i18n Without Translation Files? You Can Do That With i18next Today

A new wave of i18n tools pitches “your code is the source of truth, translation files are build artifacts”. The i18next ecosystem has supported exactly this workflow for years: natural-language keys, JSX serialization via Trans, saveMissing reporting, automatic AI translation, and CDN delivery with no locale files in your repo at all. The recipe, the honest trade-offs, and what “no files” does not solve.