Introduction

This is a middleware to be used with Node.js web frameworks like express or Fastify and also for Deno.

It's based on the deprecated i18next-express-middleware and can be used as a drop-in replacement. It's not bound to a specific http framework anymore.

Advice:

To get started with server side internationalization, you may also have a look at this blog post also using using i18next-http-middleware.

Getting started

1# npm package
2$ npm install i18next-http-middleware

wire up i18next to request object

1var i18next = require('i18next')
2var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
3var express = require('express')
4
5i18next.use(middleware.LanguageDetector).init({
6  preload: ['en', 'de', 'it'],
7  ...otherOptions
8})
9
10var app = express()
11app.use(
12  middleware.handle(i18next, {
13    ignoreRoutes: ['/foo'], // or function(req, res, options, i18next) { /* return true to ignore */ }
14    removeLngFromUrl: false // removes the language from the url when language detected in path
15  })
16)
17
18// in your request handler
19app.get('myRoute', (req, res) => {
20  var lng = req.language // 'de-CH'
21  var lngs = req.languages // ['de-CH', 'de', 'en']
22  req.i18n.changeLanguage('en') // will not load that!!! assert it was preloaded
23
24  var exists = req.i18n.exists('myKey')
25  var translation = req.t('myKey')
26})
27
28// in your views, eg. in pug (ex. jade)
29div = t('myKey')

Fastify usage

1var i18next = require('i18next')
2var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
3var fastify = require('fastify')
4
5i18next.use(middleware.LanguageDetector).init({
6  preload: ['en', 'de', 'it'],
7  ...otherOptions
8})
9
10var app = fastify()
11app.register(i18nextMiddleware.plugin, {
12  i18next,
13  ignoreRoutes: ['/foo'] // or function(req, res, options, i18next) { /* return true to ignore */ }
14})
15// or
16// app.addHook('preHandler', i18nextMiddleware.handle(i18next, {
17//   ignoreRoutes: ['/foo'] // or function(req, res, options, i18next) { /* return true to ignore */ }
18// }))
19
20// in your request handler
21app.get('myRoute', (request, reply) => {
22  var lng = request.language // 'de-CH'
23  var lngs = v.languages // ['de-CH', 'de', 'en']
24  request.i18n.changeLanguage('en') // will not load that!!! assert it was preloaded
25
26  var exists = request.i18n.exists('myKey')
27  var translation = request.t('myKey')
28})

Hapi usage

1const i18next = require('i18next')
2const middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
3const Hapi = require('@hapi/hapi')
4
5i18next.use(middleware.LanguageDetector).init({
6  preload: ['en', 'de', 'it'],
7  ...otherOptions
8})
9
10const server = Hapi.server({
11  port: port,
12  host: '0.0.0.0',
13
14await server.register({
15  plugin: i18nextMiddleware.hapiPlugin,
16  options: {
17    i18next,
18    ignoreRoutes: ['/foo'] // or function(req, res, options, i18next) { /* return true to ignore
19  }
20})
21
22// in your request handler
23server.route({
24  method: 'GET',
25  path: '/myRoute',
26  handler: (request, h) => {
27    var lng = request.language // 'de-CH'
28    var lngs = v.languages // ['de-CH', 'de', 'en']
29    request.i18n.changeLanguage('en') // will not load that!!! assert it was preloaded
30
31    var exists = request.i18n.exists('myKey')
32    var translation = request.t('myKey')
33  }
34})
35

Koa usage

1var i18next = require('i18next')
2var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
3const Koa = require('koa')
4const router = require('@koa/router')()
5
6i18next.use(middleware.LanguageDetector).init({
7  preload: ['en', 'de', 'it'],
8  ...otherOptions
9})
10
11var app = new Koa()
12app.use(i18nextMiddleware.koaPlugin(i18next, {
13  ignoreRoutes: ['/foo'] // or function(req, res, options, i18next) { /* return true to ignore */ }
14}))
15
16// in your request handler
17router.get('/myRoute', ctx => {
18  ctx.body = JSON.stringify({
19    'ctx.language': ctx.language,
20    'ctx.i18n.language': ctx.i18n.language,
21    'ctx.i18n.languages': ctx.i18n.languages,
22    'ctx.i18n.languages[0]': ctx.i18n.languages[0],
23    'ctx.t("home.title")': ctx.t('home.title')
24  }, null, 2)
25})

Deno usage

abc

1import i18next from 'https://deno.land/x/i18next/index.js'
2import Backend from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/i18next/i18next-fs-backend/index.js'
3import i18nextMiddleware from 'https://deno.land/x/i18next_http_middleware/index.js'
4import { Application } from 'https://deno.land/x/abc/mod.ts'
5import { config } from 'https://deno.land/x/dotenv/dotenv.ts'
6
7i18next
8  .use(Backend)
9  .use(i18nextMiddleware.LanguageDetector)
10  .init({
11    // debug: true,
12    backend: {
13      // eslint-disable-next-line no-path-concat
14      loadPath: 'locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.json',
15      // eslint-disable-next-line no-path-concat
16      addPath: 'locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.missing.json'
17    },
18    fallbackLng: 'en',
19    preload: ['en', 'de']
20  })
21
22const port = config.PORT || 8080
23const app = new Application()
24const handle = i18nextMiddleware.handle(i18next)
25app.use((next) => (c) => {
26  handle(c.request, c.response, () => {})
27  return next(c)
28})
29app.get('/', (c) => c.request.t('home.title'))
30await app.start({ port })

ServestJS

1import i18next from 'https://deno.land/x/i18next/index.js'
2import Backend from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/i18next/i18next-fs-backend/index.js'
3import i18nextMiddleware from 'https://deno.land/x/i18next_http_middleware/index.js'
4import { createApp } from 'https://servestjs.org/@v1.0.0-rc2/mod.ts'
5import { config } from 'https://deno.land/x/dotenv/dotenv.ts'
6
7i18next
8  .use(Backend)
9  .use(i18nextMiddleware.LanguageDetector)
10  .init({
11    // debug: true,
12    backend: {
13      // eslint-disable-next-line no-path-concat
14      loadPath: 'locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.json',
15      // eslint-disable-next-line no-path-concat
16      addPath: 'locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.missing.json'
17    },
18    fallbackLng: 'en',
19    preload: ['en', 'de']
20  })
21
22const port = config.PORT || 8080
23const app = createApp()
24app.use(i18nextMiddleware.handle(i18next))
25app.get('/', async (req) => {
26  await req.respond({
27    status: 200,
28    headers: new Headers({
29      'content-type': 'text/plain'
30    }),
31    body: req.t('home.title')
32  })
33})
34await app.listen({ port })

add routes

1// missing keys make sure the body is parsed (i.e. with [body-parser](https://github.com/expressjs/body-parser#bodyparserjsonoptions))
2app.post('/locales/add/:lng/:ns', middleware.missingKeyHandler(i18next))
3// addPath for client: http://localhost:8080/locales/add/{{lng}}/{{ns}}
4
5// multiload backend route
6app.get('/locales/resources.json', middleware.getResourcesHandler(i18next))
7// can be used like:
8// GET /locales/resources.json
9// GET /locales/resources.json?lng=en
10// GET /locales/resources.json?lng=en&ns=translation
11
12// serve translations:
13app.use('/locales', express.static('locales'))
14// GET /locales/en/translation.json
15// loadPath for client: http://localhost:8080/locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.json
16
17// or instead of static
18app.get('/locales/:lng/:ns', middleware.getResourcesHandler(i18next))
19// GET /locales/en/translation
20// loadPath for client: http://localhost:8080/locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}
21
22app.get('/locales/:lng/:ns', middleware.getResourcesHandler(i18next, {
23  maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 * 30, // adds appropriate cache header if cache option is passed or NODE_ENV === 'production', defaults to 30 days
24  cache: true // defaults to false
25}))

add localized routes

You can add your routes directly to the express app

1var express = require('express'),
2  app = express(),
3  i18next = require('i18next'),
4  FilesystemBackend = require('i18next-fs-backend'),
5  i18nextMiddleware = require('i18next-http-middleware'),
6  port = 3000
7
8i18next
9  .use(i18nextMiddleware.LanguageDetector)
10  .use(FilesystemBackend)
11  .init({ preload: ['en', 'de', 'it'], ...otherOptions }, () => {
12    i18nextMiddleware.addRoute(
13      i18next,
14      '/:lng/key-to-translate',
15      ['en', 'de', 'it'],
16      app,
17      'get',
18      (req, res) => {
19        //endpoint function
20      }
21    )
22  })
23app.use(i18nextMiddleware.handle(i18next))
24app.listen(port, () => {
25  console.log('Server listening on port', port)
26})

or to an express router

1var express = require('express'),
2  app = express(),
3  i18next = require('i18next'),
4  FilesystemBackend = require('i18next-fs-backend'),
5  i18nextMiddleware = require('i18next-http-middleware'),
6  router = require('express').Router(),
7  port = 3000
8
9i18next
10  .use(i18nextMiddleware.LanguageDetector)
11  .use(FilesystemBackend)
12  .init({ preload: ['en', 'de', 'it'], ...otherOptions }, () => {
13    i18nextMiddleware.addRoute(
14      i18next,
15      '/:lng/key-to-translate',
16      ['en', 'de', 'it'],
17      router,
18      'get',
19      (req, res) => {
20        //endpoint function
21      }
22    )
23    app.use('/', router)
24  })
25app.use(i18nextMiddleware.handle(i18next))
26app.listen(port, () => {
27  console.log('Server listening on port', port)
28})

custom http server

Define your own functions to handle your custom request or response

1middleware.handle(i18next, {
2  getPath: (req) => req.path,
3  getUrl: (req) => req.url,
4  setUrl: (req, url) => (req.url = url),
5  getQuery: (req) => req.query,
6  getParams: (req) => req.params,
7  getBody: (req) => req.body,
8  setHeader: (res, name, value) => res.setHeader(name, value),
9  setContentType: (res, type) => res.contentType(type),
10  setStatus: (res, code) => res.status(code),
11  send: (res, body) => res.send(body)
12})

language detection

Detects user language from current request. Comes with support for:

• path
• cookie
• header
• querystring
• session

Based on the i18next language detection handling: https://www.i18next.com/misc/creating-own-plugins#languagedetector

Wiring up:

1var i18next = require('i18next')
2var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
3
4i18next.use(middleware.LanguageDetector).init(i18nextOptions)

As with all modules you can either pass the constructor function (class) to the i18next.use or a concrete instance.

Detector Options

1{
2  // order and from where user language should be detected
3  order: [/*'path', 'session', */ 'querystring', 'cookie', 'header'],
4
5  // keys or params to lookup language from
6  lookupQuerystring: 'lng',
7  lookupCookie: 'i18next',
8  lookupHeader: 'accept-language',
9  lookupHeaderRegex: /(([a-z]{2})-?([A-Z]{2})?)\s*;?\s*(q=([0-9.]+))?/gi,
10  lookupSession: 'lng',
11  lookupPath: 'lng',
12  lookupFromPathIndex: 0,
13
14  // cache user language, you can define if an how the detected language should be "saved" => 'cookie' and/or 'session'
15  caches: false, // ['cookie']
16
17  ignoreCase: true, // ignore case of detected language
18
19  // optional expire and domain for set cookie
20  cookieExpirationDate: new Date(),
21  cookieDomain: 'myDomain',
22  cookiePath: '/my/path',
23  cookieSecure: true, // if need secure cookie
24  cookieSameSite: 'strict', // 'strict', 'lax' or 'none'
25
26  // optional conversion function used to modify the detected language code
27  convertDetectedLanguage: 'Iso15897',
28  convertDetectedLanguage: (lng) => lng.replace('-', '_')
29}

Options can be passed in:

preferred - by setting options.detection in i18next.init:

1var i18next = require('i18next')
2var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
3
4i18next.use(middleware.LanguageDetector).init({
5  detection: options
6})

on construction:

1var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
2var lngDetector = new middleware.LanguageDetector(null, options)

via calling init:

1var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
2
3var lngDetector = new middleware.LanguageDetector()
4lngDetector.init(options)

Adding own detection functionality

interface

1module.exports = {
2  name: 'myDetectorsName',
3
4  lookup: function (req, res, options) {
5    // options -> are passed in options
6    return 'en'
7  },
8
9  cacheUserLanguage: function (req, res, lng, options) {
10    // options -> are passed in options
11    // lng -> current language, will be called after init and on changeLanguage
12    // store it
13  }
14}

adding it

1var i18next = require('i18next')
2var middleware = require('i18next-http-middleware')
3
4var lngDetector = new middleware.LanguageDetector()
5lngDetector.addDetector(myDetector)
6
7i18next.use(lngDetector).init({
8  detection: options
9})

Don't forget: You have to add the name of your detector (myDetectorsName in this case) to the order array in your options object. Without that, your detector won't be used. See the Detector Options section for more.

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