feat: simplify i18n extraction to output flat KV directly

[brian-smith-tcril]

Summary

• Update formatter.ts to output flat {"key": "value"} JSON instead of an array of {id, defaultMessage, description} objects
• Update openedx.ts to write directly to src/i18n/transifex_input.json, removing the need for a separate concat step
• Matches the flat KV format expected by openedx-translations and used by all other frontend repos

This follows the pattern established in openedx/paragon#4177 and unblocks make extract_translations on frontend-base MFE branches (e.g. frontend-app-authn's frontend-base branch), which don't have access to frontend-platform or frontend-build.

Verified by installing a local tarball of frontend-base in frontend-app-authn (on its frontend-base branch) and confirming npm run i18n_extract successfully writes flat KV to src/i18n/transifex_input.json.

Test plan

• Run make extract_translations in an MFE on a frontend-base branch and verify src/i18n/transifex_input.json is created in flat KV format

Log

extract-translations work log

Repo: frontend-app-authn — branch extract-translations (off frontend-base)

Goal: Get make extract_translations working on the frontend-base branch, using the pattern established in openedx/paragon#4177.

Background

Standard MFEs use a two-step pipeline via make extract_translations:

1. i18n.extract — runs fedx-scripts formatjs extract (from frontend-build), outputs an array of {id, defaultMessage, description} objects to ./temp/babel-plugin-formatjs/Default.messages.json
2. i18n.concat — runs transifex-utils.js (from frontend-platform), reads that array and writes flat KV to src/i18n/transifex_input.json

The frontend-base branch doesn't have frontend-platform or frontend-build available, so this pipeline breaks.

Pattern (from paragon#4177)

• Add src/i18n/transifex-formatter.js — a small custom formatter that outputs flat KV JSON
• Update the i18n_extract script in package.json to use --format ./src/i18n/transifex-formatter.js

Error (current)

make extract_translations fails at the i18n.concat step:

Error: Found no messages
    at Object.<anonymous> (.../node_modules/@openedx/frontend-base/dist/tools/cli/transifex-utils.js:38:11)

The i18n.extract step runs openedx formatjs extract (from @openedx/frontend-base's CLI) but doesn't write anything to ./temp/babel-plugin-formatjs in the format transifex-utils.js expects, causing the concat step to throw.

Investigation findings

• i18n_extract in package.json runs openedx formatjs extract (from @openedx/frontend-base CLI)
• That command uses frontend-base's own formatter.js and writes an array of {id, defaultMessage, description} objects to ./temp/formatjs/Default.messages.json
• The Makefile's i18n.concat step passes ./temp/babel-plugin-formatjs to transifex-utils.js — that directory never gets created, so it throws Found no messages
• Root cause: path mismatch — the Makefile still references the old frontend-build-era path ./temp/babel-plugin-formatjs, but frontend-base's CLI writes to ./temp/formatjs

The fix from paragon#4177 sidesteps this entirely — use a custom formatter that outputs flat KV directly, removing the need for the concat step altogether.

Setup done in authn (extract-translations branch)

• Installed @openedx/frontend-dev-utils as a dev dependency
• Added dev:autoinstall script: PORT=1999 PUBLIC_PATH=/authn FRONTEND_BASE_DIR=../frontend-base devutils-dev-with-autoinstall
• pack:watch running in frontend-base (simplify-i18n-extract branch)
• dev:autoinstall running in authn — picks up pack changes from frontend-base automatically

Steps

• Verify make extract_translations is currently broken (confirmed same error with latest autoinstalled frontend-base)
• Fix in frontend-base (simplify-i18n-extract branch): updated formatter.ts to output flat KV, updated openedx.ts to write directly to src/i18n/transifex_input.json
• Updated authn's Makefile: removed i18n.concat step, removed unused transifex_utils/transifex_temp/transifex_input variables, simplified extract_translations target
• Verified npm run i18n_extract writes flat KV to src/i18n/transifex_input.json

Note on testing

make extract_translations runs npm ci (via requirements) which reinstalls from the registry, wiping out the local pack. During dev, use npm run i18n_extract directly after dev:autoinstall has installed the local pack. The full make extract_translations will work correctly once the frontend-base changes are published.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[arbrandes]

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