DocsDeveloper SectionMultilingual and RTL/LTR Support
next-intl + Strapi CMS + Medusa v2

Multilingual and Right-to-Left (RTL / LTR) Support

The Next.js frontend of the project is implemented to natively support right-to-left (Persian/Arabic) and left-to-right (English) languages using the next-intl library.

Download Base English Translation Template (default.json)

To add any new language (such as Turkish, French, German, or Spanish), download this complete base English template containing all 863 standard storefront keys and translate its values:

Download default.json Template (42 KB)
Important translation rule: Expressions inside curly braces such as {name}, {discount}, {total} and HTML tags like <tos> are dynamic system interpolation variables and must NOT be modified or translated.

Configuring Direction and Locales in Next.js

Setting the dir attribute based on the active language in the src/app/[locale]/layout.tsx file:

src/app/[countryCode]/layout.tsx
typescript
import { NextIntlClientProvider } from "next-intl"
import { getMessages } from "next-intl/server"
import { isRtlLocale } from "@lib/util/is-rtl"
export default async function StoreLayout({
children,
params,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
params: Promise<{ countryCode: string }>
}) {
const { countryCode } = await params
const messages = await getMessages()
const isRtl = isRtlLocale()
const dir = isRtl ? "rtl" : "ltr"
return (
<html lang={countryCode} dir={dir}>
<body className={isRtl ? "font-vazirmatn" : "font-inter"}>
<NextIntlClientProvider messages={messages}>
{children}
</NextIntlClientProvider>
</body>
</html>
)
}

Translation Files Structure (messages)

Key-value translation files are located in the messages/ folder:

messages/default.json
json
{
"HomePage": {
"title": "Medusa Store",
"subtitle": "Best products for you"
},
"Cart": {
"title": "Cart",
"checkout": "Go to checkout"
},
"Product": {
"actions": {
"add_to_cart": "Add to cart",
"out_of_stock": "Out of stock"
}
}
}

Environment Variables Configuration

To configure default language and region settings in the Store project, the following variables must be set in the .env file:

.env
bash
# Default region fallback if not detected from headers
NEXT_PUBLIC_DEFAULT_REGION=us
# Default storefront language
DEFAULT_LOCALE=en-US
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_DEFAULT_REGION: Sets the default country code if geolocation headers (such as x-vercel-country) are absent (recommended: us for US/international stores, or IR for Iran).
  • DEFAULT_LOCALE: Determines the frontend's default language (recommended: en-US for English stores, or fa-IR for Persian).

Adding a New Language Without Writing Code (No-Code)

Strapi Storefront Settings + Medusa Locales

The Loomix platform uses a dynamic, multi-layered architecture for localization, allowing store managers to add complete languages in under 3 minutes without rebuilding or restarting containers:

1. Prepare and Translate the JSON File

Download the base default.json file above, rename it following standard BCP-47 naming (e.g., tr-TR.json for Turkish or fr-FR.json for French), and translate the string values.

2. Upload in Strapi CMS

Log in to Strapi Admin and navigate to Content Manager > Single Types > Storefront Setting:
• Under the Translations section, click Add an entry.
• In the language field, enter the standard 4-letter compound code (e.g., tr-TR).
• In the file field, upload and select the translated JSON file.
• Click Save and then Publish to invalidate the storefront cache via on-demand ISR webhooks.

3. Local Source Synchronization (Optional)

In Strapi Admin, open the Storefront management page. Under the Translations & Locales card, click Sync Translations from Strapi. This downloads uploaded files directly into store/messages/ and regenerates the local language registry.

Is a production rebuild required after adding a language?
No, absolutely not! The Next.js storefront dynamically fetches uploaded translation files from Strapi and performs a runtime deepMerge over base strings, making changes live instantly without rebuild or downtime.

4. Activate Header Flag Selector (Medusa Admin)

To display the country flag and language name in the storefront header dropdown, navigate to Medusa Admin > Settings > Store / Locales and add the new locale (e.g., code tr-TR with name Turkish).

Why is the new language not immediately visible? (1-Hour Cache)
Next.js aggressively caches the /store/locales API response in memory for 1 hour (revalidate: 3600) for high throughput. If the flag does not appear immediately, simply run the following command on your VPS to clear the cache:
docker compose restart storefront

Resolving HTTP 403 Forbidden on Translation Sync

If clicking Sync Translations from Strapi outputs the following error:

[Translation Sync] Strapi endpoint returned HTTP 403. Falling back to local messages directory.

Root Cause: In Strapi, the Public role does not have read permissions granted for the storefront-settings endpoint by default, causing requests to be rejected with status 403.

Resolution Steps (Under 30 Seconds):

  1. Log into Strapi Admin and go to Settings (bottom gear icon) > USERS & PERMISSIONS PLUGIN > Roles.
  2. Click on the Public role to open permission settings.
  3. Under content types, find Storefront-setting and check the find permission.
  4. Under the Plugins list, navigate to Media Library and ensure the find permission is checked (to permit downloading translation files).
  5. Click Save in the top right corner, then return to the Storefront page and click Sync again.