i18n

The i18n plugin scopes content by language. Each root belongs to one language, sibling-language versions of an entry are tied together by a translation group, and reads fall back along a chain you configure.

Installation

Add it to your config

Pass the static set of languages (as a const tuple, so they become a typed union) and a defaultLanguage:

lib/cms.ts

import { createCMS } from '@createcms/core';
import { i18n } from '@createcms/core/plugins/i18n';

export const cms = createCMS({
  db,
  collections,
  media,
  plugins: [
    i18n({
      languages: ['en', 'de', 'fr'],
      defaultLanguage: 'en',
      fallback: { de: ['en'], fr: ['en'] },
    }),
  ],
});

Update the database

The plugin adds language columns. Regenerate the schema file, then apply it to your database with your Drizzle migration workflow:

npx createcms generate
npx drizzle-kit generate && npx drizzle-kit migrate

Usage

The active language is resolved per request from your middleware and applied to every query. To create a translation of an existing entry, call createTranslation:

await cms.api.pages.createTranslation({
  body: {
    sourceRootId: root.rootId,
    targetLanguage: 'de',
    seed: 'copy',
  },
});

listTranslations returns the sibling-language versions of an entry (the existing translations). To find untranslated languages, diff them against your configured languages.

Options for `createTranslation`

Field	Type	Required	Description
`sourceRootId`	`string`	yes	The entry to translate from.
`targetLanguage`	`string`	yes	A language from your `languages` list.
`targetSlug`	`string`	no	Slug for the new translation.
`seed`	`'copy' \| 'blank'`	no	Start from a copy of the source or an empty entry.
`message`	`string`	no	Commit message.

Schema

Table	Column	Purpose
`roots`	`language`	The entry's language.
`roots`	`translationKey`	Stable group id tying sibling-language entries together.
`redirects`	`language`	Per-language redirect routing.

Options

Option	Type	Description
`languages`	`readonly string[]`	The supported languages (a `const` tuple).
`defaultLanguage`	one of `languages`	Seed language and default fallback target.
`fallback`	`Partial<Record<language \| 'default', language[]>>`	Per-language fallback chains. Absent means fall back to `defaultLanguage`.