Laravel Translation Client

A Laravel package for consuming centralized translation services. This package replaces Laravel's file-based translation loader with an API-based loader that fetches translations from a remote translation service.

Features

• API-based translations - Fetch translations from a centralized service
• Write translations - Push translations back to the service
• Multi-level caching - Memory, Laravel cache, and service-side caching
• Automatic updates - Translations update without redeployment
• Multi-tenant support - Per-tenant translation isolation
• Zero code changes - Works with existing trans() and __() calls
• High performance - Sub-millisecond translation lookups
• Graceful degradation - Falls back to stale cache on API failures
• Import from files - Migrate existing Laravel translations

Requirements

• PHP 8.1 or higher
• Laravel 10.x or 11.x

Installation

1. Install via Composer

composer require ouredu/laravel-translation-client

2. Publish Configuration

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="OurEdu\TranslationClient\TranslationServiceProvider"

This will create config/translation-client.php.

3. Configure Environment

Add the following to your .env file:

TRANSLATION_SERVICE_URL=https://your-translation-service.com
TRANSLATION_PRELOAD=true
TRANSLATION_CLIENT=backend

4. Configure Available Locales

In config/translation-client.php, add:

'available_locales' => ['en', 'ar', 'fr'],

Configuration

All configuration options are in config/translation-client.php:

return [
    // Translation service base URL
    'service_url' => env('TRANSLATION_SERVICE_URL', 'http://localhost'),
    
    // Cache TTL in seconds
    'manifest_ttl' => env('TRANSLATION_MANIFEST_TTL', 300), // 5 minutes
    'bundle_ttl' => env('TRANSLATION_BUNDLE_TTL', 3600), // 1 hour
    
    // Client type: backend, frontend, mobile
    'client' => env('TRANSLATION_CLIENT', 'backend'),
    
    // HTTP timeout in seconds
    'http_timeout' => env('TRANSLATION_HTTP_TIMEOUT', 10),
    
    // Use stale cache on API failure
    'fallback_on_error' => env('TRANSLATION_FALLBACK_ON_ERROR', true),
    
    // Cache store (null = default)
    'cache_store' => env('TRANSLATION_CACHE_STORE'),
    
    // Logging
    'logging' => [
        'enabled' => env('TRANSLATION_LOGGING', false),
        'channel' => env('TRANSLATION_LOG_CHANNEL', 'stack'),
    ],
    
     /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Available Locales
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | The list of available locales to sync translations for
    |
    */
    'available_locales' => [
        'ar',
        'en',
    ],
];

Usage

Basic Usage

Once installed, use Laravel's translation functions as normal:

// In controllers
__('messages.welcome')
trans('validation.required')

// With replacements
trans('messages.hello', ['name' => 'Ahmed'])

Commands

Sync Translations

Manually fetch and cache translations:

# Sync all locales
php artisan translations:sync

# Sync specific locale
php artisan translations:sync --locale=ar

# Force refresh (clear cache first)
php artisan translations:sync --force

Clear Cache

Clear translation caches:

# Clear all translation caches
php artisan translations:clear-cache

# Clear specific locale
php artisan translations:clear-cache --locale=ar

Import Translations

Import translations from Laravel lang files to the service:

# Import all locales
php artisan translations:import

# Import specific locale
php artisan translations:import --locale=ar

# Import from custom path
php artisan translations:import --path=/path/to/lang

Scheduled Sync

Add to app/Console/Kernel.php to sync translations hourly:

protected function schedule(Schedule $schedule): void
{
    $schedule->command('translations:sync')->hourly();
}

Middleware for Locale Detection

Add to app/Http/Kernel.php:

protected $middlewareGroups = [
    'web' => [
        // ...
        \OurEdu\TranslationClient\Middleware\SetLocaleFromRequest::class,
    ],
];

This middleware detects locale from:

1. Query parameter (?locale=ar)
2. Header (X-Locale: ar)
3. Accept-Language header
4. Authenticated user preference

Using the Facade

Reading Translations

use OurEdu\TranslationClient\Facades\Translation;

// Check version
$manifest = Translation::checkVersion('ar');
// Returns: ['version' => 42, 'etag' => '...', 'updated_at' => '...']

// Fetch specific groups
$translations = Translation::fetchBundle('ar', ['messages', 'validation']);

// Load all translations
$all = Translation::loadTranslations('ar');

// Clear cache
Translation::clearCache('ar');

Writing Translations

// Push single translation
Translation::pushTranslation(
    locale: 'ar',
    group: 'messages',
    key: 'welcome',
    value: 'مرحبا'
);

// Push multiple translations
Translation::pushTranslations([
    [
        'locale' => 'ar',
        'group' => 'messages',
        'key' => 'hello',
        'value' => 'مرحباً',
        'client' => 'backend',
    ],
]);

// Import from Laravel lang files
Translation::importFromFiles('ar', lang_path());

Programmatic Access

use OurEdu\TranslationClient\Services\TranslationClient;

class MyService
{
    public function __construct(
        private TranslationClient $translationClient
    ) {}
    
    public function getTranslations()
    {
        return $this->translationClient->fetchBundle('ar', ['messages']);
    }
}

How It Works

Architecture

Laravel App → trans() → ApiTranslationLoader → TranslationClient → Translation Service API
                                ↓
                         Memory Cache (in-memory)
                                ↓
                         Laravel Cache (Redis/File)
                                ↓
                         Translation Service (Redis + DB)

Caching Strategy

1. Memory Cache: Loaded translations stored in PHP memory
2. Laravel Cache: Persistent cache with configurable TTL
3. Version Checking: Manifest API checked every 5 minutes
4. Automatic Invalidation: Cache refreshed when version changes

Performance

• Cached Translation: ~1-5ms (from memory)
• Laravel Cache Hit: ~5-10ms
• API Call (first time): ~50-200ms
• Manifest Check: ~10-50ms

Multi-Tenant Support

For multi-tenant applications:

// Set tenant dynamically based on request
config(['translation-client.tenant_id' => $currentTenant->id]);

// Or extend the TranslationClient
class MultiTenantTranslationClient extends TranslationClient
{
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct();
        $this->tenantUuid = auth()->user()?->tenant_uuid;
    }
}

Error Handling

The package handles errors gracefully:

• API Unavailable: Uses stale cache if available
• Network Timeout: Falls back to cached data
• Invalid Response: Logs error and returns empty array
• Missing Translations: Falls back to key name (Laravel default)

Enable logging for debugging:

TRANSLATION_LOGGING=true
TRANSLATION_LOG_CHANNEL=stack

Testing

When testing, you may want to disable API calls:

// In tests/TestCase.php
protected function setUp(): void
{
    parent::setUp();
    
    // Mock the translation client
    $this->mock(TranslationClient::class, function ($mock) {
        $mock->shouldReceive('loadTranslations')
            ->andReturn(['messages.welcome' => 'Welcome']);
    });
}

Troubleshooting

Translations not loading

1. Check service URL is correct: php artisan config:cache
2. Verify API is accessible: curl https://your-service.com/translation/manifest?locale=en
3. Enable logging: TRANSLATION_LOGGING=true
4. Check logs: tail -f storage/logs/laravel.log

Cache not clearing

php artisan cache:clear
php artisan translations:clear-cache
php artisan config:cache

Performance issues

1. Use Redis for caching instead of file cache
2. Increase cache TTL if translations rarely change

License

This package is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.

Support

For issues and questions, please use the GitHub issue tracker.