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Vision

Problem

Teams ship i18n bugs when keys in code drift from locale JSON, when locale files diverge in shape from the source of truth, or when automation cannot run the same checks as developers (no stable JSON, unclear flags, fragile paths). Translation workflows also fail when tools assume a single framework or hide behaviour behind opaque magic.

What i18nprune is for

i18nprune is a Node.js CLI focused on correctness and predictability:

  1. Validate — Prove that literal keys used in configured translation calls exist in the source locale JSON (or fail loudly).
  2. Sync — Keep secondary locale files aligned in structure with the source (merge + prune, with explicit preserve rules).
  3. Generate / fill — Drive machine translation for string leaves while preserving nested JSON shape; provider is pluggable (Google first).
  4. Quality & review — Surface parity and English-identical metrics so humans can prioritise fixes.
  5. Cleanup — Remove unused keys with optional ripgrep-backed safety against deleting still-referenced strings.
  6. Doctor — Read-only diagnostics (runtime, tools, config, paths) for CI and onboarding.

Principles

  • Explicit over magic — Config file + env + CLI overrides merge in a documented order; path discovery is opt-out (--no-discovery), not silent surprise.
  • Automation-first — Global --json, --quiet, --silent and per-command JSON where defined so scripts and CI get stable contracts.
  • Human-friendly logs — Tagged lines and a central logger so verbosity rules stay consistent; errors stay on stderr.
  • Small surface area — One binary, clear subcommand names (no cryptic short aliases).

Non-goals (for now)

  • Replacing your i18n runtime library or React/Vue bindings.
  • Being a full TMS or handling non-JSON resource formats out of the box.
  • Perfect extraction of dynamic keys (string templates, indirect calls) — the tool is honest about static limits.

Where to go next

  • Roadmap — direction and planned work at a high level.
  • Architecture — how layers fit together.
  • Commands — one page per subcommand.
  • npm scope & org (future) — reserved @i18nprune org and possible scope migration (not active; @zamdevio remains current on npm).
Versioning and npm update discoveryDevelopment workflow