Configuration

Complete .glotrc.json configuration reference

Glot is configured using a .glotrc.json file in your project root.

Creating Configuration

Run the init command to create a default configuration:

npmbash npx glot init

pnpmbash pnpm exec glot init

yarnbash yarn glot init

bunbash bunx glot init

Or create .glotrc.json manually.

Quick Reference

Option	Type	Default	Description
primaryLocale	string	"en"	Primary locale for missing key detection
messagesDir	string	"./messages"	Path to locale JSON files
includes	string[]	See below	Directories to scan for TSX/JSX
ignores	string[]	[]	Paths or glob patterns to exclude
ignoreTestFiles	boolean	true	Skip test files automatically
ignoreTexts	string[]	[]	Text patterns to ignore
checkedAttributes	string[]	See below	JSX attributes to check

Configuration Details

primaryLocale

primaryLocale

The primary locale for your application. Missing key detection uses this locale as the source of truth.

Type	Default
string	"en"

{
  "primaryLocale": "en"
}

messagesDir

messagesDir

Path to the directory containing your locale JSON files.

Type	Default
string	"./messages"

{
  "messagesDir": "./messages"
}

Expected structure:

messages/
├── en.json
├── es.json
├── fr.json
└── ...

includes

includes

Directories to scan for TSX/JSX files. Glot only checks files in these directories.

Type	Default
string[]	See below

Default value:

{
  "includes": [
    "src/app/[locale]",
    "src/components",
    "app/[locale]",
    "components"
  ]
}

Glot supports two types of include patterns:

Directory paths (without * or ?):

Scans all files within the specified directory.

{
  "includes": ["src/app/[locale]", "src/components"]
}

Glob patterns (with * or ?):

Uses glob matching to find directories to scan.

{
  "includes": ["src/*", "packages/*/src"]
}

Paths can include Next.js dynamic route syntax like [locale]. This is treated as a literal folder name, not a glob pattern.

ignores

ignores

Paths or glob patterns to exclude from scanning.

Type	Default
string[]	[]

Glot supports two types of ignore patterns:

Directory paths (without * or ?):

Excludes the entire directory and all files within it. This works the same way as includes.

{
  "ignores": ["src/components/ai-elements", "src/generated"]
}

Glob patterns (with * or ?):

Uses glob matching for more flexible patterns.

{
  "ignores": ["**/*.stories.tsx", "**/mocks/**"]
}

Mixed usage:

You can combine both directory paths and glob patterns:

{
  "ignores": [
    "src/components/ai-elements",
    "src/generated",
    "**/*.stories.tsx",
    "**/node_modules/**"
  ]
}

Directory paths like src/components/ai-elements will exclude all files under that directory. Paths can include Next.js dynamic route syntax like app/[locale]/admin - the [locale] is treated as a literal folder name.

ignoreTestFiles

ignoreTestFiles

Skip test files automatically.

Type	Default
boolean	true

When enabled, glot ignores:

• *.test.tsx, *.test.ts, *.test.jsx, *.test.js
• *.spec.tsx, *.spec.ts, *.spec.jsx, *.spec.js
• Files in __tests__/ directories

{
  "ignoreTestFiles": true
}

ignoreTexts

ignoreTexts

Specific text patterns to ignore. Case-sensitive.

Type	Default
string[]	[]

{
  "ignoreTexts": ["TODO", "FIXME", "Lorem ipsum"]
}

Useful for:

• Development placeholders
• Known patterns that don’t need translation
• Third-party component text

checkedAttributes

checkedAttributes

JSX attributes to check for hardcoded text. These attributes commonly contain user-facing strings that should be translated.

Type	Default
string[]	See below

Default value:

{
  "checkedAttributes": [
    "placeholder",
    "title",
    "alt",
    "aria-label",
    "aria-description",
    "aria-placeholder",
    "aria-roledescription",
    "aria-valuetext"
  ]
}

Setting this option overrides the defaults. Include all attributes you want checked.

Full Example

A complete configuration file:

.glotrc.json

{
  "primaryLocale": "en",
  "messagesDir": "./locales",
  "includes": ["src/app/[locale]", "src/components", "src/features"],
  "ignores": ["**/node_modules/**", "**/*.stories.tsx", "**/mocks/**"],
  "ignoreTestFiles": true,
  "ignoreTexts": ["TODO", "FIXME", "N/A"],
  "checkedAttributes": ["placeholder", "title", "alt", "aria-label"]
}

Configuration Resolution

Glot searches for .glotrc.json starting from the specified path (or current directory) and traversing upward:

1. Check current directory for .glotrc.json
2. If not found, check parent directory
3. Continue until:
   • A .glotrc.json is found
   • A .git directory is encountered (project root)
   • Filesystem root is reached

If no configuration is found, glot uses all default values.

Validation

Glot validates your configuration on startup:

• Paths in includes are checked for existence
• Glob patterns in ignores are validated
• Invalid configuration shows clear error messages

Error: Invalid configuration in .glotrc.json
  - includes[0]: Directory "src/pages" does not exist
  - ignores[2]: Invalid glob pattern "***"

Common Configurations

Next.js App Router

{
  "primaryLocale": "en",
  "messagesDir": "./messages",
  "includes": [
    "src/app/[locale]",
    "src/components"
  ]
}

Next.js Pages Router

{
  "primaryLocale": "en",
  "messagesDir": "./locales",
  "includes": [
    "src/pages",
    "src/components"
  ]
}

Monorepo with Multiple Apps

{
  "primaryLocale": "en",
  "messagesDir": "./packages/i18n/messages",
  "includes": [
    "apps/web/src/app/[locale]",
    "apps/web/src/components",
    "packages/ui/src"
  ]
}

Related

Init Command

Create configuration file

Directives

Inline suppression directives