add-locale

Add a UI locale to the webview

The webview UI is internationalized with react-i18next. Every language is a folder of JSON catalogs under webview/src/i18n/locales/<locale>/, one file per namespace (page/area). English (en) is the source of truth and the fallback for any missing key.

Adding a language = (1) create that folder of translated JSON, (2) register the language in two small code spots. config.ts auto-loads locale files via a Vite glob, so you never edit config.ts.

0. Pick the identifiers

• locale — a BCP-47 code and the folder name, e.g. it (Italian), pt-BR (Brazilian Portuguese), zh-TW (Traditional Chinese).
• setting value — the value stored in settings, a lowercase English name, e.g. italian. For script/region variants use a - suffix, e.g. chinese-traditional.
• endonym — the language's own name for the dropdown label, e.g. Italiano, 繁體中文. (Labels are endonym-only — no romanized prefix.)

1. Create the translation files

List the namespaces (these are the English source files):

ls webview/src/i18n/locales/en/
# chat chatTools commandPalette common notifications permissions
# projectSelector sessionPanel settings switchAccount

Create webview/src/i18n/locales/<locale>/<namespace>.json for every file in en/. Translate the string values; keep the key structure identical to the English file.

Rules — same as the shipped locales:

• Mirror keys exactly. Same nesting, same key names as en/. Only values change.
• Preserve interpolation placeholders verbatim: {{value}}, {{count}}, {{n}}, {{seconds}}, {{error}}, {{label}}, {{appName}}, … Keep whatever the English value uses, in place.
• Plurals: if an English key uses i18next plural suffixes (foo_one/foo_other), produce the plural set your language needs. Languages with no plural distinction (ko/ja/zh) keep the same suffix keys with identical text. Languages with more categories (e.g. Russian: _one/_few/_many) may add those suffix keys — that is correct even though it means more keys than English for those entries.
• Do NOT translate: the brand "Claude Code", ALL-CAPS env vars (CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR), file paths, URLs, acronyms (CLI, MCP, IDE, OS, URL), code identifiers, model names/IDs, shell commands, keyboard tokens (Cmd+K).
• Natural, concise UI phrasing. Match the tone of the existing locales.
• Every file must be valid JSON.

2. Register the locale (two spots)

a. webview/src/i18n/languageMap.ts

• Add the locale to SUPPORTED_LOCALES.
• Add '<setting value>': '<locale>' to LANGUAGE_TO_LOCALE.

b. webview/src/pages/SettingsPage/General/index.tsx

• Add { value: '<setting value>', label: '<endonym>' } to LANGUAGE_OPTIONS.

config.ts picks up the new files automatically (glob) — do not edit it.

3. Verify

• Key parity — every locale namespace must have the same leaf keys as en (plural suffix variants aside). Run:

node -e '
const fs=require("fs"),p=require("path");
const base="webview/src/i18n/locales", L=process.argv[1];
const NS=fs.readdirSync(base+"/en").map(f=>f.replace(".json",""));
const leaves=(o,pre="")=>Object.entries(o).flatMap(([k,v])=>v&&typeof v==="object"&&!Array.isArray(v)?leaves(v,pre+k+"."):[pre+k]);
const norm=k=>k.replace(/_(zero|one|two|few|many|other)$/,"");
let miss=0;
for(const ns of NS){
  const en=new Set(leaves(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(`${base}/en/${ns}.json`))).map(norm));
  let tr; try{tr=new Set(leaves(JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(`${base}/${L}/${ns}.json`))).map(norm));}catch(e){console.log(`MISSING FILE ${L}/${ns}.json`);miss++;continue;}
  for(const k of en) if(!tr.has(k)){console.log(`${L}/${ns}: missing ${k}`);miss++;}
}
console.log(miss?`❌ ${miss} problems`:`✅ ${L} matches en`);
' <locale>

• Type check — bash ./scripts/build.sh wv-lint (must be clean).
• Tests — bash ./scripts/build.sh wv-test.
• Eyeball it — run the standalone dev server, open Settings → General → Interface Language, pick the new language, and click through the app.

Notes

• The Interface Language (this) is separate from the Claude response language (a free-text field). Adding a UI locale only affects the interface.
• If you only ship some namespaces, untranslated keys fall back to English — the app still works. But aim for full parity per §3.