How do I create my first project?

6 min readBeginner

A project is the container for all your translations. Each app or website gets its own project.

Step 1: Sign up or log in

Go to app.better-i18n.com and sign in with your account. If you don't have one, you can sign up for free.

Step 2: Create a new project

  1. Click "New Project" from the dashboard
  2. Enter a project name (e.g., "My Website")
  3. Choose your source language — this is the language you write your code in (usually English)
  4. Add your target languages — the languages you want to translate to
  5. Click Create

Step 3: Note your project identifier

Every project has a unique identifier in org/project format, like acme/dashboard. You'll find this in your project settings. You'll need it for:

  • SDK configuration (project: "acme/dashboard")
  • CLI setup (better-i18n.config.ts)
  • API calls

Step 4: Get your API key

Go to Settings → API Keys and create a new key. You'll need two types:

Key type Purpose Where to use
Public key Read-only, CDN access Frontend SDKs, client-side code
Secret key Full access CLI, CI/CD, server-side

Security tip: Never expose your secret key in client-side code. Public keys are safe for browsers.

Step 5: Configure your SDK

Add your project ID and public key to your framework SDK:

// Example: Next.js
const i18n = createI18n({
  project: "acme/dashboard",
  defaultLocale: "en",
});
# Example: .env file
BETTER_I18N_PROJECT=acme/dashboard
BETTER_I18N_API_KEY=pk_...

What's next?