i18n-add-strings

name	i18n-add-strings
description	Use when adding, renaming, or removing i18n keys in the mobile app. Ensures all 8 locale files (en/de/es/fr/pl/ru/ua/be) stay in sync. Triggers on any change to apps/mobile/src/i18n/locales/.

Adding i18n Strings Across All 8 Locales

The mobile app has 8 locale files at apps/mobile/src/i18n/locales/:

Locale	File	Language
en	en.ts	English — source of truth, edit first
de	de.ts	German
es	es.ts	Spanish
fr	fr.ts	French
pl	pl.ts	Polish
ru	ru.ts	Russian
ua	ua.ts	Ukrainian
be	be.ts	Belarusian

All 8 files must have the same key structure. A key missing in one locale breaks that language at runtime.

Workflow

1. Add to en.ts first

This is the source of truth. Place the new key under the appropriate section (e.g., common, dates, expenses, budget). Match the existing nesting style.

2. Translate to the remaining 7 locales

For each of de, es, fr, pl, ru, ua, be:

• Add the key at the same nesting path as in en.ts.
• Keep translations concise — mobile UI has limited horizontal space.
• Match the tone of surrounding strings (formal vs casual is locale-specific).

Pairing notes:

• ua and be are close to ru but distinct languages — do not copy Russian text into them.
• de/es/fr follow Western European conventions; pl follows Slavic.

3. Verify completeness

After editing, list the new key(s) and grep each locale to confirm presence:

# Example: just-added key `expenses.bulkDelete`
grep -l "bulkDelete" apps/mobile/src/i18n/locales/*.ts

You should see all 8 files. If fewer, you missed a locale.

4. Typecheck

npm run typecheck

If TypeScript complains about a missing key in a specific locale, that locale's file is incomplete.

5. Use the key in code

const { t } = useTranslation();
t('expenses.bulkDelete')

Renaming or deleting a key

• Renaming: change the key in all 8 files in one pass, then update all t('old.key') call sites.
• Deleting: remove from all 8 files. Grep for residual usages before committing:

  grep -rn "t('removed.key')" apps/mobile
  

Common mistakes

• Adding the key only to en.ts and forgetting the other 7. Causes runtime fallback to English (or worse, the key string itself shown to the user).
• Copying Russian into ua or be. They are separate languages with their own vocabulary.
• Mismatched nesting — en.ts has expenses.bulkDelete but de.ts has it under common. The lookup fails silently.
• Mixing string interpolation tokens. If en uses {{count}}, every locale must use {{count}} (not {count} or %d).