Request a new language

If your language is not in the list, you can request it. Once it is added, it appears in Lokalise and anyone can start translating.

Start a discussion in the localization category of the frontend repository. Include both the English name and the native name of your language:

English name: German
Native name: Deutsch

Regional variants, like Canadian French or Brazilian Portuguese, are possible too. They only make sense when the text really differs from the base language. A variant is only included when it has translations that differ from the base language.

When you translate a regional variant, copy the base translation for strings that are the same in your region, instead of leaving them empty. That way it stays clear which strings have been reviewed.

A maintainer adds the language to Home Assistant and to Lokalise. Languages are identified with BCP 47 tags, like fr, fr-CA, or zh-Hans. A tag only includes a region when that region needs its own translations, and the base language is already translated. Once that is done, you can join the project and start translating.

For maintainers, adding a language takes two steps:

1. Add the language tag and its native name, like "Français" or "Français (CA)", to src/translations/translationMetadata.json in the frontend repository.
2. Add the language in Lokalise. Sometimes the tag in Lokalise needs to be changed to match, under the language settings, as a custom ISO code.