#i18n Internationalization

NocoBase plugins manage multilingual files through the src/locale/ directory. After writing the translation files, use this.t() in the Plugin, useT() hook in components, and tExpr() in FlowModel definitions to get translated text.

#Translation Files

Create JSON files by language under the plugin's src/locale/. The key is the English original text, and the value is the translation for the corresponding language:

my-plugin/
└── src/
    └── locale/
        ├── zh-CN.json
        └── en-US.json

// src/locale/zh-CN.json
{
  "Hello": "你好",
  "Save": "保存",
  "Your name is {{name}}": "你的名字是 {{name}}",
  "{{count}} February items": "{{count}} 条记录"
}

// src/locale/en-US.json
{
  "Hello": "Hello",
  "Save": "Save",
  "Your name is {{name}}": "Your name is {{name}}",
  "{{count}} February items": "{{count}} items"
}

A few things to note:

• Use English text as the key, so even if a translation is missing it falls back to English
• Use double curly braces for variables {{name}}, consistent with i18next syntax
• Adding language files for the first time requires an application restart to take effect; subsequent content changes will hot reload
• NocoBase automatically uses the plugin's package name as the translation namespace, so translations from different plugins won't conflict

#Using in Plugin: this.t()

In the Plugin class, this.t() automatically injects the current plugin's package name as the namespace — no need to manually pass ns:

// src/client-v2/plugin.tsx
import { Plugin, Application } from '@nocobase/client-v2';

export class MyPlugin extends Plugin<any, Application> {
  async load() {
    // Automatically uses the current plugin's package name as ns
    console.log(this.t('Hello')); // -> "你好"

    // Use this.t() to translate titles when registering settings pages
    this.pluginSettingsManager.addMenuItem({
      key: 'my-settings',
      title: this.t('My Settings'),
      icon: 'SettingOutlined',
    });
    this.pluginSettingsManager.addPageTabItem({
      menuKey: 'my-settings',
      key: 'index',
      title: this.t('My Settings'),
      componentLoader: () => import('./pages/MySettingsPage'),
    });
  }
}

#Using in Components: useT()

You cannot use this.t() directly in React components. The plugin scaffolding automatically generates a locale.ts file that provides the useT() hook:

// src/client-v2/locale.ts (auto-generated by scaffolding)
import { tExpr as _tExpr, useFlowEngine } from '@nocobase/flow-engine';
// @ts-ignore
import pkg from './../../package.json';

export function useT() {
  const engine = useFlowEngine();
  return (str: string) => engine.context.t(str, { ns: [pkg.name, 'client'] });
}

export function tExpr(key: string) {
  return _tExpr(key, { ns: [pkg.name, 'client'] });
}

Use it in components like this:

// src/client-v2/pages/MySettingsPage.tsx
import React from 'react';
import { Button } from 'antd';
import { useT } from '../locale';

export default function MySettingsPage() {
  const t = useT();

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>{t('Hello')}</h2>
      <p>{t('Your name is {{name}}', { name: 'NocoBase' })}</p>
      <Button>{t('Save')}</Button>
    </div>
  );
}

The t function returned by useT() is already bound to the plugin's namespace — just pass the key directly.

#Using in FlowModel: tExpr()

FlowModel.define() and registerFlow() are executed at module load time, when i18n has not yet been initialized, so you cannot call t() directly. In this scenario, use tExpr() — it generates a deferred translation expression string that is resolved at runtime:

// src/client-v2/models/MyBlockModel.tsx
import { BlockModel } from '@nocobase/client-v2';
import { tExpr } from '../locale';

export class MyBlockModel extends BlockModel {
  renderComponent() {
    return <div>My custom block</div>;
  }
}

// tExpr generates a string like '{{t("My block")}}', translated at runtime
MyBlockModel.define({
  label: tExpr('My block'),
});

MyBlockModel.registerFlow({
  key: 'flow1',
  title: tExpr('My Block Settings'),
  on: 'beforeRender',
  steps: {
    editTitle: {
      title: tExpr('Edit Title'),
      uiSchema: {
        title: {
          type: 'string',
          title: tExpr('Title'),
          'x-decorator': 'FormItem',
          'x-component': 'Input',
        },
      },
      handler(ctx, params) {
        ctx.model.props.title = params.title;
      },
    },
  },
});

In short: this.t() and useT() are for runtime translation, while tExpr() is for deferred translation in static definitions.

#Quick Reference for the Three Methods

#Related Links

• Context - Common Capabilities - Internationalization — Full API reference for ctx.t and ctx.i18n
• Language List — Complete list of language codes supported by NocoBase
• Component Development — Using useFlowContext in components
• FlowEngine Overview — Usage of tExpr in FlowModel