Build Strategy
buildStrategy controls how locale payloads are reflected in the built bundle.
virtual
The default strategy. Locale modules are loaded through dynamic import() calls so Vite build can split locale chunks.
inline-chunks
Build-time strategy that duplicates localizable chunks per locale and replaces $locale / $l references with locale-specific string literals, accessed subtrees, or message formatting expressions.
Each locale, including the primary locale, is emitted as a locale-specific chunk such as *.ja-JP.js or *.en-US.js. The HTML entry script is replaced with a *.i18n-loader.js loader, which reads the locale query parameter and imports the matching locale chunk. When locale is missing or unsupported, the loader imports the primary locale chunk.
The rewritten <script> keeps existing attributes such as nonce, crossorigin, and referrerpolicy. When the original entry script has integrity, it is replaced with integrity for the generated loader. The loader verifies the selected locale chunk with modulepreload and per-locale chunk integrity before calling import().
References That Cannot Be Fully Inlined
Static references such as $locale.sfc.title, $locale.env.title, and $l.sfc.count({ n }) are replaced with locale-specific string literals or message formatting expressions. References that become dynamic after a static prefix, such as $locale.env.labels[key], embed only the resolved locale-specific subtree and keep a runtime lookup expression. Bare locale helper objects are not expanded into full dictionaries.
Paths that cannot be resolved at build time and $l calls that are too complex fall back to the primary locale value. If the primary locale is also missing the value, the expression returns a key string such as $locale.sfc.missingKey. JavaScript that cannot be parsed during replacement fails the build instead of being left silently unprocessed.
This strategy increases the number of output files and the total delivery size in proportion to the number of locales. Prefer virtual when the application has many locales.
Related API: