../../(main)/base64/layout'

page.tsx

export { default } from '../../../(main)/base64/page'

The default setting of the main route is en, the lang route obtains the corresponding lang according to generateStaticParams, and here a getRootLayout function is extracted to obtain the specific RootLayout

_layout.tsx

export function getRootLayout(lang: string) {
  function RootLayout({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
    const i18n = getI18nInstance(lang)
    setI18n(i18n)

    return (
      <html lang={lang}>
        <body className={inter.className}>
          <Toaster />
          <LinguiClientProvider
            initialLocale={lang}
            initialMessages={i18n.messages}
          >
            <Providers>{children}</Providers>
          </LinguiClientProvider>
        </body>
      </html>
    )
  }
  return RootLayout
}

src/app/(main)/layout.tsx

import { getRootLayout } from '../_layout'

export { metadata } from '../_layout'

const RootLayout = getRootLayout('en')
export default RootLayout

src/app/(lang)/[lang]/layout.tsx

import { locales } from '~/i18n'
import { getRootLayout } from '../../_layout'

export { metadata } from '../../_layout'

interface Props {
  params: Promise<{
    lang: string
  }>
  children: React.ReactNode
}

export async function generateStaticParams() {
  return locales.map((locale) => ({ lang: locale }))
}

export default async function Layout({ params, children }: Props) {
  const { lang } = await params
  const RootLayout = getRootLayout(lang)

  return <RootLayout>{children}</RootLayout>
}

Link

After adding en zh, some route links may not jump to the current language, useI18nHelper is implemented as a helper

import { useLingui } from '@lingui/react/macro'
import { usePathname, useRouter } from 'next/navigation'

export function useI18nHelper() {
  const router = useRouter()
  const pathname = usePathname()
  const { i18n } = useLingui()

  const sourceLocale = 'en'
  const locales = ['en', 'zh']

  const switchLocale = () => {
    const newLocale =
      locales.find((locale) => locale !== i18n.locale) || sourceLocale

    const realPathname = pathname.split('/').filter((i, index) => {
      if (index === 1 && i === i18n.locale) return false
      return Boolean(i)
    })

    const newPathname =
      newLocale === sourceLocale
        ? `/${realPathname.join('/')}`
        : `/${newLocale}/${realPathname.join('/')}`

    router.push(newPathname)
  }

  const getRealPathname = (path: string) => {
    const isLocalePath = locales.includes(pathname.split('/')[1])

    return isLocalePath
      ? [i18n.locale, ...path.split('/').filter(Boolean)].join('/')
      : path
  }

  return {
    // FIXME import from config file
    sourceLocale,
    locales,
    switchLocale,
    getRealPathname,
  }
}

Build

Add extraction command

{
  "scripts": {
    "extract": "lingui extract",
    "compile": "lingui compile"
  }
}

Manual translation or translation with tools

translate-po-file

> cd ..

Next.js with lingui for localization

Install dependencies

Configure nextjs swc plugin to parse `.po` file

Lingui configuration

Localization

Routing

Link

Build

How I built this blog

Add PWA and Service Worker to your site

Next.js with lingui for localization

Install dependencies

Configure nextjs swc plugin to parse .po file

Lingui configuration

Localization

Routing

Link

Build

How I built this blog

Add PWA and Service Worker to your site

Configure nextjs swc plugin to parse `.po` file