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Fresh supports multiple languages for its user interface. The editor automatically detects your system locale, but you can also set your preferred language manually.

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Supported Languages

Fresh currently supports the following locales:

English

en - English (default)

Chinese (Simplified)

zh-CN - 简体中文

Japanese

ja - 日本語

Spanish

es - Español

French

fr - Français

German

de - Deutsch

Italian

it - Italiano

Portuguese (Brazilian)

pt-BR - Português (Brasil)

Russian

ru - Русский

Korean

ko - 한국어

Vietnamese

vi - Tiếng Việt

Thai

th - ไทย

Ukrainian

uk - Українська

Czech

cs - Čeština
The complete list of locale files is available in the locales directory of the Fresh repository.

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Setting Your Language

There are three ways to configure your preferred language:

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1. Using the Settings UI

The easiest method:
1

Open Settings

Navigate to Edit → Settings… from the menu bar.
2

Find Language Setting

Go to the General section.
3

Select Locale

Choose your preferred language from the dropdown.
4

Restart Fresh

Changes take effect after restarting the editor.

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2. Configuration File

Edit your ~/.config/fresh/config.json: 
{
  "locale": "es"
}
Restart Fresh for the changes to take effect.

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3. Command-Line Flag

Override the locale for a single session: 
fresh --locale ja
fresh --locale zh-CN
This takes precedence over the configuration file setting.

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Locale Priority

Fresh determines the active locale using this priority order (highest to lowest):
  1. Command-line flag: --locale <LOCALE>
  2. Configuration file: "locale": "<LOCALE>" in config.json
  3. System locale: Detected from LANG environment variable
  4. Default fallback: en (English)
Fresh reads the LANG environment variable to detect your system locale:
echo $LANG
# Example output: ja_JP.UTF-8, es_ES.UTF-8, etc.
The language code is extracted from the locale string (e.g., ja from ja_JP.UTF-8).

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What Gets Translated

When you change the locale, the following UI elements are translated:
  • Menu bar - All menu labels and items
  • Command palette - Command names and descriptions
  • Status bar - Status messages and indicators
  • Prompts - File open, save, search dialogs
  • Error messages - User-facing error text
  • Settings UI - Setting labels and descriptions
  • Help text - In-app documentation
What doesn’t change:
  • Your file contents (obviously!)
  • Plugin-provided text (unless the plugin supports i18n)
  • LSP messages from language servers
  • Log files and debug output

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Plugin Translations

Plugins can provide their own translations to match your selected locale.

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For Plugin Users

Plugins that support i18n will automatically use your configured locale. No additional setup required!

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For Plugin Developers

To add translations to your plugin:
  1. Create .i18n.json files alongside your plugin: 
    ~/.config/fresh/plugins/my-plugin/
├── plugin.json
├── main.js
├── en.i18n.json
├── ja.i18n.json
└── es.i18n.json
  2. Structure your translation files: 
    {
  "command.my_action": "My Action",
  "message.success": "Operation completed successfully",
  "error.not_found": "Item not found"
}
  3. Use translations in your plugin code: 
    const message = fresh.t("message.success");
Fresh will automatically load the appropriate translation file based on the active locale.

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Contributing Translations

Want to add or improve a translation?
1

Find the Locale File

Locale files are in the Fresh repository:crates/fresh-editor/locales/<locale>.json
2

Edit or Create

  • To improve existing: Edit the .json file
  • To add new language: Copy en.json and translate all strings
3

Test

Build Fresh and test your translations:
cargo run --bin fresh -- --locale <your-locale>
4

Submit

Create a pull request with your changes.

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Translation Guidelines

  • Keep it concise - UI space is limited in a terminal
  • Match tone - Fresh uses friendly, direct language
  • Test in context - See how translations appear in menus and prompts
  • Preserve placeholders - Variables like {file} must remain unchanged
  • Check key bindings - Some terms reference keyboard shortcuts

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Encoding vs. Locale

Don’t confuse locale with file encoding!
  • Locale (i18n): UI language (menus, messages)
  • Encoding: How file bytes are interpreted (UTF-8, GBK, etc.)
For file encoding support, see:

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Examples

fresh --locale ja

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Troubleshooting

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Translations Not Appearing

  1. Verify locale code - Check spelling (e.g., zh-CN not zh-cn)
  2. Restart Fresh - Locale changes require restart
  3. Check config syntax - Ensure config.json is valid JSON
  4. View effective config: 
    fresh --cmd config show | grep locale

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Mixed Language UI

If some parts are translated but others aren’t:
  • Normal: Some dynamic content (like plugin text) may not be translated
  • LSP messages: Language servers send messages in their own language
  • Incomplete translation: Some strings may not be translated yet - consider contributing!

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See Also

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