Structured JSON files are used for managing localization strings with additional metadata properties in a hierarchical format. Lokalise supports structured JSON files, allowing for efficient management of translations along with context, character limits, tags, and notes. This format is ideal for complex localization needs where additional information is required for each translation key.

Technical information

Overview

Format name:
Structured JSON

File extensions:
.json

Common use cases:
Managing and organizing localization strings in web and mobile applications with additional metadata such as context, notes, tags, and character limits.

Technical details:

Structure: Structured JSON files contain entries with multiple properties for each translation key. These properties include the actual translation, notes, context, character limit, and tags.
Encoding: UTF-8

File structure

Here's an example of a typical structured JSON file used for localization:

{
    "mm_homepage": {
        "translation": "Homepage",
        "notes": "Title for main menu",
        "tags": [ "main", "important" ]
    },
    "mm_about": {
        "translation": "About us",
        "notes": "Title for main menu",
        "limit": 20
    },
    "somekey": {
        "translation": "First level key"
    },
    "somekey::sub": {
        "translation": "Second level key"
    }
}

In this example, each key contains various properties such as translation, notes, tags, and limit, providing additional information and constraints for the translation.

Supported properties

Structured JSON file entries can contain the following properties:

translation – the actual translation (required)
notes – description of the key (optional)
context – context of the key (optional)
limit – character limit for the key (optional)
tags – additional tags (optional)

TypeScript Integration

If you are using TypeScript and want to add an autocompletion feature for your key names, you can add the following line of code to your app:

keyof typeof import ('./path/to/some/json/file.json')

Using with Lokalise

Lokalise supports flat JSON files, making it easy to manage and translate your localization strings within the platform.

Supported project types

Please note that JSON files can be uploaded only to Web and mobile projects.

Additional reading

Application Resource Bundle (.arb)