v3.24.0

Date: 2026-07-30

Version: v3.24.0

Node production builds no longer embed translation payloads as Nitro serverAssets / Rollup raw: (multi‑GB build RSS on large catalogs). SSR reads the same /{apiBaseUrl}/{page}/{locale}/data.json tree the client fetches — from public/ via readFile. Edge keeps a Nitro embed and should prefer mode: 'source'.

What's New?

Node: SSR from public/<apiBaseUrl>

• Node presets that serve public/ from disk do not register Nitro serverAssets.
• Payloads are copied to public/<apiBaseUrl> (default _locales) as {page}/{locale}/data.json.
• SSR loads them through #i18n-internal/payload-source → readFile (prod path next to .output/server).
• translationPayloads.serverAssets: true still means “local SSR” and forces that public copy even if publicAssets is false.

Playground (vs previous serverAssets embed): ~1.25 GB / ~6–7 s / raw=0 vs ~3 GB / ~13 s / ~170 raw chunks.

Edge: serverAssets only when needed

• Edge (nitro.node === false) still embeds via Nitro serverAssets (assets:i18n) with the same layout as mode.
• Edge does not force a public copy — set publicAssets: true for CDN/static.
• Warns when Edge + mode: 'premerged' (prefer mode: 'source' for large catalogs).

publicDir aligns with client URLs

• translationPayloads.publicDir defaults to apiBaseUrl (not translationDir).
• Premerged public/Edge tree is {page}/{locale}/data.json, matching $fetch('/_locales/...').
• Module defaults no longer set nested publicAssets: true (Nuxt deep-merge was forcing public copy even for mode: 'source').

See Module options — translationPayloads, Deployment — serverless and Edge, and Cache & Storage Architecture.

Breaking Changes

• No dictionaries in the Nuxt SSR HTML payload. payload.data['i18n-ssr-chunks'], setSsrChunk, and seedFromSsrChunks are removed. Same default posture as @nuxtjs/i18n (experimental.preload: false): server keeps translations in memory for SSR; the client loads /{apiBaseUrl}/.../data.json during plugin setup (await switchContext).
• prerenderRoutes defaults to false. Opt in only if you need Nitro to materialize handler routes when publicAssets did not already write the tree (premerged publicAssets already emits {page}/{locale}/data.json).
• publicDir default is apiBaseUrl, not translationDir. Static output moves from e.g. public/locales/... to public/_locales/{page}/{locale}/data.json unless you set publicDir explicitly.
• Premerged storage layout is now {page}/{locale}/data.json (was pages/{page}/{locale}.json). Anything that read Nitro/storage keys or copied trees by the old shape must update.
• On Node, serverAssets: true no longer means Nitro embed — it means local SSR via the public copy. True Rollup raw: embed remains Edge-only.

Migration

1. Remove any code that read payload.data['i18n-ssr-chunks'] or called seedFromSsrChunks / setSsrChunk.
2. For pure static hosts: keep default premerged + publicAssets (files land at /_locales/.../data.json), or set prerenderRoutes: true / host payloads on a CDN.
3. For Cloudflare / other Edge: set translationPayloads: { mode: 'source' } on large catalogs; add publicAssets: true only if you need a static/CDN copy.
4. If you depended on payloads under public/<translationDir>, set translationPayloads.publicDir or point tooling at public/<apiBaseUrl>.

Fix: skip disabled locales in premerged public payloads

preMergeLocales now writes {page}/{locale}/data.json only for locales passed into the merge (build-time locale.disabled: true is omitted). Previously every JSON locale on disk was copied to public/, so Nitro static served disabled locales with 200 and bypassed the handler. Runtime disabledLocales still cannot un-publish files already built — use locale.disabled at build when publicAssets / Node public SSR copy is on.

Why It Matters

• Node builds stay lean: no multi‑GB Rollup raw: spike from translation catalogs.
• Public files and client $fetch URLs share one path layout — static hosting works without a special remap.
• Edge can still embed compact source payloads without forcing a duplicate public tree.

Full changelog will be published with the release on GitHub.