Add Chinese UI Localization Support

English translation:

What variant of Codex are you using?

App

What feature would you like to see?

Issue Description / Problem

Codex currently only includes an English UI. Although the localeOverride = "zh-CN" setting exists in config.toml, the current version does not include Chinese translation resources, so the interface remains in English after setting it.

Currently Codex only has English UI. The localeOverride = "zh-CN" setting exists in config.toml, but Chinese translation resources are not bundled in the current release.

Investigation / Investigation

• Desktop version: 26.616.10790.0 (CLI v0.142.0)
• AppxManifest: Only declares <Resource Language="en-US" />
• locales/ directory: There is a zh-CN.pak file, but it only covers the Electron/Chromium shell layer (context menus, file dialogs, etc.) and does not affect Codex's own React UI
• app.asar: Codex's React frontend is compiled into this file and does not include Chinese translations
• Configuration: The localeOverride = "zh-CN" configuration item in config.toml already exists and has correct syntax, but there is no corresponding translation file to load

UI Elements Requiring Translation / UI Elements Requiring Translation

1️⃣ Sidebar (Sidebar)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| New Chat | New conversation |
| Search threads... | Search conversations... |
| Threads / Chats | Conversation list |
| Settings | Settings |
| Theme | Theme |
| Font Size | Font size |
| Language | Language |
| Shortcuts | Shortcuts |
| About | About |

2️⃣ Top Bar (Top Bar)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| Model Selector | Model selection |
| Conversation title | Conversation title |

3️⃣ Messages (Messages)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| Thinking... | Thinking... |
| Copy | Copy |
| Copy code | Copy code |
| Code copied | Copied |
| Show thinking | Show thinking process |
| Hide thinking | Hide thinking process |
| Just now | Just now |
| minutes ago | minutes ago |
| hours ago | hours ago |
| days ago | days ago |

4️⃣ Input Area (Input Area)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| Type a message... | Enter a message... |
| Send | Send |
| Attach files | Attachments |
| Paste | Paste |
| Search code | Search code |
| Press Enter to send, Shift+Enter for new line | Enter to send, Shift+Enter for a new line |
| Ctrl+K to search | Press Ctrl+K to search |

5️⃣ Settings Panel (Settings)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| Model Settings | Model settings |
| Conversation Detail Mode | Conversation detail mode |
| Auto-suggestions | Auto suggestions |
| Interface Language | Interface language |
| System Font Size | System font size |
| Code Font Size | Code font size |
| Developer Options | Developer options |
| Custom Model Provider | Custom model provider |
| Base URL | API endpoint |
| API Key | API key |
| Sandbox Mode | Sandbox mode |
| Elevated | Elevated mode |

6️⃣ Context Menu (Context Menu)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| Cut | Cut |
| Copy | Copy |
| Paste | Paste |
| Select All | Select all |
| Copy Code Block | Copy code block |
| Copy Message | Copy message |
| Delete Message | Delete message |
| Edit Message | Edit message |

7️⃣ Tooltips & Status (Tooltips & Status)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| Connected | Connected |
| Disconnected | Disconnected |
| Reconnecting... | Reconnecting... |
| Streaming... | Generating... |
| Error | Error |
| Warning | Warning |
| Loading... | Loading... |
| No results | No results |
| File not found | File not found |
| Permission denied | Permission denied |

8️⃣ File Browser (File Browser)

| English (Current) | Chinese (Target) |
|---|---|
| Open File | Open file |
| Save File | Save file |
| Select Folder | Select folder |
| File name | File name |
| File type | File type |
| Cancel | Cancel |
| Confirm | Confirm |
| Browse... | Browse... |

Suggested Implementation / Implementation Suggestions

Option 1: Use react-i18next (recommended)

Codex's frontend uses React, and react-i18next is the most mature internationalization solution:

1. Install react-i18next and i18next
2. Create the public/locales/zh-CN/translation.json translation file
3. Detect the localeOverride configuration during app initialization and load the corresponding language
4. Replace all hardcoded strings with t() function calls
5. Ensure language switching does not require restarting the app

Option 2: Use a TypeScript internationalization solution

If the project already uses TypeScript, you could also consider typescript-i18n or a custom solution:

1. Create a src/i18n/zh-CN.ts translation map
2. Create a useLocale() hook
3. Pass the current language down through Context
4. Bundle translations for all languages at build time

Key Implementation Points

• Read the [desktop] localeOverride configuration from ~/.codex/config.toml
• Listen for language configuration changes and update the UI in real time
• Use the Intl API to automatically adapt date, time, and other formats to Chinese formatting
• Support plural rules (Chinese does not require complex plural forms)
• Keep code blocks and terminal output in English as-is, and only translate UI elements

Reference UI Design / Visual Reference

HTML mock UI file: Codex中文界面模拟.html
(Contains the complete Chinese interface layout and element annotations)

Environment Information / Environment

• OS: Windows 11 24H2
• Codex Desktop: v26.616.10790.0
• Codex CLI: v0.142.0
• Install source: Microsoft Store (WindowsApps)

Other User Feedback / Additional Notes

The Chinese developer community is very interested in Codex, but the language barrier prevents broader adoption. According to feedback from the developer community:

• Many Chinese developers are used to using development tools with Chinese interfaces (such as the Chinese version of VS Code)
• Supporting a Chinese UI can significantly lower the entry barrier for AI programming tools
• It is recommended to support both zh-CN (Simplified Chinese) and zh-TW (Traditional Chinese)

Additional information

_No response_

<!-- codex-issue-translator -->

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

• #30025
• #30022
• #29202
• #29194

Powered by Codex Action

+1, providing reproducible details from Codex CLI v0.x (commit unreleased as of 2026-07-10).

Repro:

1. Set [desktop] localeOverride = "zh-CN" in ~/.codex/config.toml.
2. Export LANG=zh_CN.UTF-8 LC_ALL=zh_CN.UTF-8 before launching.
3. Run codex in Terminal on macOS 15.

Observed:

• Codex Desktop app UI: fully localized to zh-CN ✅
• Codex CLI (terminal binary): prompts, status bar, error messages remain 100% English, regardless of locale env vars or config.

Expected:

• CLI should respect desktop.localeOverride and LANG like the desktop app does.

Notes:

• This issue already has 4 near-duplicates (#29202, #29204, #31084, #28543). Suggest merging them under this one and adding an i18n milestone.
• A minimal implementation path: wrap hardcoded user-facing strings in a t!("…") macro, add a fluent or gettext backend, ship locales/en-US.ftl + locales/zh-CN.ftl. Most CLI strings live in codex-rs/tui/ and codex-cli/src/utils/.

中文摘要:CLI 完全没本地化,即使设了 localeOverride 和 LANG 也没用。希望官方引入 i18n 框架并合入中文 locale 文件。