Supported File Formats

Entri supports ten localization file formats covering web, mobile, and desktop platforms. You configure the format per file pattern in your .nt3.yml file.

Format overview

Format identifier	Extension	Platform / use case
`json-flat`	`.json`	Web — simple flat key-value
`json-nested`	`.json`	Web — nested object structure
`yaml`	`.yaml`	Web / Ruby on Rails
`po`	`.po`	GNU gettext (Linux, web)
`xliff`	`.xlf`	Industry standard XLIFF 1.2
`xliff2`	`.xlf`	Industry standard XLIFF 2.0
`arb`	`.arb`	Flutter / Dart
`android-xml`	`.xml`	Android
`ios-strings`	`.strings`	iOS / macOS
`ios-stringsdict`	`.stringsdict`	iOS / macOS (plurals)

Format examples

Flat key-value JSON. All keys live at the root level of the object.

{
  "welcome_message": "Welcome to Entri",
  "button_save": "Save",
  "button_cancel": "Cancel",
  "error_not_found": "Page not found"
}

Recommended for simple projects or tools that don’t support nested keys.

Nested JSON objects. Keys are grouped into sections using dot-notation paths.

{
  "common": {
    "save": "Save",
    "cancel": "Cancel"
  },
  "auth": {
    "login": "Log in",
    "logout": "Log out",
    "welcome": "Welcome, {{name}}"
  },
  "errors": {
    "not_found": "Page not found",
    "server_error": "Something went wrong"
  }
}

YAML key-value format. Common in Ruby on Rails applications.

en:
  common:
    save: Save
    cancel: Cancel
  auth:
    login: Log in
    logout: Log out
    welcome: "Welcome, %{name}"
  errors:
    not_found: Page not found

GNU gettext PO format. Widely used in open-source and Linux applications.

# Entri — French translations
msgid ""
msgstr ""
"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
"Language: fr\n"

msgid "welcome_message"
msgstr "Bienvenue sur Entri"

msgid "button_save"
msgstr "Enregistrer"

msgid "button_cancel"
msgstr "Annuler"

XLIFF 1.2 — the industry-standard XML-based interchange format, compatible with most professional CAT tools.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xliff version="1.2" xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:xliff:document:1.2">
  <file source-language="en" target-language="fr" datatype="plaintext">
    <body>
      <trans-unit id="welcome_message">
        <source>Welcome to Entri</source>
        <target>Bienvenue sur Entri</target>
      </trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="button_save">
        <source>Save</source>
        <target>Enregistrer</target>
      </trans-unit>
    </body>
  </file>
</xliff>

Application Resource Bundle — the Flutter/Dart localization format.

{
  "@@locale": "en",
  "welcomeMessage": "Welcome to Entri",
  "@welcomeMessage": {
    "description": "Shown on the home screen"
  },
  "buttonSave": "Save",
  "@buttonSave": {},
  "itemCount": "{count, plural, one{{count} item} other{{count} items}}",
  "@itemCount": {
    "placeholders": {
      "count": { "type": "int" }
    }
  }
}

Android string resources XML format.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="welcome_message">Welcome to Entri</string>
    <string name="button_save">Save</string>
    <string name="button_cancel">Cancel</string>
    <plurals name="item_count">
        <item quantity="one">%d item</item>
        <item quantity="other">%d items</item>
    </plurals>
</resources>

iOS/macOS Localizable.strings format — simple key = “value” pairs.

/* Home screen greeting */
"welcome_message" = "Welcome to Entri";

/* Button labels */
"button_save" = "Save";
"button_cancel" = "Cancel";

/* Error messages */
"error_not_found" = "Page not found";

Configuring formats in `.nt3.yml`

Specify the format for each file pattern using the format key:

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

The {lang} placeholder is replaced with the language code (e.g., en, fr, de) when reading and writing files.

Multiple patterns

You can mix formats within the same project by listing multiple patterns:

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

Each pattern maps to a separate namespace in Entri, allowing you to manage files by feature or team independently.

Platform recommendations

You are building…	Recommended format
React / Vue / Angular app	`json-nested` or `json-flat`
Ruby on Rails app	`yaml`
Android app	`android-xml`
iOS / macOS app	`ios-strings` (+ `ios-stringsdict` for plurals)
Flutter app	`arb`
Working with a translation agency	`xliff` or `xliff2`
GNU/Linux or gettext project	`po`

Getting Started

CLI

Integrations

Concepts

Open source

Supported File Formats

Format overview

Format examples

Configuring formats in `.nt3.yml`

Multiple patterns

Platform recommendations

​Format overview

​Format examples

​Configuring formats in .nt3.yml

​Multiple patterns

​Platform recommendations

Format overview

Format examples

Configuring formats in `.nt3.yml`

Multiple patterns

Platform recommendations