Configuration

translate-kit is configured via a translate-kit.config.ts file at your project root. The config is loaded using c12 and validated with Zod.

Full Example

import { defineConfig } from "translate-kit";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";

export default defineConfig({
  // Required
  model: openai("gpt-4o-mini"),
  sourceLocale: "en",
  targetLocales: ["es", "fr", "de", "pt", "ja"],
  messagesDir: "./messages",

  // Mode: "keys" (default) or "inline"
  mode: "keys",

  // Translation options
  translation: {
    batchSize: 50,
    concurrency: 3,
    context: "SaaS application for project management",
    glossary: {
      "Acme": "Acme",
      "Dashboard": "Dashboard",
    },
    tone: "professional",
    retries: 2,
  },

  // Scanner options (for scan + codegen commands)
  scan: {
    include: ["src/**/*.tsx", "app/**/*.tsx"],
    exclude: ["**/*.test.*"],
    keyStrategy: "hash",
    translatableProps: ["placeholder", "title", "alt", "aria-label"],
    i18nImport: "next-intl",
  },

  // Inline mode options (required when mode is "inline")
  // inline: {
  //   componentPath: "@/components/t",
  // },
});

Required Fields

Field	Type	Description
`model`	`LanguageModel`	Vercel AI SDK model instance
`sourceLocale`	`string`	Source language code (e.g. `"en"`)
`targetLocales`	`string[]`	Target language codes
`messagesDir`	`string`	Path to messages directory

Mode

Field	Type	Default	Description
`mode`	`"keys" \| "inline"`	`"keys"`	Translation mode. See Inline Mode

keys — replaces strings with t("key") calls and generates a source locale JSON file
inline — wraps strings with <T id="key">text</T> components, source text stays in code

Inline Options

Required when mode is "inline".

Field	Type	Description
`inline.componentPath`	`string`	Import path for the `<T>` component (e.g. `"@/components/t"`)

Translation Options

Field	Type	Default	Description
`batchSize`	`number`	`50`	Keys per AI request
`concurrency`	`number`	`3`	Parallel batch limit
`context`	`string`	—	Project context for better translations
`glossary`	`Record<string, string>`	—	Terms that should not be translated
`tone`	`string`	—	Translation tone (e.g. `"professional"`, `"casual"`)
`retries`	`number`	`2`	Retry attempts on failure

Scanner Options

Field	Type	Default	Description
`include`	`string[]`	—	Glob patterns for files to scan
`exclude`	`string[]`	—	Glob patterns to exclude
`keyStrategy`	`"hash" \| "path"`	`"hash"`	Key generation strategy
`translatableProps`	`string[]`	`["placeholder", "title", "alt", "aria-label"]`	JSX props to extract
`i18nImport`	`string`	`"next-intl"`	i18n library import source

Key Strategies

hash — generates stable 12-character SHA-256 hashes. Good for large codebases where readability is less important.
path — generates human-readable keys like ComponentName.parentTag.slug. More readable but may change if components are renamed.

AI semantic key generation is used automatically during scan to produce namespace-style keys like common.save, nav.dashboard, form.enterName.