Configuration

Localization

User-facing strings for config variables, environment metadata, health checks, and notices.

The catalog is community-driven. Want to add an app? Open a PR on GitHub. Support for custom catalogs from other sources is coming soon.

Contribute a template

All user-facing strings live in a JSON localization file, not in the YAML template. The YAML defines structure and behavior — variable sources, input types, health check commands, notice element types. The JSON provides presentation — display names, descriptions, option labels, notice titles.

The engine serves raw localization JSON to clients via gRPC. Clients decode the JSON and merge strings at the display layer.

File Location

Each template includes a locales/en.json file:

my-app/
├── manifest.yaml
├── locales/
│   └── en.json            # User-facing strings
└── lawn-compose/
    └── v1.0.0.yaml        # Structural config

JSON Structure

The JSON has two top-level keys: config for top-level config variables and services for per-service strings.

locales/en.json

{
  "config": {
    "POSTGRES_PASSWORD": {
      "displayName": "Database Password",
      "description": "PostgreSQL password. Auto-generated during install."
    },
    "ADMIN_PASSWORD": {
      "displayName": "Admin Password",
      "description": "Password for the initial admin account."
    }
  },
  "services": {
    "app": {
      "environment": {
        "POSTGRES_HOST": {
          "description": "Hostname of the PostgreSQL database server.",
          "group": "Database"
        },
        "TZ": {
          "description": "Timezone for the application (e.g. America/New_York)."
        }
      },
      "healthChecks": {
        "web-ui": {
          "description": "Web UI is accessible and responding."
        }
      },
      "notices": {
        "login-credentials": {
          "title": "Login Credentials",
          "elements": {
            "username": { "label": "Username" },
            "password": { "label": "Password" },
            "setup-note": { "content": "Change these in **Settings > Security** after your first login." }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Config variables

Each config variable key maps to an object with:

Field	Description
`displayName`	Human-readable name shown in the UI (e.g., "Database Password")
`description`	Short explanation of what the variable controls
`options`	Map of option value → `{ "label": "..." }` for variables with selectable options

Config option labels

Variables with selectable options need a label for each option value. The keys must match the option keys in the YAML:

{
  "config": {
    "DIFFICULTY": {
      "displayName": "Difficulty",
      "description": "Controls how challenging the game is.",
      "options": {
        "peaceful": { "label": "Peaceful" },
        "easy": { "label": "Easy" },
        "normal": { "label": "Normal" },
        "hard": { "label": "Hard" }
      }
    }
  }
}

Boolean config variables must have exactly two option labels, keyed "true" and "false":

{
  "config": {
    "PVP": {
      "displayName": "PvP",
      "description": "Allow players to deal damage to each other.",
      "options": {
        "true": { "label": "On" },
        "false": { "label": "Off" }
      }
    }
  }
}

Services

Each service key maps to an object with optional environment, healthChecks, and notices sections.

Environment variables:

Field	Description
`description`	Explanation of what the variable controls
`group`	Display group for organizing variables into sections (e.g., "Database", "OCR")

Health checks — keyed by the health check id from the YAML:

Field	Description
`description`	Explanation of what the health check verifies

Notices — keyed by the notice id from the YAML:

Field	Description
`title`	Heading displayed in the notice banner
`elements`	Map of element `id` → strings

Notice elements use label for field and sourceField types, and content (Markdown) for text types.

What Lives Where

Data	YAML	JSON
Config variable `source`, `length`, `value`, `inputType`, `weight`, `options`	yes	—
Config variable `displayName`, `description`	—	yes
Config option `label`	—	yes
Env variable `format`	yes	—
Env variable `description`, `group`	—	yes
Health check `id`, `type`, `path`, timing	yes	—
Health check `description`	—	yes
Notice `id`, `style`	yes	—
Notice `title`	—	yes
Notice element `id`, `type`, `value`, `source`	yes	—
Notice element `content` (text), `label` (field/sourceField)	—	yes

Validation

lawn template validate checks localization consistency. Every YAML structure must have a corresponding JSON entry, and every JSON entry must match a YAML structure. The validator catches:

Missing displayName or description for config variables
Missing label for config options
Missing description for environment variables and health checks
Missing title for notices and missing label/content for notice elements
Dangling JSON keys that don't match any YAML structure
Boolean config variables without exactly 2 option labels