Configuration

Base dictionary (extends)

The extends field in i18n-kit.config.json lets a project inherit translations from a shared base — for example, a corporate terminology dictionary maintained centrally in a monorepo or npm package.

// i18n-kit.config.json
{
  "extends": "../../shared-i18n"
}

When the editor reads a locale, base keys are merged underneath project keys — the project always wins. Base-only keys appear in the editor but are not written to project locale files on save.

Typical structure:

monorepo/
├── shared-i18n/
│   ├── en.json     ← base dictionary (company-wide terms)
│   └── ru.json
└── my-app/
    ├── i18n-kit.config.json   ← "extends": "../shared-i18n"
    └── src/locales/
        ├── en.json   ← app-specific overrides
        └── ru.json

Locked keys

The locked field in the base config declares keys that child projects cannot modify.

// shared-i18n/i18n-kit.config.json
{
  "localesDir": "locales",
  "locked": ["brand.name", "brand.tagline", "legal.*"],
}

Layer	Behaviour
Editor UI	Cell is greyed out with a lock icon; tooltip "Key locked by base dictionary"
PUT /api/locale/:code	Server returns 403 if a locked key value changes
merge --overwrite	Locked keys are skipped even with --overwrite
prune	Locked keys are never removed

Locked key patterns support globs: "legal.*" (all keys under legal), "brand.name" (exact), "**" (everything).

Validation rules (rules)

The rules section in i18n-kit.config.json configures the locale editor's validation behaviour. All fields are optional.

// i18n-kit.config.json
{
  "rules": {
    "interpolationPatterns": ["{var}", "{{var}}"],
    "lengthWarningFactor": 3,
    "warnOnHtmlTags": true,
    "warnOnIcuErrors": true,
    "warnOnDuplicateValues": true,
    "minValueLength": 0,
  },
}

Field	Default	Description
interpolationPatterns	["{var}"]	What counts as an interpolation variable. Also supports "{{var}}", ":param", "%(var)s".
lengthWarningFactor	2.5	Warn if value.length > ref.length × factor. Set to 0 to disable.
warnOnHtmlTags	true	Warn when values contain HTML tags.
warnOnIcuErrors	true	Warn on malformed ICU (unclosed braces, missing other{}).
warnOnDuplicateValues	true	Warn if a key has identical values across all locales.
minValueLength	0	Warn if value is shorter than this many characters (0 = off).

The same rules object can be passed to vueI18nCheckPlugin.

Ignore lists (ignore)

The ignore section lets you whitelist keys and paths that would otherwise trigger warnings or be removed by CLI tools.

// i18n-kit.config.json
{
  "ignore": {
    "prune": ["status.*", "dynamic.*"],
    "duplicates": ["brand.name", "app.version"],
    "unused": ["seo.*", "meta.*"],
    "scanExclude": ["src/tests/**", "scripts/**"],
  },
}

All patterns support glob syntax: * matches any single segment, ** matches any number of path segments.

ignore.prune patterns are also respected by the prune --dry preview.