Configuration (.nt3.yml)

The CLI reads a .nt3.yml file from your project root (the directory where you run nt3 commands). This file defines which Entri project to sync with and where your translation files are located.

Minimal example

project_id: "proj_abc123"
source_language: en
file_patterns:
  - path: "src/locales/{lang}.json"
    format: json-nested

Full reference

`project_id`

Required. The ID of your Entri project. Found in the Entri dashboard under Project Settings.

project_id: "proj_abc123"

`source_language`

Required. The language code for your source strings — the language your developers write in. Common values: en, de, fr, ja.

source_language: en

`update_translations` (optional)

Controls whether nt3 push overwrites existing translations. Mirrors the --overwrite CLI flag, but lets you set a per-project default in the config file.

Value	Behaviour
`false` (default)	Existing translations are skipped; only new keys are created
`true`	Existing translations are replaced on every push

update_translations: true

The --overwrite flag always takes precedence over this setting when both are present.

`file_patterns`

Required. A list of file pattern objects. Each entry defines one set of translation files to sync.

file_patterns:
  - path: "src/locales/{lang}.json"
    format: json-nested

Each file pattern has the following fields:

`path`

Required. The file path pattern with a {lang} placeholder. The CLI replaces {lang} with the language code at runtime.

path: "src/locales/{lang}.json"
# Resolves to: src/locales/en.json, src/locales/fr.json, etc.

The path is resolved relative to the directory where you run nt3 commands (typically your project root).

`format`

Required. The file format. Must be one of the supported format identifiers:

Value	File type
`json-flat`	Flat key-value JSON (e.g., `{"key": "value"}`)
`json-nested`	Nested JSON objects (e.g., `{"section": {"key": "value"}}`)
`yaml`	YAML key-value
`po`	GNU gettext PO files
`xliff`	XLIFF 1.2
`xliff2`	XLIFF 2.0
`arb`	Application Resource Bundle (Flutter)
`android-xml`	Android string resources (`res/values/strings.xml`)
`ios-strings`	iOS Localizable.strings
`ios-stringsdict`	iOS Stringsdict files (plurals)

`namespace` (optional)

A namespace string to scope this file’s keys within the project. Useful when multiple file patterns share the same project but represent different parts of the app.

file_patterns:
  - path: "src/locales/{lang}/common.json"
    format: json-nested
    namespace: common
  - path: "src/locales/{lang}/checkout.json"
    format: json-nested
    namespace: checkout

Multiple file patterns

Projects that split translations across multiple files — by feature, by library, or by format — can define multiple patterns:

project_id: "proj_abc123"
source_language: en
file_patterns:
  - path: "src/locales/{lang}.json"
    format: json-nested
    namespace: app
  - path: "public/locales/{lang}/marketing.json"
    format: json-flat
    namespace: marketing
  - path: "mobile/ios/{lang}.strings"
    format: ios-strings
    namespace: ios

All patterns are processed in order when you run nt3 push or nt3 pull.

Mobile app example

project_id: "proj_abc123"
source_language: en
file_patterns:
  - path: "android/app/src/main/res/values-{lang}/strings.xml"
    format: android-xml

For Android XML, the source language file path should use the base values directory convention. When using the CLI, make sure the path pattern resolves correctly for both the source and target languages.

Flutter example

project_id: "proj_abc123"
source_language: en
file_patterns:
  - path: "lib/l10n/intl_{lang}.arb"
    format: arb

GNU gettext example

project_id: "proj_abc123"
source_language: en
file_patterns:
  - path: "locales/{lang}/LC_MESSAGES/messages.po"
    format: po

Generating the config file

Rather than writing .nt3.yml by hand, use nt3 init to create it interactively or non-interactively:

nt3 init -p proj_abc123 -f po --path "locales/{lang}/messages.po"

Use --force to overwrite an existing config:

nt3 init --force -p proj_new123

Getting Started

CLI

Integrations

Concepts

Open source

Configuration (.nt3.yml)

Minimal example

Full reference

`project_id`

`source_language`

`update_translations` (optional)

`file_patterns`

`path`

`format`

`namespace` (optional)

Multiple file patterns

Mobile app example

Flutter example

GNU gettext example

Generating the config file

​Minimal example

​Full reference

​project_id

​source_language

​update_translations (optional)

​file_patterns

​path

​format

​namespace (optional)

​Multiple file patterns

​Mobile app example

​Flutter example

​GNU gettext example

​Generating the config file

Minimal example

Full reference

`project_id`

`source_language`

`update_translations` (optional)

`file_patterns`

`path`

`format`

`namespace` (optional)

Multiple file patterns

Mobile app example

Flutter example

GNU gettext example

Generating the config file