Update JSON Localization File

Safely update a JSON localization file by adding, updating, or removing keys while preserving proper formatting.

Inputs

• file_path: Path to the JSON file to update
• additions: Dictionary of {key: value} pairs to add or update
• deletions: List of keys to remove
• preserve_formatting: Boolean (default: true) - maintain existing key order vs. sort alphabetically

Output

Return a summary object:

{
  "file_path": "src/assets/i18n/es-ES.json",
  "keys_added": 5,
  "keys_updated": 3,
  "keys_deleted": 2,
  "total_keys": 450
}

Process

Step 1: Read Current File

Read the existing file content. If the file doesn't exist, start with an empty object {}.

file_path: src/assets/i18n/es-ES.json

Handle errors gracefully:

• File not found → Create new file
• Permission denied → Report error
• Invalid JSON → Report error with line number if possible

Step 2: Parse JSON

Parse the JSON content while preserving structure:

• Maintain nested object hierarchy
• Track existing keys for add vs. update distinction

Step 3: Apply Deletions

For each key in the deletions list:

• Support dot notation for nested keys: "about.title" → delete json.about.title
• If key doesn't exist, skip silently (idempotent)
• If deleting a key leaves an empty parent object, keep the empty object

deletions: ["obsolete.key1", "deprecated.feature"]

Deletion logic for nested keys:

Key: "about.opensource.paragraph3"

Before:
{
  "about": {
    "opensource": {
      "paragraph1": "...",
      "paragraph2": "...",
      "paragraph3": "..."
    }
  }
}

After:
{
  "about": {
    "opensource": {
      "paragraph1": "...",
      "paragraph2": "..."
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Apply Additions

For each key-value pair in additions:

• Support dot notation: "about.newKey" → json.about.newKey = value
• If key exists: update value, count as "updated"
• If key is new: add it, count as "added"
• Create intermediate objects as needed for nested keys

additions: {
  "about.title": "Acerca de TMI",
  "newSection.newKey": "New Value"
}

Addition logic for nested keys:

Key: "newSection.subSection.key"
Value: "Hello"

Before:
{
  "existingKey": "..."
}

After:
{
  "existingKey": "...",
  "newSection": {
    "subSection": {
      "key": "Hello"
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Sort Keys (Optional)

If preserve_formatting is false, sort all keys alphabetically at each level of nesting.

Sorting rules:

• Case-sensitive alphabetical sort
• Sort recursively at every nesting level
• Numbers sort before letters in ASCII order

If preserve_formatting is true:

• Keep existing keys in their original order
• Add new keys at the end of their respective objects (or in sorted position among new keys)

Step 6: Write File

Write the updated JSON back to the file with proper formatting.

Formatting requirements:

• 2-space indentation
• UTF-8 encoding
• Final newline at end of file
• No trailing whitespace on lines
• Unix line endings (\n)

Safe write process:

1. Create backup: {file_path}.bak
2. Write to temporary file: {file_path}.tmp
3. Rename temporary file to target (atomic operation)
4. Preserve original file permissions

# Conceptual process
cp file.json file.json.bak
write_json > file.json.tmp
mv file.json.tmp file.json

Error Handling

File Errors

Key Errors

Examples

Add New Translations

Input:
  file_path: "src/assets/i18n/es-ES.json"
  additions: {
    "common.save": "Guardar",
    "common.cancel": "Cancelar",
    "errors.network": "Error de red"
  }
  deletions: []

Output:
  {
    "file_path": "src/assets/i18n/es-ES.json",
    "keys_added": 3,
    "keys_updated": 0,
    "keys_deleted": 0,
    "total_keys": 453
  }

Update Existing Translation

Input:
  file_path: "src/assets/i18n/fr-FR.json"
  additions: {
    "common.save": "Sauvegarder"
  }
  deletions: []

Output:
  {
    "file_path": "src/assets/i18n/fr-FR.json",
    "keys_added": 0,
    "keys_updated": 1,
    "keys_deleted": 0,
    "total_keys": 450
  }

Remove Obsolete Keys

Input:
  file_path: "src/assets/i18n/de-DE.json"
  additions: {}
  deletions: ["deprecated.oldFeature", "legacy.button"]

Output:
  {
    "file_path": "src/assets/i18n/de-DE.json",
    "keys_added": 0,
    "keys_updated": 0,
    "keys_deleted": 2,
    "total_keys": 448
  }

Mixed Operations

Input:
  file_path: "src/assets/i18n/ja-JP.json"
  additions: {
    "new.feature.title": "新機能",
    "common.ok": "はい"
  }
  deletions: ["old.feature.title"]

Output:
  {
    "file_path": "src/assets/i18n/ja-JP.json",
    "keys_added": 1,
    "keys_updated": 1,
    "keys_deleted": 1,
    "total_keys": 450
  }

Create New File

Input:
  file_path: "src/assets/i18n/new-LANG.json"
  additions: {
    "app.title": "Application Title",
    "app.description": "Description"
  }
  deletions: []

Output:
  {
    "file_path": "src/assets/i18n/new-LANG.json",
    "keys_added": 2,
    "keys_updated": 0,
    "keys_deleted": 0,
    "total_keys": 2
  }

Implementation Notes

1. Atomic writes: Always use temp file + rename to prevent corruption on failure.

2. Backup retention: Keep only the most recent .bak file. Consider timestamped backups for critical operations.

3. Key counting: For nested structures, count leaf keys only (keys with string values, not object parents).

4. Dot notation edge cases:

   • Key contains literal dot: Not supported (use nested structure)
   • Empty key segment: Invalid ("a..b")
   • Leading/trailing dots: Invalid (".key", "key.")

5. Concurrent access: This operation is not atomic across multiple callers. Use external locking if needed.

6. Large files: For files over 1MB, consider streaming JSON parser. Standard i18n files are typically under 100KB.

7. Validation: After writing, optionally re-read and parse the file to verify it's valid JSON.