name: enable-shopify-markets description: > Enable Shopify Markets with multi-locale routing using next-intl. Use when the user wants to add internationalization, multi-locale support, locale-prefixed URLs, or Shopify Markets. Supports sub-path and per-domain routing strategies. argument-hint: "[sub-path|per-domain]"

Enable Shopify Markets (Multi-Locale)

Description

Interactively set up Shopify Markets with multi-locale routing using next-intl. Supports both sub-path routing (/en/products/...) and per-domain routing (en.store.com/products/...). This skill is the Markets-aware path; if you only want next-intl routing/messages without Markets, use enable-i18n instead.

When to Use This Skill

• When the user wants to enable Shopify Markets / multi-locale support
• When the user wants to add internationalization (i18n) with locale-prefixed URLs
• When invoked via /vercel-shop:enable-shopify-markets

Prerequisites

• The storefront is running in single-locale mode (default state)
• next-intl is installed (it is by default)
• Shopify Markets are configured in the Shopify admin for the desired locales

Step 1: Gather User Preferences

If the user hasn't already specified their preferences, ask them. Use two rounds of questions.

Round 1 — Strategy and Locales

Ask the user the following questions (use AskUserQuestion if available, otherwise ask directly):

{
  "questions": [
    {
      "question": "Which routing strategy do you want for multi-locale URLs?",
      "options": [
        "Sub-path routing (/en-US/products/..., /de-DE/products/...)",
        "Per-domain routing (en.store.com/products/..., de.store.com/products/...)"
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "Which locales should be enabled? (en-US is always included as the default). You can pick from the pre-configured locales below, or specify any additional locales — translation files will be generated automatically.",
      "multiSelect": true,
      "options": [
        "en-GB (English - United Kingdom, GBP)",
        "de-DE (German - Germany, EUR)",
        "fr-FR (French - France, EUR)",
        "nl-NL (Dutch - Netherlands, EUR)",
        "es-ES (Spanish - Spain, EUR)",
        "Add other locales (e.g., ja-JP, pt-BR, zh-CN, it-IT, ko-KR)"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

If the user selects "Add other locales" or provides custom locales via free-form input, ask a follow-up question to get the exact locale codes they want. Any locale in BCP 47 format (e.g., ja-JP, pt-BR, zh-CN, it-IT, ko-KR, ar-SA) is supported — translation files and currency config will be generated for them.

Round 2 — Strategy-Specific Options

If sub-path routing was chosen, ask:

{
  "questions": [
    {
      "question": "Should the default locale (en-US) have a URL prefix?",
      "options": [
        "No — clean URLs for default locale, prefixes for others (recommended)",
        "Yes — always show the locale prefix, including for en-US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "question": "What format should locale URL prefixes use?",
      "options": [
        "Full locale codes (/en-US/, /de-DE/, /fr-FR/)",
        "Short language codes (/en/, /de/, /fr/)"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

If per-domain routing was chosen, ask:

{
  "questions": [
    {
      "question": "How should domains map to locales? Provide your domain mapping or pick a starting pattern.",
      "options": [
        "Use subdomains (e.g., en.mystore.com, de.mystore.com)",
        "Use country TLDs (e.g., mystore.com, mystore.de, mystore.fr)"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

The user can provide a custom mapping via the "Other" option. Each domain should map to one default locale.

Step 2: Update Locale Config

File: lib/i18n.ts

Enable selected locales

Change enabledLocales to include the user's chosen locales:

export const enabledLocales: readonly Locale[] = ["en-US", "de-DE", "fr-FR"]; // user's selection

Add custom locales (if any)

If the user chose locales not in the existing locales array, add them:

export const locales = [
  "en-US",
  "en-GB",
  "de-DE",
  "fr-FR",
  "nl-NL",
  "es-ES",
  "ja-JP", // new custom locale
] as const;

Also add entries to the localeCurrency map:

const localeCurrency: Record<Locale, { currency: string; symbol: string }> = {
  // ... existing entries ...
  "ja-JP": { currency: "JPY", symbol: "¥" },
};

Use Intl.NumberFormat to look up the correct currency symbol if unsure.

Step 3: Create Routing Config

File: lib/i18n/routing.ts (create new)

Sub-path routing

import { defineRouting } from "next-intl/routing";
import { enabledLocales, defaultLocale } from "../i18n";

export const routing = defineRouting({
  locales: enabledLocales,
  defaultLocale,
  localePrefix: "as-needed", // or "always" based on user choice
});

If the user chose short prefixes, use the object form:

export const routing = defineRouting({
  locales: enabledLocales,
  defaultLocale,
  localePrefix: {
    mode: "as-needed", // or "always"
    prefixes: {
      "en-US": "/en",
      "de-DE": "/de",
      "fr-FR": "/fr",
      // ... map each enabled locale to its short prefix
    },
  },
});

Per-domain routing

import { defineRouting } from "next-intl/routing";
import { enabledLocales, defaultLocale } from "../i18n";

export const routing = defineRouting({
  locales: enabledLocales,
  defaultLocale,
  localePrefix: "as-needed",
  domains: [
    {
      domain: "store.com", // from user's mapping
      defaultLocale: "en-US",
      locales: ["en-US"],
    },
    {
      domain: "de.store.com", // from user's mapping
      defaultLocale: "de-DE",
      locales: ["de-DE"],
    },
    // ... one entry per domain
  ],
});

Step 4: Create Navigation Exports

File: lib/i18n/navigation.ts (create new)

import { createNavigation } from "next-intl/navigation";
import { routing } from "./routing";

export const { Link, redirect, usePathname, useRouter } = createNavigation(routing);

Step 5: Move Routes Under app/[locale]/

Move all page routes from app/ into app/[locale]/. Keep api/, robots.ts, sitemap.ts, favicon.ico, globals.css, and global-error.tsx at the root level.

app/layout.tsx          → app/[locale]/layout.tsx
app/page.tsx            → app/[locale]/page.tsx
app/error.tsx           → app/[locale]/error.tsx
app/not-found.tsx       → app/[locale]/not-found.tsx
app/cart/               → app/[locale]/cart/
app/collections/        → app/[locale]/collections/
app/products/           → app/[locale]/products/
app/search/             → app/[locale]/search/
app/pages/              → app/[locale]/pages/
app/account/            → app/[locale]/account/
app/login/              → app/[locale]/login/

Update all PageProps and LayoutProps type parameters to include [locale]:

• LayoutProps<"/"> → LayoutProps<"/[locale]">
• PageProps<"/products/[handle]"> → PageProps<"/[locale]/products/[handle]">
• PageProps<"/collections/[handle]"> → PageProps<"/[locale]/collections/[handle]">
• PageProps<"/search"> → PageProps<"/[locale]/search">
• PageProps<"/pages/[slug]"> → PageProps<"/[locale]/pages/[slug]">
• ... and so on for all page components.

The globals.css import in app/[locale]/layout.tsx should be updated to import "../globals.css" since the CSS file stays at the app/ root.

Step 6: Update Root Layout

File: app/[locale]/layout.tsx

Add generateStaticParams:

import { enabledLocales } from "@/lib/i18n";

export const generateStaticParams = async () => {
  return enabledLocales.map((locale) => ({ locale }));
};

The rest of the layout stays the same — it already uses getLocale(), getMessages(), and NextIntlClientProvider.

The layout-level generateStaticParams provides locale values for all child routes — no per-page changes needed for the locale param.

Step 7: Update Locale Resolution

lib/params.ts

Replace the current hardcoded implementation:

import { notFound } from "next/navigation";
import { locale } from "next/root-params";
import { type Locale, isEnabledLocale } from "./i18n";

export async function getLocale(): Promise<Locale> {
  const currentLocale = await locale();
  if (!currentLocale || !isEnabledLocale(currentLocale)) notFound();
  return currentLocale as Locale;
}

lib/i18n/request.ts

Update to resolve locale dynamically:

import { hasLocale } from "next-intl";
import { getRequestConfig } from "next-intl/server";
import { getLocale } from "../params";
import { routing } from "./routing";
import type enMessages from "./messages/en.json";

export default getRequestConfig(async () => {
  const requested = await getLocale();
  const locale = hasLocale(routing.locales, requested) ? requested : routing.defaultLocale;
  const language = locale.split("-")[0];

  let messages: typeof enMessages;
  try {
    messages = (await import(`./messages/${locale}.json`)).default;
  } catch {
    messages = (await import(`./messages/${language}.json`)).default;
  }

  return { locale, messages };
});

Scope menu queries for markets

The base template keeps lib/shopify/operations/menu.ts unscoped so menus load before Shopify Markets is configured. When enabling markets, update getMenu to derive country and language from the active locale and query menu with @inContext(country: $country, language: $language). Without that change, quick links and footer menu stay pinned to the default market. If the enable-shopify-menus skill has been run, the megamenu will also need this scoping.

Step 8: Update Middleware

File: proxy.ts

Add a proxy.ts with next-intl middleware for locale routing:

export const config = {
  matcher: [
    "/((?!.well-known|api|sitemaps|webhooks|_next/static|_next/image|favicon.ico|sitemap.xml|robots.txt).*)",
  ],
};

import type { NextRequest } from "next/server";
import createMiddleware from "next-intl/middleware";
import { routing } from "@/lib/i18n/routing";

const handlei18n = createMiddleware(routing);

export function proxy(request: NextRequest) {
  return handlei18n(request);
}

Note: Product variant selection stays on Shopify's standard ?variant= query parameter. The built-in content negotiation rewrite in next.config.ts handles markdown negotiation automatically — no proxy.ts changes needed.

Step 9: Replace next/link with Locale-Aware Link

In all files that import from next/link, replace with the locale-aware Link from @/lib/i18n/navigation. The following files need updating:

components/ui/filter-sidebar.tsx
components/product/breadcrumb.tsx
components/prefetch-link.tsx
components/orders/order-detail.tsx
components/predictive-search-results.tsx
components/nav/quick-links.tsx
components/nav/account-client.tsx
components/nav/account.tsx
components/nav/current-page-link.tsx
components/nav/index.tsx
components/footer.tsx
components/collections/pagination.tsx
components/error-boundary-content.tsx
components/collections/collection-page.tsx
components/cart/overlay-content.tsx
components/cart/overlay-item.tsx
components/cart/empty-cart.tsx
components/account/sidebar.tsx
components/account/mobile-tabs.tsx
app/search/page.tsx (now app/[locale]/search/page.tsx)
app/not-found.tsx (now app/[locale]/not-found.tsx)
app/collections/page.tsx (now app/[locale]/collections/page.tsx)
app/account/orders/page.tsx
app/account/orders/[id]/page.tsx
components/agent/registry.tsx

Change import Link from "next/link" to import { Link } from "@/lib/i18n/navigation". The locale-aware Link automatically prefixes URLs with the current locale. Its API is the same as next/link — no other changes needed in the JSX.

Step 10: Wire Locale/Currency Selector into Megamenu

Prerequisite: This step requires the enable-shopify-menus skill to have been run first. If the megamenu has not been added, skip this step.

File: components/nav/megamenu/index.tsx

The LocaleCurrencySelector component already exists at components/nav/locale-currency.tsx. Add it to the megamenu:

import { LocaleCurrencySelector } from "../locale-currency";

// In MegamenuContent, pass locale to both desktop and mobile:
<MegamenuDesktop items={data.items} locale={locale}>
  <LocaleCurrencySelector locale={locale} />
</MegamenuDesktop>

<MegamenuMobile data={data} locale={locale}>
  <LocaleCurrencySelector locale={locale} />
</MegamenuMobile>

Also update locale-currency.tsx to use locale-aware routing for locale switching. Replace useRouter from next/navigation with useRouter from @/lib/i18n/navigation, and change the handleLocaleChange function to navigate to the same path in the new locale:

import { useRouter, usePathname } from "@/lib/i18n/navigation";

const handleLocaleChange = (locale: Locale) => {
  if (locale === currentLocale) return;
  setOpen(false);
  startTransition(async () => {
    const result = await syncCartLocaleAction(locale);
    if (!result.success) {
      console.error("Failed to sync cart locale:", result.error);
    }
    router.replace(pathname, { locale });
  });
};

Step 11: Update SEO with Locale Alternates

File: lib/seo.ts

Add a helper to build locale-prefixed paths and update buildAlternates to include hreflang alternates:

import { enabledLocales, defaultLocale, localeSwitchingEnabled } from "./i18n";

function withLocalePath(locale: string, pathname: string): string {
  const normalizedPath = normalizePath(pathname);
  if (normalizedPath === "/") return `/${locale}`;
  return `/${locale}${normalizedPath}`;
}

export function buildAlternates({
  pathname,
  searchParams,
}: {
  pathname: string;
  searchParams?: SearchParamsInput;
}): Metadata["alternates"] {
  const canonical = buildCanonicalPath(pathname, searchParams);

  if (!localeSwitchingEnabled) {
    return { canonical };
  }

  const languages: Record<string, string> = {};
  for (const locale of enabledLocales) {
    languages[locale] = withLocalePath(locale, buildCanonicalPath(pathname, searchParams));
  }
  languages["x-default"] = withLocalePath(
    defaultLocale,
    buildCanonicalPath(pathname, searchParams),
  );

  return { canonical, languages };
}

Step 12: Update Sitemap with Per-Locale URLs

File: app/sitemap.ts

Add per-locale URL generation. For each page entry, generate an entry for each enabled locale with alternates.languages:

import { enabledLocales, localeSwitchingEnabled } from "@/lib/i18n";

function localizePath(locale: string, path: string): string {
  return path === "/" ? `/${locale}` : `/${locale}${path}`;
}

// When building sitemap entries, if localeSwitchingEnabled:
// For each path, create entries for all enabled locales
// and add alternates.languages pointing to all locale variants

Step 13: Add Locale-Prefixed Redirects

File: next.config.ts

Add locale-aware redirect rules for common typos:

redirects: async () => [
  // existing redirects...
  { source: "/:locale/product", destination: "/:locale/products", permanent: true },
  { source: "/:locale/product/:path*", destination: "/:locale/products/:path*", permanent: true },
],

Step 14: Generate Translation Files for Custom Locales

For each custom locale not already in lib/i18n/messages/, create a translation file:

1. Copy en.json as the starting point
2. Translate all string values to the target language
3. Keep the same JSON structure and key names

Existing translation files:

• en.json (English — also used for en-GB)
• de-DE.json (German)
• fr-FR.json (French)
• nl-NL.json (Dutch)
• es-ES.json (Spanish)

For new locales like ja-JP, create lib/i18n/messages/ja-JP.json with translated content.

CRITICAL: Validate JSON after generating translation files

Translated strings must not contain unescaped ASCII double-quote characters (", U+0022) inside JSON string values. This is easy to hit when a language uses typographic quotation marks that look similar to ASCII ":

• German: „ (U+201E) opens, " (U+201C) closes — but LLMs sometimes emit a bare ASCII " for the closing mark, which terminates the JSON string early.
• French: «» (guillemets) are safe — they are not ASCII ".

After writing each translation file, validate it is parseable JSON (e.g. node -e "require('./lib/i18n/messages/de-DE.json')" or equivalent). If validation fails, escape any rogue inner " as \" or replace typographic quotes with \"...\".

Step 15: Create Root Fallback (if localePrefix: "always")

Only needed if the user chose "always show locale prefix":

Create app/page.tsx (outside [locale]/) as a redirect fallback:

import { permanentRedirect } from "next/navigation";
import { defaultLocale } from "@/lib/i18n";

export default function RootPage() {
  permanentRedirect(`/${defaultLocale}`);
}

If localePrefix: "as-needed", skip this step — the middleware handles root requests automatically.

Verification

After completing all steps, verify the implementation:

1. Build: Run bun build and confirm no TypeScript errors
2. Smoke test: Run bun dev and check:
   • Default locale URL works (e.g., http://localhost:3000/products/technest-smart-speaker-pro-jk0c)
   • Locale-prefixed URL works (e.g., http://localhost:3000/de-DE/products/technest-smart-speaker-pro-jk0c)
   • Product prices render in the correct currency for each locale
3. Locale selector: Confirm the selector appears in the megamenu and switching locales changes the URL + cart currency
4. Variants: Confirm product variant links preserve ?variant= across locale-prefixed URLs
5. SEO: Check that page metadata includes hreflang alternates for all enabled locales
6. Sitemap: Visit /sitemap.xml and confirm per-locale entries