Strapi Localized Field Plugin

A Strapi 5 custom field that stores per-locale translations as JSON — without requiring full i18n content localization. Perfect for fields like SEO titles, button labels, or any text that needs translations while the entry itself stays in a single locale.

Features

• Per-Locale Translations: Store translations for all locales in a single JSON field on a single entry
• No Full i18n Required: Works alongside Strapi's i18n plugin without duplicating entire entries per locale
• Compact Locale Tabs: Inline tab UI with status dots showing filled/empty state and a fill counter badge
• Short & Long Text: Choose between single-line input or textarea per field
• Configurable Fallback: Three strategies when a locale is missing — default locale, first available, or none
• Automatic API Resolution: Middleware resolves translations in content API responses based on ?locale= query param
• Populate All Locales: Request all translations via ?plugins[localized-field][populateLocalization]=true
• Component & Dynamic Zone Support: Works inside components, repeatable components, and dynamic zones
• Full i18n: All admin UI strings use react-intl for internationalization

Installation

npm install @0x30-ch/localized-field
# or
yarn add @0x30-ch/localized-field
# or
pnpm add @0x30-ch/localized-field

Configuration

1. Enable the Plugin

// config/plugins.ts
export default () => ({
  'localized-field': {
    enabled: true,
    resolve: './node_modules/@0x30-ch/localized-field',
  },
});

2. Add the Custom Field

In the Strapi Content-Type Builder, add the Localized string custom field to your content type. Configure:

| Option | Values | Default | Description | |--------|--------|---------|-------------| | Field type | Short text, Long text | Short text | Single-line input or textarea | | Default locale | Any locale code | (auto-detected) | Override which locale tab opens first and is used for fallback | | Fallback strategy | Default locale, First available, None | Default locale | How to resolve when the requested locale has no translation |

3. Restart Your Server

After configuration, restart your Strapi server to apply the schema changes.

Usage

Admin Interface

1. Open any entry with a localized field
2. Switch locale by clicking the compact tab chips — each shows a status dot (filled = has content)
3. Type your translation in the input field
4. Track progress with the badge showing filled count (e.g., 2/4)
5. Save the entry — all translations are stored as a single JSON value

Content API

The plugin registers a global Koa middleware that automatically resolves localized fields in content API responses.

Resolve a Single Locale

Pass ?locale= to get the resolved string value instead of the raw JSON object:

# Returns resolved string for French
GET /api/tags?locale=fr

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "label": "Bonjour"
    }
  ]
}

Get All Translations

Add the populateLocalization plugin param to receive all locale values:

GET /api/tags?locale=fr&plugins[localized-field][populateLocalization]=true

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "label": "Bonjour",
      "label_localizations": {
        "en": "Hello",
        "fr": "Bonjour",
        "de": "Hallo"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Without Locale Param

When no ?locale= is provided, the raw JSON object is returned as-is:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "label": {
        "en": "Hello",
        "fr": "Bonjour",
        "de": "Hallo"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Fallback Strategies

| Strategy | Behavior | |----------|----------| | Default locale | Falls back to the configured default locale (or Strapi's i18n default) | | First available | Returns the first non-empty translation found | | None | Returns null if the requested locale has no translation |

Data Structure

The field stores a JSON object mapping locale codes to translation strings:

{
  "en": "Hello world",
  "fr": "Bonjour le monde",
  "de": "Hallo Welt"
}

This is stored in a single json column in the database — no additional tables or relations needed.

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• Strapi 5.x
• i18n plugin enabled (for locale detection)

Setup

git clone https://github.com/0x30-ch/strapi-plugins.git
cd strapi-plugins
pnpm install

# Start development
pnpm dev

# Build plugin
cd packages/localized-field
npm run build

# Type checking
npm run test:ts:front  # Frontend types
npm run test:ts:back   # Backend types

# Verify plugin structure
npm run verify

Project Structure

packages/localized-field/
├── admin/                        # Frontend (React + Strapi Design System v2)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/
│   │   │   ├── LocalizedInput.tsx       # Main input with locale tabs
│   │   │   └── LocalizedFieldIcon.tsx   # Field icon for content-type builder
│   │   ├── utils/
│   │   │   └── getTranslation.ts        # i18n helper
│   │   ├── translations/
│   │   │   └── en.json                  # English translations
│   │   ├── pluginId.ts                  # Plugin identifier
│   │   └── index.ts                     # Plugin registration + custom field config
│   └── tsconfig.json
├── server/                       # Backend logic
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── register.ts                  # Custom field server registration
│   │   ├── bootstrap.ts                 # Global middleware for API resolution
│   │   ├── utils/
│   │   │   └── localized.ts             # Core logic (collect, resolve, fallback)
│   │   ├── config/                      # Plugin configuration
│   │   ├── controllers/                 # (empty — no admin routes needed)
│   │   ├── services/                    # (empty — logic in middleware)
│   │   └── routes/                      # (empty — no custom routes)
│   └── tsconfig.json
└── package.json

Architecture

How It Works

1. Registration: The plugin registers a localizedString custom field of type json
2. Admin UI: The LocalizedInput component fetches available locales from /i18n/locales and renders compact tab chips with an input per locale
3. Storage: All translations are stored as a single JSON object in one database column
4. API Resolution: A global Koa middleware intercepts content API responses, detects localized fields in the schema, and resolves them based on the ?locale= query parameter
5. Deep Resolution: The middleware recursively walks components, repeatable components, and dynamic zones to resolve nested localized fields

Why Not Full i18n?

Strapi's built-in i18n duplicates the entire entry per locale. This plugin is for cases where:

• You need translations for specific fields only (SEO, labels, slugs)
• Your content structure is locale-independent (same images, same relations)
• You want to manage all translations in one place, on one entry
• You need a lightweight alternative without entry duplication

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Strapi - Headless CMS framework
• 0x30 - Plugin author

Support

• Issues
• Documentation