next-static-intl

A minimal, zero-dependency internationalization helper for React, built specifically for statically exported Next.js App Router projects.

• No runtime I/O
• Fully static-friendly
• Available in both server and client components
• Supports nested keys
• Supports parameter interpolation
• Supports rich text (HTML-like) interpolation (client-only for the time being)
• Tiny bundle footprint
• Framework-agnostic — works in any React setup

Installation

npm install next-static-intl

or

yarn add next-static-intl

Project structure example

messages/
  en.ts
  it.ts
app/
  [locale]/
    layout.tsx
    page.tsx
components/
  Header.tsx

Message files can contain nested messages:

export const messages = {
  home: {
    title: "Welcome, {name}!",
    richExample: "Click <bold>here</bold> to continue"
  }
}

Quick usage

app/[locale]/layout.tsx

'use client'

import { TranslationProvider } from 'next-static-intl'
import en from '../../locales/en.ts'
import it from '../../locales/it.ts'

export const generateStaticParams = () => [{ locale: 'en' }, { locale: 'it' }]

export default function LocaleLayout({ children, params }) {
    const messages = params.locale === 'en' ? en : it

    return (
        <TranslationProvider locale={params.locale} messages={messages}>
            {children}
        </TranslationProvider>
    )
}

or create a dedicated client-side wrapper component for <TranslationProvider /> to avoid making the layout component client-side:

// components/LocaleProvider.tsx
'use client'

import { TranslationProvider } from 'next-static-intl'

export default function LocaleProvider({ children, locale, messages }) {
    return (
        <TranslationProvider locale={locale} messages={messages}>
            {children}
        </TranslationProvider>
    )
}

Using translations inside client components

'use client'

import { useTranslations } from 'next-static-intl'

export default function Home() {
    const { t } = useTranslations()
    return <h1>{t('home.title', { name: 'Alice' })}</h1>
}

Using translations inside server components

import { getTranslations } from 'next-static-intl/server'
import { messages } from '../messages/en'

export default function Home() {
    const t = getTranslations(messages)
    return <h1>{t('home.title', { name: 'Alice' })}</h1>
}

Interpolation

Plain interpolation

Messages:

messages = {
    greeting: 'Hello, {name}! Today is {day}.',
}

Component:

t('greeting', { name: 'Alice', day: 'Monday' })
// → "Hello, Alice! Today is Monday."

Rich text interpolation

Use the t.rich method to embed React components.

Messages:

messages = {
    info: 'Click <bold>here</bold> to continue',
}

Component:

t.rich('info', {
    bold: (chunks) => <strong>{chunks}</strong>,
})

You can support any tag name (<em>, <link>, <red>, <foo>, …).

API

<TranslationProvider />

Prop	Type	Description
locale	string	Active locale code
messages	Record<string, any>	The loaded translations

useTranslations()

Returns { t, locale, messages }.

const { t, locale, messages } = useTranslations()

t(key, params?)

• Resolves nested keys: home.title, auth.errors.invalid
• Supports simple placeholders: {name}

t.rich(key, renderers):

• Parses HTML-like tags: <bold>text</bold>
• Calls renderers to turn chunks into components

getTranslations()

Returns t.

const t = getTranslations()

t(key, params?)

• Resolves nested keys: home.title, auth.errors.invalid
• Supports simple placeholders: {name}

Message format limitations

• Rich tags must be properly closed (<bold>…</bold>)
• Tags must be simple alphanumeric names (e.g., bold, link, red)
• Tags cannot be nested (yet!) → coming soon?

Example of unsupported case:

bad: 'Hello <bold>very <italic>nested</italic></bold> world'

Why this library?

Many i18n libraries (including next-intl) assume:

• SSR is available
• messages can be loaded dynamically
• the router is dynamic

But Next.js static export removes these capabilities. This library was created to provide the missing piece:

• translation at build time
• zero runtime overhead
• zero hydration cost
• minimal API
• no dynamic imports
• full compatibility with App Router static generation

TypeScript Support

Includes full TS definitions:

• Autocomplete for t.rich
• Strict types for t in context
• Types for messages and parameters

Example:

t('home.title') // autocomplete works if keys are typed

Example messages

{
  home: {
    title: "Welcome, {name}!",
    cta: "Click <link>here</link> to continue"
  }
}

License

MIT