Translations

When to Use

• You add or modify user-facing labels/messages in PHP, Blade, Livewire, or API responses.
• You introduce domain vocabulary that must be available in en and de.
• You touch the lang/ directory or translation test coverage.

When Not to Use

• Internal debug logs, developer-only diagnostics, and system telemetry.
• Low-level exception details intended for logs/monitoring only (not user UI).
• Temporary local debugging text that never ships to users.

Rules

• Never hardcode user-facing text — always use __() or @lang()
• This project supports English (en) and German (de) — add keys to both locales when creating new translations
• Use namespaced keys (lang/{locale}/{group}.php) for domain-specific terms (e.g. sprints., organizations.)
• Use JSON keys (lang/{locale}.json) for generic UI labels (Save, Back, Cancel, etc.)
• Use :placeholder for dynamic values in translation strings
• Run translation tests after changes: php artisan test --filter=MissingTranslation
• Automated detection: MissingTranslationTest.php scans for __(), trans(), and @lang() and verifies every key exists in every locale
• Missing keys fall back to the key string at runtime, which is a production-facing defect; treat missing keys as test failures

Examples

// lang/en/sprints.php — namespaced keys for domain-specific strings
return [
    'step_locked' => 'This step is locked.',
    'create_success' => 'Sprint :name was created successfully.',
];

// Usage
__('sprints.step_locked');
__('sprints.create_success', ['name' => $sprint->name]);

// lang/de.json — generic UI labels
{
    "Save": "Speichern",
    "Back": "Zurück",
    "Cancel": "Abbrechen"
}

// Usage
__('Save');
__('Back');

{{-- In Blade templates — always use translation helpers --}}
<button type="submit">{{ __('Save') }}</button>
<p>{{ __('sprints.step_locked') }}</p>
<p>{{ __('Configure the :provider API key.', ['provider' => $provider]) }}</p>

// In PHP — use trans() or __()
throw new ValidationException(__('validation.required', ['attribute' => 'email']));
Log::info(__('sprints.import_started', ['count' => $count]));

// Recommended workflow for adding a new domain key
// 1) Add key to lang/en/sprints.php
// 2) Mirror the same key in lang/de/sprints.php
// 3) Use __() in code
// 4) Run: php artisan test --filter=MissingTranslation

Checklist

• Every new user-facing string uses __() or @lang().
• New keys are added to both lang/en/* and lang/de/*.
• Domain terms use namespaced PHP files; generic labels use JSON files.
• Placeholder names are identical across locales.
• MissingTranslation tests pass after changes.

Anti-Patterns

• Hardcoding user-facing strings like 'Save' or 'This step is locked.' directly in views or PHP
• Adding a translation key to only one locale (en or de)
• Using namespaced keys for generic labels — use JSON for Save, Back, Cancel
• Using JSON keys for domain-specific terminology — use PHP files with namespaces
• Forgetting :placeholder syntax for dynamic values: __('Welcome, :name') with ['name' => $user->name]
• Not running php artisan test --filter=MissingTranslation after adding or changing translations

References

• Laravel Localization
• Translation Helper
• Related: README.md — project-level language setup and testing commands
• Related: Blade/SKILL.md — use __() in Blade for all user-facing text
• Related: PHPUnit/SKILL.md — MissingTranslationTest validates translation coverage