Locale Forge is a VS Code extension that generates locale JSON files from English source files using OpenAI, with parallel translation requests and strict placeholder preservation checks.
Features
Generate locale files from the active file.
Generate locale files from all currently open tabs.
Support both locale layouts:
.../en.json -> .../<locale>.json
.../*.en.json -> .../*.<locale>.json
Parallel translation for faster runs.
Strict validation:
Flat JSON object only.
Keys must be identical.
Placeholders such as {name}, {{count}}, %s must remain intact.
Commands
Locale Forge: Set OpenAI API Key (localeforge.setApiKey)
Locale Forge: Generate Locales From Active File (localeforge.generateFromActiveFile)
Locale Forge: Generate Locales From Open Tabs (localeforge.generateFromOpenTabs)
Configuration
Setting
Default
Description
localeforge.sourceLocale
"en"
Source locale code.
localeforge.targetLocales
["es","fr","de","it","pt-BR"]
Locales to generate.
localeforge.autoDetectTargetLocales
true
Auto-include locales detected from sibling files.
localeforge.openai.model
"gpt-4.1-mini"
OpenAI model for translations.
localeforge.concurrency
4
Max parallel translation calls.
localeforge.filePatterns
["**/en.json","**/*.en.json"]
Source file detection patterns.
localeforge.overwriteExisting
true
Overwrite existing locale files when generating.
Usage
Run Locale Forge: Set OpenAI API Key.
Run Locale Forge: Configure Locales and choose source/target locales interactively.
Open a source locale file such as en.json or messages.en.json.
Run one of:
Locale Forge: Generate Locales From Active File
Locale Forge: Generate Locales From Open Tabs
Review output in the Locale Forge output channel.
If autoDetectTargetLocales is enabled, Locale Forge also discovers existing sibling locale files automatically (for example, ar.json next to en.json, or messages.fr.json next to messages.en.json).
Development
npm install
npm run lint
npm run compile
npm run test
npm run package:vsix
Release
CI runs on every push to main.
The workflow builds, tests, packages a .vsix, and attempts publish to Marketplace if VSCE_PAT is available and the version is not already published.
