Adding a New Language to CommitSage

March 30, 2026 · View on GitHub

Currently supported: english, russian, chinese, japanese, korean, german, french, spanish, portuguese.

There is also a special custom value — it is not a bundled language but a runtime feature that translates templates on-demand via the LLM. See custom-language.md for that.

The single source of truth for bundled languages is the SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES array in src/utils/constants.ts. The CommitLanguage type and CommitTemplate interface are derived from it automatically, so the TypeScript compiler enforces translation completeness across all templates.

Note: CommitTemplate is typed as Record<Exclude<CommitLanguage, 'custom'>, string> — the custom value is intentionally excluded from template objects since it has no static translation.

Adding a new language requires changes in 5 files. The examples below use italian.

1. src/utils/constants.ts — language list

Add the value to the SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES array:

export const SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES = ['english', 'russian', 'chinese', 'japanese', 'korean', 'german', 'french', 'spanish', 'portuguese', 'italian'] as const;

The CommitLanguage type updates automatically. The compiler will immediately flag all places missing the new language (format templates and LANGUAGE_PROMPTS).

2. src/templates/formats/*.ts — format templates (8 files)

Add a translated template with the new language key in each file:

  • angular.ts
  • atom.ts
  • conventional.ts
  • emoji.ts
  • emojiKarma.ts
  • google.ts
  • karma.ts
  • semantic.ts

Example for conventional.ts:

export const conventionalTemplate = {
    english: `...`,
    russian: `...`,
    // ...existing languages...
    italian: `Genera un messaggio di commit nel formato Conventional Commits:
<tipo>[ambito opzionale]: <descrizione>

[corpo opzionale con elenco puntato]

Regole:
1. Prima riga: tipo(ambito): descrizione (max 50 caratteri)
...`,
};

Each template contains detailed instructions for the AI model in the target language: format rules, commit type selection, and examples. When translating, preserve the structure and number of sections from the existing templates (e.g. english).

3. src/services/promptService.ts — language prompt

Add an entry to LANGUAGE_PROMPTS:

const LANGUAGE_PROMPTS: Record<CommitLanguage, string> = {
    // ...existing languages...
    italian: 'Per favore, scrivi il messaggio del commit in italiano.',
};

4. package.json — VS Code Settings UI enum

Add the value to contributes.configuration → commitSage.commit.commitLanguage → enum:

"commitSage.commit.commitLanguage": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
        "english",
        "russian",
        "chinese",
        "japanese",
        "korean",
        "german",
        "french",
        "spanish",
        "portuguese",
        "italian"
    ],
    "default": "english"
}

5. README.md — update documentation

Add the new language to the features list and the language options in README.md so users can discover it. Update both the English and Russian sections of the README.

Verification

After making all changes:

  1. npm run compile — the TypeScript compiler will verify that the new language field is present in all templates and in LANGUAGE_PROMPTS.
  2. Open VS Code Settings → CommitSage → confirm the new language appears in the dropdown.
  3. Select the new language and generate a commit — verify the message is generated in the correct language.