vagejs
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Sites in several languages
One site, every language you need.

vagejs is a static site generator with multi-language sites built in. One site holds every language, each in its own folder, with the right language and hreflang tags on every page, and a check that lists the pages still waiting for a translation. It's been part of vagejs since version 0.10.

npm create vagejs@latest my-site

Read the multi-language docsFollow the step-by-step guide

How it works

Your visitors don't all read the same language. Your English pages stay right where they are, French pages go in a fr folder, and German pages in de. Each page knows its language, and translations point to each other.

You write Visitors get
src/pages/about.md /about/, in English
src/pages/fr/about.md /fr/about/, the French version
src/pages/de/ueber-uns.md with translationOf: /about/ /de/ueber-uns/, the German version, with its own German address

A page with the same file name in a language folder is its translation. Want an address in the visitor's own language? Add one line saying which page it translates. You list your languages once, in vage.config.ts:

TypeScript
export default defineConfig({
  site: "https://example.com",
  lang: "en",
  i18n: { locales: ["fr", "de"] },
});

What you get

We handle the fiddly parts of a multilingual site, so you can focus on the words.

  • The right language on every page

    French pages say they're French, so screen readers pronounce them properly and search engines know who they're for.

  • hreflang tags, written for you

    Every version of a page links to the others. Google uses these links to show people the version in their own language.

  • A language switcher without bookkeeping

    Your layout gets the list of translations for the page it's showing, so a switcher always points to pages that exist.

  • A check for missing translations

    npm run check lists every page that has no version in one of your languages, and names the file to add. A wrong language tag, or a translation that points nowhere, stops the build.

  • Feeds per language

    A blog feed for /fr/blog/ holds the French posts and says it's French.

  • Menus and lists per language

    Give each language its own menu, and list just one language's pages, such as the French blog posts, with collection().

    See in your layouts

Who multilingual sites in vagejs are for

  • Businesses with customers in several languages

    You serve people in two or three languages and want one site to look after, not three.

  • Products with docs in several languages

    You translate your docs a page at a time, and the check keeps track of what's left.

  • Anyone whose AI assistant translates

    The check shows your assistant exactly what's missing, and you review what it writes.

What it doesn't do

We'd rather you know the limits up front.

  • vagejs doesn't translate pages for you. You, a translator or your AI assistant write each version.
  • It doesn't send visitors to a language based on their browser settings. A language switcher works more reliably on a static site.
  • llms.txt and the sitemap list every language together, not one file per language.

More on multilingual sites with vagejs

Some other static site generators also have multilingual support built in, and some of it is older and covers more complex setups. See how vagejs compares.

Questions about multi-language sites

Do I have to translate every page?

No. A page without a translation simply exists in one language. If you only translate some pages, list them under i18n.pages in vage.config.ts (vagejs 0.15.1 and newer), and vage check asks for translations of those pages only.

Will a missing translation stop my site from building?

No. A missing translation is a warning, so the site still builds while you translate. Run vage check --strict if you want warnings to fail too. Real mistakes, such as a wrong language tag or a translationOf that points to a page that doesn't exist, are errors.

Which language codes can I use?

Standard language codes such as fr, de or pt-BR. Your main language goes in lang, and the others go in i18n.locales. Don't list your main language twice.

Can I add languages to a site I already have?

Yes. Your main-language pages keep their addresses, so nothing you've published moves. Add the new languages to vage.config.ts and put each translation in its language's folder.

Start with one command.
You'll have a site running in a minute.

npm create vagejs@latest my-site

Read the docsUse it with your AI assistant