/generate-translations

name: generate-translations
description: Use when new translation keys are added to packages to generate new translations strings
allowed-tools: Write, Bash(date:*), Bash(mkdir -p *)

Translation Generation Guide

Payload has two separate translation systems:

1. **Core Translations** - for core Payload packages (packages/ui, packages/payload, packages/next) 2. **Plugin Translations** - for plugins (packages/plugin-\*)

Table of Contents

• [1. Core Translations](#1-core-translations)
• [2. Plugin Translations](#2-plugin-translations)
• [Scaffolding New Plugin Translations](#scaffolding-new-plugin-translations)
• [Important Notes](#important-notes)

---

1. Core Translations

**When to use:** Adding translations to core Payload packages (packages/ui, packages/payload, packages/next)

Steps:

1. **Add the English translation** to `packages/translations/src/languages/en.ts`

• Add your new key/value to the appropriate section (e.g., `authentication`, `general`, `fields`, etc.)
• Use nested objects for organization
• Example:

     export const enTranslations = {
       authentication: {
         // ... existing keys
         newFeature: 'New Feature Text',
       },
     }

2. **Add client key** (if needed for client-side usage) to `packages/translations/src/clientKeys.ts`

• Add the translation key path using colon notation
• Example: `'authentication:newFeature'`
• Client keys are used for translations that need to be available in the browser

3. **Generate translations for all languages**

• Change directory: `cd tools/scripts`
• Run: `pnpm generateTranslations:core`
• This auto-translates your new English keys to all other supported languages

---

2. Plugin Translations

**When to use:** Adding translations to any plugin package (packages/plugin-\*)

Steps:

1. **Verify plugin has translations folder**

• Check if `packages/plugin-{name}/src/translations` exists
• If it doesn't exist, see "Scaffolding New Plugin Translations" below

2. **Add the English translation** to the plugin's `packages/plugin-{name}/src/translations/languages/en.ts`

• Plugin translations are namespaced under the plugin name
• Example for plugin-multi-tenant:

     export const enTranslations = {
       'plugin-multi-tenant': {
         'new-feature-label': 'New Feature',
       },
     }

3. **Generate translations for all languages**

• Change directory: `cd tools/scripts`
• Run the plugin-specific script: `pnpm generateTranslations:plugin-{name}`
• Examples:
• `pnpm generateTranslations:plugin-multi-tenant`
• `pnpm generateTranslations:plugin-ecommerce`
• `pnpm generateTranslations:plugin-import-export`

Scaffolding New Plugin Translations

If a plugin doesn't have a translations folder yet, **ask the user if they want to scaffold one**.

Structure to create:

packages/plugin-{name}/src/translations/
├── index.ts
├── types.ts
└── languages/
    ├── en.ts
    ├── es.ts
    └── ... (all other language files)

Files to create:

1. **types.ts** - Define the plugin's translation types 2. **index.ts** - Export all translations and re-export types 3. **languages/en.ts** - English translations (the source for generation) 4. **languages/\*.ts** - Other language files (initially empty, will be generated)

Generation script to create:

1. Create `tools/scripts/src/generateTranslations/plugin-{name}.ts`

• Use `plugin-multi-tenant.ts` as a template
• Update the import paths to point to the new plugin
• Update the targetFolder path

2. Add script to `tools/scripts/package.json`:

   "generateTranslations:plugin-{name}": "node --no-deprecation --import @swc-node/register/esm-register src/generateTranslations/plugin-{name}.ts"

---

Important Notes

• All translation generation requires `OPENAI_KEY` environment variable to be set
• The generation scripts use OpenAI to translate from English to other languages
• Always add translations to English first - it's the source of truth
• **Core translations**: Client keys are only needed for translations used in the browser/admin UI
• **Plugin translations**: Automatically namespaced under the plugin name to avoid conflicts