Skip to main content
Severity: Warning — does not affect exit code or fail CI builds.
Glot detects translation values in non-primary locales that are identical to the primary locale, which may indicate they haven’t been translated yet.

​
What Are Untranslated Values?

An untranslated value occurs when:
  1. A key exists in both the primary locale and a non-primary locale
  2. The value in the non-primary locale is identical to the primary locale
This typically happens when:
  • Locale files are copy-pasted and translations are forgotten
  • A new key is added to all locales but only translated in the primary locale
  • Translations are incomplete or rushed

​
Example

Primary locale file:
messages/en.json
{
  "common": {
    "submit": "Submit",
    "cancel": "Cancel"
  }
}
Non-primary locale with untranslated values:
messages/zh.json
{
  "common": {
    "submit": "Submit",
    "cancel": "Cancel"
  }
}
Glot output: 
warning: "Common.submit"  untranslated
  --> ./messages/en.json:3:0
  = note: ("Submit") identical in: zh
  = used: (no usages found)

warning: "Common.cancel"  untranslated
  --> ./messages/en.json:4:0
  = note: ("Cancel") identical in: zh
  = used: (no usages found)

✘ 2 problems (0 errors, 2 warnings)
The output shows:
  • File location: Points to the primary locale file (en.json) as the source of truth
  • Note: Shows the value and which locales have identical (untranslated) values
  • Used: Shows where the key is used in code (clickable in IDEs), or “(no usages found)” if unused

​
Detection Rules

Glot applies these rules when detecting untranslated values:

​
Only Non-Primary Locales Are Checked

The primary locale (defined in .glotrc.json) is skipped since it’s the source of truth:
.glotrc.json
{
  "primaryLocale": "en"
}
With this config, messages/en.json is never checked for untranslated values.

​
Values Must Contain Alphabetic Characters

Pure numbers and symbols are skipped since they’re often legitimately the same across locales: 
{
  "common": {
    "year": "2024",
    "separator": "---",
    "currency": "$"
  }
}
These won’t be flagged even if identical across locales.

​
Exact Match Required

Only values that are exactly identical to the primary locale are flagged:
messages/en.json
{
  "common": {
    "greeting": "Hello"
  }
}
messages/de.json
{
  "common": {
    "greeting": "Hello"
  }
}
This would be flagged. But if the German value was “hello” (lowercase), it would not be flagged.

​
Severity

Untranslated values are reported as warnings (not errors) because:
  • Some values legitimately remain the same across languages (brand names, technical terms, etc.)
  • They don’t break functionality
  • They’re informational and may not require action

​
Running Untranslated Detection

bash npx glot check untranslated
Or run all checks including untranslated:
bash npx glot check

​
Fixing Untranslated Values

1

Run Check

npx glot check untranslated
2

Review Issues

For each flagged key, determine if it needs translation or should remain the same.
3

Translate Values

Update the non-primary locale files with proper translations:
messages/zh.json
{
  "common": {
    "submit": "提交",
    "cancel": "取消"
  }
}
4

Verify

Run the check again to confirm translations are applied:
npx glot check untranslated

​
Common Scenarios

​
Legitimate Same Values

Some values should remain identical across locales: 
{
  "brand": {
    "name": "Acme Corp",
    "tagline": "JavaScript"
  }
}
In these cases, you can safely ignore the warning.

​
Partial Translations

When adding new features, it’s common to copy keys from the primary locale and forget to translate some:
messages/ja.json
{
  "newFeature": {
    "title": "New Feature",
    "description": "Check out our new feature"
  }
}
These should be translated to Japanese.

​
Placeholder Text

Sometimes developers use English placeholder text intending to translate later:
messages/fr.json
{
  "dashboard": {
    "welcome": "Welcome back!"
  }
}
The untranslated check helps catch these before they reach production.

Check Command

Run untranslated value detection

Missing Keys

Find keys used but not defined

Orphan Keys

Find unused translation keys

Configuration

Configure primary locale