Configuration file

Overview

The Frontitude CLI uses a local configuration file called frontituderc.json to determine which text sources to pull from your Frontitude workspace and where to write the output.

Note: This file is managed by the Frontitude CLI. While you can edit it manually, it's recommended to run frontitude init, or frontitude source set if you’ve already completed init, to updated it.

File location

frontituderc.json is created at the root of your project directory. It is safe — and recommended — to commit this file to version control so that your team shares the same CLI configuration.

Properties

Property	Type	Required	Description
filePath	string	Yes	Relative path to the output strings file.
library	boolean	No	Whether to include texts from the Copy Library.
projects	array	No	Frontitude projects to pull texts from.
folders	array	No	Frontitude workspace folders to pull texts from.
xliffVersion	string	No	XLIFF version when using .xlf / .xliff output.

At least one text source (library, projects, or folders) must be configured for frontitude pull to work.

filePath

Type: string

The relative path where the CLI writes the pulled texts (e.g. ./strings.json). The file extension determines the output format:

Extension	Format
.json	JSON
.xml	Android XML
.xlf	XLIFF
.xliff	XLIFF
.strings	Apple Strings

Default: ./strings.json

library

Type: boolean

Set to true to include texts from your workspace's Copy Library as a source. When false or omitted, the Copy Library is not included.

projects

Type: Array<{ name: string, id: string }>

A list of Frontitude projects to pull texts from. Each entry contains:

• name — The display name of the project. Stored for readability so you can identify entries without looking up UUIDs. Not sent to the API.

• id — The unique project identifier used by the CLI to fetch texts.

These values are populated automatically by frontitude init or frontitude source set — you should not need to look up or edit IDs manually. If a project is renamed in Frontitude, the name in the config will be stale until you re-run frontitude source set.

folders

Type: Array<{ name: string, id: string }>

A list of workspace folders to pull texts from. When a folder is selected, all projects inside that folder are included at pull time. Each entry contains:

• name — The display name of the folder. Stored for readability only and not sent to the API.

• id — The unique folder identifier used by the CLI to resolve projects at pull time.

As with projects, if a folder is renamed in Frontitude the name here will be stale until you re-run frontitude source set.

xliffVersion

Type: string — "1.2" or "2.0"

Only relevant when filePath uses a .xlf or .xliff extension. Specifies which version of the XLIFF standard to use for the output file. Defaults to "1.2" if not set.

Examples

Full example

{
  "filePath": "./locales/strings.json",
  "library": true,
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "Authentication feature",
      "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
    }
  ],
  "folders": [
    {
      "name": "Mobile",
      "id": "79a64273-69c3-40bb-8a6a-5e405981707c"
    }
  ]
}

Minimal example

{
  "filePath": "./strings.json",
  "library": false,
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "My Project",
      "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
    }
  ]
}

XLIFF output

{
  "filePath": "./translations/strings.xlf",
  "xliffVersion": "1.2",
  "library": false,
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "My Project",
      "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
    }
  ]
}

How it's generated

Running frontitude init walks you through an interactive setup:

1. Select sources: pick which projects, folders, or the Copy Library to pull texts from.

2. Set output path: choose the file path and format for the pulled strings.

The CLI writes your selections to frontituderc.json. To update your sources later without re-running the full init flow, use frontitude source set.

Working with multiple config files

Available from CLI version 1.4.0 and above.

By default the CLI reads frontituderc.json from the directory you run it in. The --config <path> flag points it at a different config file instead. The path can be absolute or relative, and the flag works on every command (pull, push, init, and so on).

Relative filePath values inside the config file are resolved against that file's own directory, so --config behaves exactly as if you had changed into that directory before running the CLI. Each invocation uses exactly one config file; to drive several, run the CLI once per file and let an npm script handle the orchestration.

Monorepo: one install, many packages

Install the CLI once at the repository root and give each package its own config file (packages/<name>/frontituderc.json). A root npm script can then pull or push every package in one command:

{
  "scripts": {
    "i18n:pull:web": "frontitude pull --config packages/web/frontituderc.json",
    "i18n:pull:mobile": "frontitude pull --config packages/mobile/frontituderc.json",
    "i18n:pull:admin": "frontitude pull --config packages/admin/frontituderc.json",
    "i18n:pull": "npm run i18n:pull:web && npm run i18n:pull:mobile && npm run i18n:pull:admin"
  }
}

Multiple config profiles in one project

The same mechanism lets a single project keep several strings files side by side — for example a workspace-level Copy Library alongside a project-scoped file, or one file per project. Create a config file per profile and point --config at each in turn:

{
  "scripts": {
    "i18n:pull:library": "frontitude pull --config frontituderc.library.json",
    "i18n:pull:app": "frontitude pull --config frontituderc.app.json",
    "i18n:pull": "npm run i18n:pull:library && npm run i18n:pull:app"
  }
}

Config files in the same directory are fully independent — they can target different projects, the Copy Library, or different output files without interfering with each other.

Note: To create a new config file at a specific path, run frontitude init --config path/to/frontituderc.json.