i18n-scan

A CLI tool to extract raw text from JSX/TSX files for internationalization (i18n).

Best paired with agentic ai tools like Cursor.

Features

• Extracts text content from JSX elements
• Extracts text from specified JSX attributes (title, alt, placeholder, etc.)
• Supports TypeScript and JavaScript JSX files
• Configurable file extensions and attribute names
• Shows file path and line numbers for each extracted text

Installation

1. Install dependencies:

npm install

2. Build the project:

npm run build

3. (Optional) Install globally:

npm install -g .

Usage

Basic Usage

# Use with npx (recommended)
npx i18n-scan <directory>

# If installed globally
i18n-scan <directory>

# Run locally during development (note the -- before flags)
npm run dev <directory> -- [options]

# Run built version locally
npm start <directory>

Examples

# Scan all .tsx and .jsx files in src directory
npm run dev ./src

# Scan with custom file extensions
npm run dev ./src -- --ext .tsx,.jsx,.ts,.js

# Scan with custom attributes
npm run dev ./src -- --attributes title,alt,placeholder,aria-label

# Filter out non-alphabetic text (symbols, emojis, numbers only)
npm run dev ./src -- --filter-non-alpha

# Extract from objects, function calls, and schemas
npm run dev ./src -- --include-literals

# Combine options
npm run dev ./src -- --filter-non-alpha --truncate 50

# Include node_modules directory (excluded by default)
npm run dev ./src -- --deps

# When using npx or installed globally, no -- needed:
npx i18n-scan ./src --filter-non-alpha --truncate 50

Options

• -e, --ext <extensions>: Comma-separated list of file extensions (default: .tsx,.jsx)
• -a, --attributes <names>: Comma-separated list of attribute names to extract (default: title,alt,placeholder)
• -t, --truncate <limit>: Truncate text to this length, 0 to disable (default: 30)
• -f, --filter-non-alpha: Filter out text containing only non-alphabetic characters (e.g., $, 123, 🎉)
• -l, --include-literals: Include string literals from objects, function calls, and validation schemas
• -d, --deps: Include dependency directories (node_modules). By default, node_modules is excluded.

Example Output

[src/components/Button.tsx:5] Click me
[src/components/Button.tsx:6] Submit form
[src/components/Form.tsx:12] Enter your name
[src/components/Form.tsx:13] This field is required

With --filter-non-alpha enabled:

# Without filter:
[src/components/ProductCard.tsx:30] $
[src/components/ProductCard.tsx:33] In Stock

# With filter ($ is filtered out):
[src/components/ProductCard.tsx:33] In Stock

Development

• npm run dev <directory>: Run from TypeScript source
• npm run build: Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
• npm start <directory>: Run compiled version

What it extracts

By default (JSX only):

1. JSX Text Content: Any text between JSX tags

   <button>Click me</button>  // Extracts: "Click me"
   <p>Hello world</p>        // Extracts: "Hello world"

2. JSX Attributes: Text from specified attributes

   <input placeholder="Enter name" />     // Extracts: "Enter name"
   <img alt="Profile picture" />          // Extracts: "Profile picture"
   <button title="Close dialog" />        // Extracts: "Close dialog"

With --include-literals flag:

Extracts additional string literals that are commonly user-facing:

3. Object Properties: Strings from objects with keys like message, error, label, title, description, etc.

   const errors = {
     required: "This field is required", // Extracts
     invalid: "Invalid email address", // Extracts
   };
   
   const config = {
     className: "btn-primary", // Skips (technical)
     title: "Welcome back", // Extracts
     apiUrl: "/api/users", // Skips (technical)
   };

4. Zod Schema Messages: Validation messages and descriptions

   z.string().email("Invalid email")
   z.string().min(5, "Too short")
   z.string().max(100, { message: "Too long"
   z.string().describe("Your username")

5. Function Calls: Common user-facing function calls

   toast.success("Saved successfully!");
   toast.error("Failed to save");
   console.error("Something went wrong");
   throw new Error("Invalid input");

Smart Filtering: The tool automatically skips technical strings like:

• Import paths, URLs, API endpoints
• CSS class names, IDs
• camelCase identifiers, CONSTANTS
• Single characters and code patterns

Github Repo

https://github.com/hexxt-git/i18n-scan