[Feature Request] Add i18n support / Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) localization for Codex UI
Open 💬 1 comment Opened Jun 20, 2026 by shilei-openclaw
Summary
Codex (both CLI and the desktop app) currently ships with an English-only UI. Menu items, buttons, settings labels, status messages, onboarding text, and error strings are all hard-coded in English. There is no language switcher and no translation bundle.
For non-English speakers — especially the large Simplified Chinese developer community — this raises the barrier to adoption even though the underlying assistant happily responds in Chinese when instructed via AGENTS.md.
Problem
- Users can make the assistant reply in Chinese, but the surrounding chrome (sidebar, settings, command palette, toasts, dialogs, tray menu, etc.) stays in English.
- System-level browser/OS translation tools work poorly on Electron surfaces and break interactive elements.
- Patching
app.asarto swap strings is fragile and gets wiped on every update.
Proposal
- Introduce an i18n layer (e.g.
i18nextor equivalent) for all user-facing strings in the desktop app and CLI. - Externalize existing English copy into a default
en-USlocale file. - Ship Simplified Chinese (
zh-CN) as the first additional locale, with a clear path for community-contributed locales. - Add a Language setting in Preferences and an equivalent
--lang/ config option for the CLI; fall back to the OS locale on first launch.
Why zh-CN first
- Large active developer base and high Codex interest in the region.
- Well-established translation conventions for IDE/editor terminology (VS Code, JetBrains, GitHub Desktop) to align with for consistency.
Willing to help
Happy to contribute the initial zh-CN translation file and review terminology once the i18n scaffolding lands.
Environment
- Codex Desktop (latest)
- OS: Windows 11 / macOS / Linux (issue is platform-agnostic)
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