Laravel Translations Checker Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Internationalization (i18n) Quality Assurance: Automates the detection of missing translation keys across all supported languages, reducing post-launch bugs and support overhead. Directly addresses user-reported issues like "broken strings" in non-primary languages.
• CI/CD Pipeline Enforcement: Enables pre-deployment validation of translation completeness, ensuring consistency across environments (dev/staging/prod). Aligns with DevOps practices by shifting translation checks left in the workflow.
• Localization Scalability: Supports projects expanding to new languages or regions by proactively identifying gaps before user impact. Critical for global products where translation errors erode trust.
• Developer Productivity: Eliminates manual cross-checking of translation files, freeing QA teams to focus on higher-value tasks. Reduces context-switching between code and translation tools.
• Vendor Package Isolation: Safely excludes third-party translation files (e.g., from vendor/) from checks, preventing false positives while maintaining project-wide coverage.
• Multi-Format Support: Validates both .php and .json translation files, accommodating teams with mixed file formats without forcing standardization.

When to Consider This Package

• Adopt if:

  • Your Laravel project supports 2+ languages and experiences user-reported translation errors.
  • Translation files are statically defined (not dynamically generated at runtime).
  • You lack a dedicated localization workflow or rely on manual QA for translations.
  • Missing translations block releases or require last-minute fixes.
  • Your team uses GitHub Actions or another CI tool and wants to automate validation.
  • Translation files follow Laravel’s standard resources/lang structure (or a custom path).

• Avoid if:

  • Your project uses dynamic translation keys (e.g., Lang::get($variableKey)) that can’t be statically analyzed.
  • Translations are stored in a database or non-file-based system (e.g., API-driven).
  • You only support one language or have no internationalization needs.
  • Your translation files are highly fragmented (e.g., spread across non-standard directories without clear patterns).
  • You require real-time translation validation (this is a batch/CLI tool, not a runtime monitor).

• Look elsewhere if:

  • You need translation key suggestions (e.g., "this key is missing in Spanish—here’s the English version").
  • Your team uses non-Laravel frameworks (e.g., Symfony, Django) or custom translation systems.
  • You require machine translation integration (e.g., auto-generating missing translations via API).

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

To Executives/Business Leaders:

"This tool eliminates a hidden cost center: translation errors. Right now, users in [Language X] see broken strings or placeholder text, which damages our brand and drives support tickets. By automating checks for missing translations—before code ships—we’ll reduce post-launch fixes by 80% (based on similar projects). It’s a zero-cost, high-impact fix that aligns with our global growth strategy. The setup takes <1 hour, and it runs automatically in our CI pipeline, so no extra work for the team."

Key Outcomes:

• Fewer user complaints about "weird text" in non-English markets.
• Faster releases (no last-minute translation scrambles).
• Consistent brand messaging across all languages.

To Engineering/Tech Leads:

*"This is a five-minute install that solves a chronic pain point. Here’s how it works:

1. Install: composer require --dev larswiegers/laravel-translations-checker.
2. Run: php artisan translations:check in your CI pipeline (or locally).
3. Fix: The tool flags missing keys like nl.passwords.reset, so you can add them before they hit production.

It’s MIT-licensed, Laravel-native, and plays nicely with our existing resources/lang structure. We can exclude vendor files or specific languages if needed. Best part? It’s dev-only, so no runtime overhead.

Proposal: Let’s add this to our pre-release checklist. It’ll catch issues like [Bug #123] where users saw {{ __('missing.key') }} in French. For the cost of a Composer dependency, we avoid those headaches."*

Engineering Benefits:

• No code changes required (pure CLI tool).
• Works with JSON/PHP files—no format migration needed.
• CI-friendly: Fails builds if translations are incomplete (configurable).
• Open-source: No vendor lock-in; we can fork if needed.