Skip to content
Docs
Getting started
App Router
With i18n routing

App Router setup with i18n routing

In order to use unique pathnames for every language that your app supports, next-intl can be used to handle the following routing setups:

  1. Prefix-based routing (e.g. /en/about)
  2. Domain-based routing (e.g. en.example.com/about)

In either case, next-intl integrates with the App Router by using a top-level [locale] dynamic segment (opens in a new tab) that can be used to provide content in different languages.

Getting started

If you haven't done so already, create a Next.js app (opens in a new tab) that uses the App Router and run:

npm install next-intl

Now, we're going to create the following file structure:

├── messages (1)
│   ├── en.json
│   └── ...
├── next.config.mjs (2)
└── src
    ├── i18n.ts (3)
    ├── middleware.ts (4)
    └── app
        └── [locale]
            ├── layout.tsx (5)
            └── page.tsx (6)

Let's set up the files:

messages/en.json

Messages can be provided locally or loaded from a remote data source (e.g. a translation management system). Use whatever suits your workflow best.

The simplest option is to add JSON files in your project based on locales—e.g. en.json.

messages/en.json
{
  "HomePage": {
    "title": "Hello world!"
  }
}

next.config.mjs

Now, set up the plugin which creates an alias to provide your i18n configuration (specified in the next step) to Server Components.

next.config.mjs
import createNextIntlPlugin from 'next-intl/plugin';
 
const withNextIntl = createNextIntlPlugin();
 
/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {};
 
export default withNextIntl(nextConfig);

i18n.ts

next-intl creates a request-scoped configuration object that can be used to provide messages and other options based on the user's locale for usage in Server Components.

src/i18n.ts
import {notFound} from 'next/navigation';
import {getRequestConfig} from 'next-intl/server';
 
// Can be imported from a shared config
const locales = ['en', 'de'];
 
export default getRequestConfig(async ({locale}) => {
  // Validate that the incoming `locale` parameter is valid
  if (!locales.includes(locale as any)) notFound();
 
  return {
    messages: (await import(`../messages/${locale}.json`)).default
  };
});
Can I move this file somewhere else?

This file is supported out-of-the-box both in the src folder as well as in the project root with the extensions .ts, .tsx, .js and .jsx.

If you prefer to move this file somewhere else, you can optionally provide a path to the plugin:

next.config.mjs
const withNextIntl = createNextIntlPlugin(
  // Specify a custom path here
  './somewhere/else/i18n.ts'
);

middleware.ts

The middleware matches a locale for the request and handles redirects and rewrites accordingly.

src/middleware.ts
import createMiddleware from 'next-intl/middleware';
 
export default createMiddleware({
  // A list of all locales that are supported
  locales: ['en', 'de'],
 
  // Used when no locale matches
  defaultLocale: 'en'
});
 
export const config = {
  // Match only internationalized pathnames
  matcher: ['/', '/(de|en)/:path*']
};

app/[locale]/layout.tsx

The locale that was matched by the middleware is available via the locale param and can be used to configure the document language. Additionally, we can use this place to pass configuration from i18n.ts to Client Components via NextIntlClientProvider.

app/[locale]/layout.tsx
import {NextIntlClientProvider} from 'next-intl';
import {getMessages} from 'next-intl/server';
 
export default async function LocaleLayout({
  children,
  params: {locale}
}: {
  children: React.ReactNode;
  params: {locale: string};
}) {
  // Providing all messages to the client
  // side is the easiest way to get started
  const messages = await getMessages();
 
  return (
    <html lang={locale}>
      <body>
        <NextIntlClientProvider messages={messages}>
          {children}
        </NextIntlClientProvider>
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

Note that NextIntlClientProvider automatically inherits configuration from i18n.ts here.

app/[locale]/page.tsx

Use translations in your page components or anywhere else!

app/[locale]/page.tsx
import {useTranslations} from 'next-intl';
 
export default function HomePage() {
  const t = useTranslations('HomePage');
  return <h1>{t('title')}</h1>;
}

That's all it takes!

In case you ran into an issue, have a look at the App Router example to explore a working app.

💡

Next steps:

  • Usage guide: Format messages, dates and times

  • Routing: Integrate i18n routing with <Link /> & friends

  • Workflows: Make use of the TypeScript integration & more

Static rendering

When using the setup with i18n routing, next-intlwill currently opt into dynamic rendering when APIs like useTranslations are used in Server Components. This is a limitation that we aim to remove in the future, but as a stopgap solution, next-intl provides a temporary API that can be used to enable static rendering:

Add generateStaticParams to app/[locale]/layout.tsx

Since we are using a dynamic route segment for the [locale] param, we need to pass all possible values to Next.js via generateStaticParams (opens in a new tab) so that the routes can be rendered at build time.

app/[locale]/layout.tsx
// Can be imported from a shared config
const locales = ['en', 'de'];
 
export function generateStaticParams() {
  return locales.map((locale) => ({locale}));
}

Add unstable_setRequestLocale to all layouts and pages

next-intl provides a temporary API that can be used to distribute the locale that is received via params in layouts and pages for usage in all Server Components that are rendered as part of the request.

app/[locale]/layout.tsx
import {unstable_setRequestLocale} from 'next-intl/server';
 
export default async function LocaleLayout({children, params: {locale}}) {
  unstable_setRequestLocale(locale);
 
  return (
    // ...
  );
}
app/[locale]/page.tsx
import {unstable_setRequestLocale} from 'next-intl/server';
 
export default function IndexPage({params: {locale}}) {
  unstable_setRequestLocale(locale);
 
  // Once the request locale is set, you
  // can call hooks from `next-intl`
  const t = useTranslations('IndexPage');
 
  return (
    // ...
  );
}

Keep in mind that:

  1. The locale that you pass to unstable_setRequestLocale should be validated (e.g. in i18n.ts).

  2. You need to call this function in every page and every layout that you intend to enable static rendering for since Next.js can render layouts and pages independently.

E.g. when you navigate from /settings/profile to /settings/privacy, the /settings segment might not re-render as part of the request. Due to this, it's important that unstable_setRequestLocale is called not only in the parent settings/layout.tsx, but also in the individual pages profile/page.tsx and privacy/page.tsx.

What does "unstable" mean?

unstable_setRequestLocale is meant to be used as a stopgap solution and we aim to remove it in the future in case Next.js adds an API to access parts of the URL (opens in a new tab). If that's the case, you'll get a deprecation notice in a minor version and the API will be removed as part of a major version.

That being said, the API is expected to work reliably if you're cautious to apply it in all relevant places.

How does unstable_setRequestLocale work?

next-intl uses cache() (opens in a new tab) to create a mutable store that holds the current locale. By calling unstable_setRequestLocale, the current locale will be written to the store, making it available to all APIs that require the locale.

Note that the store is scoped to a request and therefore doesn't affect other requests that might be handled in parallel while a given request resolves asynchronously.

Why is this API necessary?

Next.js currently doesn't provide an API to read route params like locale at arbitrary places in Server Components (see vercel/next.js#58862 (opens in a new tab)). The locale is fundamental to all APIs provided by next-intl, therefore passing this as a prop throughout the tree doesn't stand out as particularly ergonomic.

Due to this, next-intl uses its middleware to attach an x-next-intl-locale header to the incoming request, holding the negotiated locale as a value. This technique allows the locale to be read at arbitrary places via headers().get('x-next-intl-locale').

However, the usage of headers opts the route into dynamic rendering.

By using unstable_setRequestLocale, you can provide the locale that is received in layouts and pages via params to next-intl. All APIs from next-intl can now read from this value instead of the header, enabling static rendering.

Use the locale param in metadata

In addition to the rendering of your pages, also page metadata needs to qualify for static rendering.

To achieve this, you can forward the locale that you receive from Next.js via params to the awaitable functions from next-intl.

page.tsx
import {getTranslations} from 'next-intl/server';
 
export async function generateMetadata({params: {locale}}) {
  const t = await getTranslations({locale, namespace: 'Metadata'});
 
  return {
    title: t('title')
  };
}
App RouterWithout i18n routing

Docs

 · 

Examples

 · 

Blog