Verbaly

Write your text in the code. Ship it in every language.

An i18n compiler and a tiny runtime for React, Vue, Svelte, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, Astro and plain HTML.

No key files to keep in sync, params typed from the text, and a CI gate that stops broken translations.

The idea

Most i18n tools ask you to invent a key for every sentence, write it in a file per language and keep the files in step with the code by hand. Verbaly turns that around:

// with key files: name it, write it in en.json, es.json, pt.json, keep them in sync

t('dashboard.welcome_back', { name });

// with Verbaly: write the sentence where it is used tWelcome back, ${name};

// and the compiler writes a stable key and a typed call for you t('ESsQIvlA', { name });

The runtime that ships is 3.35 KB gzip with zero dependencies, measured on every release by a gate in this repo (pnpm --filter verbaly size).

Quick start

pnpm add verbaly @verbaly/vite

pnpm add -D @verbaly/compiler # the verbaly command: init, extract, check npx verbaly init

// vite.config.ts

import verbaly from '@verbaly/vite';

export default { plugins: [verbaly()] };

// anywhere in your app: extracted and typed on save

import { t, setLocale } from 'verbaly/app';

tHello ${name}; await setLocale('es'); // loads only the Spanish module

verbaly/app is your project's own module: the plugin writes it from your config, with your languages and catalogs already in it. Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit and Astro have their own one-line setup: pick yours in the row above, or read the full docs at https://verbaly-web.vercel.app/docs.

Why Verbaly

✍️ No key files You write the sentence. The compiler names it and keeps every language file in step with your code. 🧷 Typed from the text {name} , plurals, currency and dates come from the message itself, so a wrong or missing param fails to compile. 🛑 Broken ones never ship verbaly check catches a missing translation, and one that lost a {param} , a tag or a plural case, in plain words.

🪶 Small and fast Zero dependencies, one module per language, and a hot path benchmarked against i18next on every release. 🔄 Any workflow Plain JSON, XLIFF, CSV and gettext PO for translators, Android and iOS exports, and AI drafts a person approves. 🤖 Agent ready An MCP server, an Agent Skill and llms.txt , with drafts an agent can write but never approve.

Review translations in a panel

npx verbaly-studio

Studio serves your project over localhost: what is missing, what is broken, what a machine wrote and where each text lives in your code. Your JSON files are the database and git is the history, a save runs the same validations as verbaly check, and it never edits your source text.

How it compares

Sizes are min+gzip of each library's main entry with React external, measured with the same method on 2026-10-15.

Coding agents

claude mcp add verbaly -- npx -y @verbaly/mcp

The MCP server gives your agent the whole cycle as tools, with structured output and resources to read your config and catalogs. Machine translations stay drafts until a person approves them (verbaly review --approve, or Studio): approving is deliberately not a tool. The Agent Skill teaches the write, extract, check and translate cycle (npx degit AronSoto/verbaly/skills/verbaly .claude/skills/verbaly), and the docs publish llms.txt.

Packages

All of them share one version number, and every release is published from CI with npm provenance.

Editor: see the text behind a key on hover

Generated keys are hashes, so t('a1B2c3D4') in a diff tells you nothing. The i18n-ally extension shows the real text inline once you point it at your catalogs. Two files, no Verbaly config changes:

.vscode/settings.json

{

"i18n-ally.localesPaths": ["locales"], "i18n-ally.keystyle": "flat", "i18n-ally.sourceLanguage": "en", "i18n-ally.display