Static Export with next-intl: English at / and prefixed routes for other languages without middleware?

[jgcjordi]

Hi all,

I’m trying to figure out if what I want is possible with next-intl in a static export setup, because for my case language detection is not necessary, and I wanted to ask for guidance. Here’s a related discussion for extra context: #2048

Here’s what I want to achieve:

Default language English served at / (root), without any redirect.

Other languages like Spanish or French served at /es or /fr (with prefix).

No middleware running at all, to keep fluid active CPU usage minimal.

This should be compatible with static export (next export).

So the idea would be something like:

/app
  page.tsx      -> English content at `/`
  es/page.tsx   -> Spanish content at `/es`
  fr/page.tsx   -> French content at `/fr`

My question is:

• Is this setup possible with next-intl when removing middleware completely? Without the library, this should still be possible to achieve, right?
• In my understanding, the only reason to use middleware would be to detect the user’s language dynamically; aside from that, everything else could be completely static. Does this make sense?

[amannn]

Sure, sounds fine! Everything relevant should be listed here: Usage without proxy / middleware (static export)

[jgcjordi]

I was looking just this, but with this configuration, the /en suffix will be visible, right? I want to avoid this.

"Using a locale prefix is required (same as localePrefix: 'always')"

[amannn]

Oh yes, sorry I missed this in a rush. The middleware is indeed required for the as-needed strategy. You could however run it with a matcher that only triggers if you see a pathname that doesn't start with /es, /fr, … (and also not for static assets).