Extract Hard Strings

i18n Ally Next can detect hard-coded strings in your source code and help you extract them into locale files.

Auto Detection

Enable auto-detection to highlight hard-coded strings in real time:

// .vscode/settings.json
{
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.autoDetect": true
}

Hard strings will appear in the sidebar under the Hard-coded Strings section.

Extract a Single String

1. Place your cursor on a hard-coded string
2. Click the lightbulb icon or use Cmd+. (macOS) / Ctrl+. (Windows/Linux)
3. Select Extract to i18n
4. Enter the key name
5. Choose the target locale file

Batch Extraction

Right-click a file in the Explorer and select Extract all hard-coded strings (experimental) to extract all detected strings at once.

Key Generation Strategy

Control how keys are auto-generated:

{
  // "slug" (default) — generates slug-like keys: "hello-world"
  // "random" — generates random keys
  // "empty" — generates empty keys (for manual input)
  // "source" — uses the source text as key
  // "template" — generates keys from a template (see below)
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.keygenStrategy": "slug",

  // Key name style: "default", "camelCase", "PascalCase", "snake_case", "kebab-case"
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.keygenStyle": "default",

  // Maximum key length
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.keyMaxLength": 50,

  // Prefix for generated keys
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.keyPrefix": ""
}

Template Mode

When keygenStrategy is set to "template", keys are generated from a customizable template string with variable placeholders:

{
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.keygenStrategy": "template",
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.keygenTemplate": "{{dirname}}:{{filename}}"
}

Available Variables

Variable	Description	Example
{{dirname}}	Current file's parent directory name	setup
{{filename}}	Current file name (without extension)	setup.command
{{package.name}}	name field from the nearest package.json	@spaceflow/cli
{{package_dirname}}	Directory name where the nearest package.json is located	cli

Example

For a file at src/commands/setup/setup.command.ts with template {{dirname}}:{{filename}}:

• {{dirname}} → setup
• {{filename}} → setup.command
• Generated key prefix: setup:setup.command

The final key will be setup:setup.command + the text you enter in the key input box.

TIP

Template mode works well with namespace-enabled projects. For example, {{dirname}}: generates keys that automatically map to the correct namespace file.

Target File Picking Strategy

When multiple locale files exist, control how the target file is selected:

{
  // "none" — always prompt
  // "auto" — automatically resolve from source language file structure (supports namespace)
  // "most-similar" — pick the file most similar to the current file path
  // "most-similar-by-key" — pick by key prefix match
  // "file-previous" — remember per-file selection
  // "global-previous" — remember globally
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.targetPickingStrategy": "none"
}

Ignored Strings

Exclude specific strings from detection:

{
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.ignored": [
    "TODO",
    "FIXME"
  ],
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.ignoredByFiles": {
    "src/constants.ts": ["SOME_CONSTANT"]
  }
}

Refactor Templates

Customize the code that replaces the extracted string:

{
  "i18n-ally-next.refactor.templates": [
    {
      "source": "js-string",
      "templates": ["t('{key}')"]
    },
    {
      "source": "jsx-text",
      "templates": ["{t('{key}')}"]
    }
  ]
}

Available sources: html-attribute, html-inline, js-string, js-template, jsx-text.

Project-wide Scan & Extract

Beyond single-file and batch extraction, i18n Ally Next supports scanning the entire project for hard-coded strings and extracting them all at once.

Running the Scan

Run i18n Ally Next: Scan and Extract All from the Command Palette.

The process:

1. Scans all supported files in the project (respects .gitignore)
2. Detects hard-coded strings in each file
3. Shows a summary: N files with M hard-coded strings found
4. After confirmation, automatically extracts all strings — generating key names and writing to locale files

Scan Configuration

Control which files are included or excluded from scanning:

{
  // Glob patterns for files to include in scanning
  // If empty, uses the default supported language glob
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.scanningInclude": [
    "src/**/*.{ts,tsx,vue,js,jsx}"
  ],

  // Glob patterns for files to ignore during scanning
  "i18n-ally-next.extract.scanningIgnore": [
    "src/generated/**",
    "src/**/*.test.*",
    "src/**/*.spec.*"
  ]
}

TIP

For large projects, narrow the scan scope with scanningInclude to avoid scanning irrelevant files and speed up the process.