hashiiiii-locale

Locale Setup

Manage the user-level LOCALE file that rules-for-ai resolves at session start.

Resolution order (first existing file wins)

1. ~/.config/rules-for-ai/LOCALE.md (user level; respect $XDG_CONFIG_HOME when set)
2. Bundled LOCALE.default.md (all en_US)

The winning file is used as a whole; layers never merge. That is why every LOCALE file must carry all five keys.

There is no project-level LOCALE file. A project-specific language policy is an ordinary project instruction: it belongs in that project's CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md (e.g. "Write issues in English"), and project instructions override resolved locale keys.

When to Use

• When the user asks to set or change the language of issues, pull requests, code comments, or logs
• When the user wants a project-specific policy — do not write a LOCALE file; add the policy to that project's CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md instead

Arguments

• A single POSIX-style tag (ja_JP): apply it to all five keys
• Key=value pairs, one per artifact:

Key	Artifact
issues	Issues
pull-requests	Pull requests
comments	Code comments
logs	Log messages
test-logs	Test log messages

Example: issues=ja_JP pull-requests=ja_JP comments=ja_JP logs=en_US test-logs=en_US

• No arguments: ask the user about each of the five artifacts individually — locales may differ per artifact.

Writing the file

Always target ~/.config/rules-for-ai/LOCALE.md ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rules-for-ai/LOCALE.md when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set). Never write a LOCALE file into a project.

1. Validate keys: only the five keys above exist; reject anything else
2. Use POSIX-style tags (ja_JP, en_US, en_GB) as given; do not translate or normalize
3. Write strict key=value lines: no spaces around =, one key per line, LF line endings
4. Create the target directory when missing
5. Write atomically: write a temp file in the same directory, then mv it over the target
6. Always write all five keys; fill unspecified keys from the currently resolved values

File format (exactly this shape):

# Locale

issues=ja_JP
pull-requests=ja_JP
comments=ja_JP
logs=en_US
test-logs=en_US

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Writing a project-root LOCALE.md	The project layer does not exist; put project policy in that project's CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md
Leaving keys out	Always write all five keys
Inventing keys like commits	Only the five keys in the table exist
Spaces around = (issues = ja_JP)	Strict issues=ja_JP only