Add full internationalization (i18n) to a Next.js project using next-intl. Supports 14+ languages, SEO-friendly locale routing, hreflang sitemaps, and bulk translation. Use when the user asks to "internationalize", "add i18n", "add translations", "multi-language", "localize", "add language support", or "translate my site".
Scanned 9/20/2026
Install to Claude Code
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---
name: i18n
description: Add full internationalization (i18n) to a Next.js project using next-intl. Supports 14+ languages, SEO-friendly locale routing, hreflang sitemaps, and bulk translation. Use when the user asks to "internationalize", "add i18n", "add translations", "multi-language", "localize", "add language support", or "translate my site".
user_invocable: true
---
# Internationalize a Next.js Project
Add complete internationalization to a Next.js (App Router) project using **next-intl v4**. This skill handles routing, translation files, sitemap hreflang, and bulk translation across all locales.
## Step 1: Assess the Project
1. Check the Next.js version (`package.json`) — must be 13+ with App Router
2. Check if i18n is already partially set up (look for `next-intl`, `next-i18next`, `[locale]` routes)
3. Identify all pages/routes that need translation
4. Identify all user-facing strings (hardcoded text in components)
5. Ask the user which locales to support (default recommendation: en, es, fr, de, pt, ja, ar, zh, zh-tw, id, vi, ms, ru, hi)
## Step 2: Install Dependencies
```bash
npm install next-intl
```
## Step 3: Create i18n Configuration Files
Create 4 files under `src/i18n/`:
### `src/i18n/config.ts`
```typescript
export const locales = ['en', 'es', 'fr', 'de', 'pt', 'ja', 'ar', 'zh', 'zh-tw', 'id', 'vi', 'ms', 'ru', 'hi'] as const
export type Locale = (typeof locales)[number]
export const defaultLocale: Locale = 'en'
export const localeNames: Record<Locale, string> = {
en: 'English',
es: 'Espanol',
fr: 'Francais',
de: 'Deutsch',
pt: 'Portugues',
ja: '日本語',
ar: 'العربية',
zh: '简体中文',
'zh-tw': '繁體中文',
id: 'Bahasa Indonesia',
vi: 'Tieng Viet',
ms: 'Bahasa Melayu',
ru: 'Русский',
hi: 'हिन्दी',
}
export const rtlLocales: Locale[] = ['ar']
```
### `src/i18n/routing.ts`
```typescript
import { defineRouting } from 'next-intl/routing'
import { defaultLocale, locales } from './config'
export const routing = defineRouting({
locales,
defaultLocale,
localePrefix: 'as-needed', // English URLs stay clean, other locales get /es/, /fr/, etc.
})
```
### `src/i18n/navigation.ts`
```typescript
import { createNavigation } from 'next-intl/navigation'
import { routing } from './routing'
export const { Link, redirect, usePathname, useRouter } = createNavigation(routing)
```
### `src/i18n/request.ts`
```typescript
import { getRequestConfig } from 'next-intl/server'
import { routing } from './routing'
export default getRequestConfig(async ({ requestLocale }) => {
let locale = await requestLocale
if (!locale || !routing.locales.includes(locale as any)) {
locale = routing.defaultLocale
}
return {
locale,
messages: (await import(`../messages/${locale}.json`)).default,
}
})
```
## Step 4: Create Middleware
Create `src/middleware.ts`:
```typescript
import createMiddleware from 'next-intl/middleware'
import { routing } from '@/i18n/routing'
export default createMiddleware({
...routing,
localeDetection: false, // Don't auto-redirect based on Accept-Language
})
export const config = {
matcher: ['/((?!_next|api|images|fonts|favicon|sitemap|robots).*)'],
}
```
**Key decision**: `localeDetection: false` prevents auto-redirecting users based on browser language. This keeps English URLs stable for SEO. Users can manually switch languages via a language selector.
## Step 5: Update next.config
Wrap the existing config with `createNextIntlPlugin`:
```typescript
import createNextIntlPlugin from 'next-intl/plugin'
const withNextIntl = createNextIntlPlugin('./src/i18n/request.ts')
// ... existing config ...
export default withNextIntl(nextConfig)
```
## Step 6: Add `[locale]` Dynamic Route
Move all page content under `src/app/[locale]/`:
1. Create `src/app/[locale]/layout.tsx` with:
- `generateStaticParams()` returning all locales
- `setRequestLocale(locale)` call
- `<NextIntlClientProvider>` wrapping children
- `<html lang={locale} dir={rtlLocales.includes(locale) ? 'rtl' : 'ltr'}>`
- Hreflang `<link>` tags in `<head>` for all locales + `x-default`
2. Move existing pages into `src/app/[locale]/`
3. Each page should call `setRequestLocale(locale)` for static generation
## Step 7: Extract Strings into Translation Files
1. Create `src/messages/en.json` with all user-facing strings organized by section:
```json
{
"common": { "signIn": "Sign In", ... },
"tools": { "tool-slug": { "title": "...", "description": "..." } },
"faq": { "tool-slug": [{ "question": "...", "answer": "..." }] }
}
```
2. Replace all hardcoded strings in components with `useTranslations()`:
```typescript
const t = useTranslations('common')
return <button>{t('signIn')}</button>
```
3. For server components, use `getTranslations()`:
```typescript
const t = await getTranslations('common')
```
## Step 8: Translate to All Locales
For each non-English locale, create `src/messages/{locale}.json` with the same structure as `en.json`.
### Translation Strategy
Use **parallel Codex agents** via the `codex-tasks` skill to save Claude credits:
1. Launch one Codex task per locale (up to 7 in parallel) using `/codex-tasks`
2. Each task reads `en.json`, translates all strings, writes `{locale}.json`
3. Codex prompt should include:
- The full `en.json` content (or path to read it)
- Target language name and locale code
- Instructions:
- Translate naturally, not literally
- Keep technical terms in English (PowerPoint, PDF, API, etc.)
- Preserve JSON structure exactly (same keys, same nesting)
- Preserve interpolation variables like `{count}`, `{name}` unchanged
- Write the result to `src/messages/{locale}.json`
4. After Codex tasks complete, **verify the results** using the verification script below — Codex output quality varies and must be checked
### Verification
After translation, run a verification script to catch issues:
```python
import json
locales = ['es', 'fr', 'de', 'pt', 'ja', 'ar', 'zh', 'zh-tw', 'id', 'vi', 'ms', 'ru', 'hi']
english_words = ['the ', 'and ', 'you ', 'your ', 'our ', 'this ', 'that ', 'with ', 'from ', 'will ']
with open('src/messages/en.json') as f:
en = json.load(f)
for loc in locales:
with open(f'src/messages/{loc}.json') as f:
data = json.load(f)
# Check: missing sections
missing = [s for s in en if s not in data]
# Check: residual English content
eng_count = 0
def check(d):
nonlocal eng_count # won't work in inline script; use list trick
if isinstance(d, dict):
for v in d.values(): check(v)
elif isinstance(d, str):
if sum(1 for w in english_words if w in d.lower()) >= 3:
eng_count += 1
check(data)
status = 'OK' if not missing and eng_count == 0 else 'ISSUES'
print(f'{loc}: {status} (missing={len(missing)}, english={eng_count})')
```
## Step 9: Update Sitemap with Hreflang
Update `src/app/sitemap.ts` to include hreflang alternates:
```typescript
import { MetadataRoute } from 'next'
import { locales } from '@/i18n/config'
const baseUrl = 'https://www.example.com'
function buildAlternates(path: string): Record<string, string> {
const alternates: Record<string, string> = {}
for (const locale of locales) {
const prefix = locale === 'en' ? '' : `/${locale}`
alternates[locale] = `${baseUrl}${prefix}${path}`
}
return alternates
}
export default function sitemap(): MetadataRoute.Sitemap {
return pages.map((path) => ({
url: `${baseUrl}${path}`,
lastModified: new Date(),
alternates: { languages: buildAlternates(path) },
}))
}
```
**Important**: Generate one canonical URL per page with hreflang alternates, NOT one URL per locale. This prevents duplicate content in search results.
## Step 10: Add Language Selector (Optional)
Add a language switcher component that uses `useRouter` and `usePathname` from `@/i18n/navigation` to switch locales while preserving the current path.
## Step 11: Verify
1. Build the project: `npm run build` — check that all static pages generate correctly
2. Test English URLs have no prefix: `https://example.com/tools`
3. Test locale URLs have prefix: `https://example.com/es/tools`
4. Verify sitemap has hreflang alternates
5. Check RTL rendering for Arabic
6. Run the translation verification script from Step 8
## Common Pitfalls
- **`public/sitemap.xml`** conflicts with dynamic `src/app/sitemap.ts` in dev mode — delete the static one or rename it
- **Middleware matcher** must exclude `_next`, `api`, `sitemap`, `robots`, and static asset paths
- **`localePrefix: 'as-needed'`** is critical — it keeps default locale URLs clean for SEO continuity
- **`localeDetection: false`** prevents unwanted redirects that break SEO and confuse users
- **Large translation files** (5000+ lines per locale) can make git pushes fail — use `git config http.postBuffer 524288000`
- **Verify translations thoroughly** — automated translation often produces mixed-language output; always verify with the English word detection script after Codex tasks complete
## Locale Count Reference
- 14 locales x N pages = 14N static pages at build time
- Each locale JSON file is typically 2-5x the size of en.json (CJK characters, verbose languages)
- Build time increases linearly with locale count
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