Localized routes using wayfinder

[TS1997]

Hello,

I'm trying to get localized routes to work using the Laravel React starter kit that has changed from Ziggy to Wayfinder since I last used it but can't get it to work. Does anyone here know how I should go about doing this if it's possible? My goal is that the following requirements should be met:

1. Default locale should be /{route}
2. Other locales should be /{locale}/{route}
3. Wayfinder should automatically route to the current locale from all links, form actions etc unless otherwise specified (language switcher etc)
4. The laravel route() method and similar should also link to the current locale

I've currently tried https://github.com/mcamara/laravel-localization which I couldn't make work with Wayfinder at all. I've also tried manual Route::prefix('{locale?}') groups in conjunction with Fortify config 'prefix' => '{locale?}' but that didn't work either. I'm either having issues with /{route} not working (404) while /{locale}/{route} does work or wise versa in conjunction with Wayfinder not being able to produce correct urls. I could sort of get the route prefix version to work in the sense that setUrlDefaults passed the correct locale for links etc but then I got an issue with the default locale where all links became //{route} rather than /{route}.

I've also tried utilizing Laravel Boost and ask Copilot to help me but it also gets stuck with the fact that link become //{route} rather than /{route}.

I did see another discussion regarding this where the localization package named above was used which ended with them reverting back to Ziggy.

Is it possible to achieve this with or without the localization package or do I have to revert back to using Ziggy? I'd really like to get it working since Wayfinder is used "everywhere" within the starter kit which I still want to utilize.

Any help and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated

[tareq-halaby]

Wayfinder generates its route helpers from your Laravel named routes at build time — it doesn't have its own concept of locale. The key insight is: Wayfinder just calls whatever URL your named route resolves to, so you need the locale prefix baked into the route name resolution on the PHP side first, then Wayfinder picks it up automatically.

Here's the approach that satisfies all four of your requirements without any third-party localization package:

1. Define localized route groups in routes/web.php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

$locales = ['en', 'de', 'fr'];
$defaultLocale = 'en';

// Default locale — no prefix
Route::middleware(['web', 'setlocale'])->group(function () {
    Route::get('/', [HomeController::class, 'index'])->name('home');
    Route::get('/about', [HomeController::class, 'about'])->name('about');
    // ... your routes
});

// Other locales — prefixed
foreach (['de', 'fr'] as $locale) {
    Route::middleware(['web', 'setlocale'])
        ->prefix($locale)
        ->name($locale . '.')
        ->group(function () {
            Route::get('/', [HomeController::class, 'index'])->name('home');
            Route::get('/about', [HomeController::class, 'about'])->name('about');
        });
}

2. Create a SetLocale middleware

// app/Http/Middleware/SetLocale.php
public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next): Response
{
    $locale = $request->route()->getPrefix() ?: config('app.locale');
    App::setLocale(ltrim($locale, '/'));
    return $next($request);
}

3. Share current locale with Inertia (in HandleInertiaRequests)

public function share(Request $request): array
{
    return [
        ...parent::share($request),
        'locale' => App::getLocale(),
    ];
}

4. Use Wayfinder with the locale-prefixed name in React

After running php artisan wayfinder:generate, Wayfinder creates helpers for every named route including your prefixed ones. So in React:

import { home } from '@/routes'; // resolves to '/'
import { de } from '@/routes'; // de.home() resolves to '/de/'

// Dynamically use current locale from Inertia shared data:
import { usePage } from '@inertiajs/react';

export function useLocalizedRoute(name: string, params = {}) {
    const { locale } = usePage().props;
    const routeName = locale === 'en' ? name : `${locale}.${name}`;
    // Use Wayfinder's generated function dynamically
    return route(routeName, params);
}

Why Route::prefix + setUrlDefaults doesn't work cleanly with Wayfinder

setUrlDefaults modifies the URL generator's default parameters, but Wayfinder generates its helpers at build time from static route definitions — it doesn't use the runtime URL defaults. That's why you were getting //en/route or other double-slash issues.

The double-slash //route bug you hit

This happens when you use Route::prefix('{locale}') with a default of '' for the default locale — an empty string prefix still gets a / prepended. Fix: use separate route groups (no prefix for default, explicit prefix for others) as shown above rather than a wildcard {locale} segment with a default.

This pattern works fully with Wayfinder since every named route produces a clean URL with no runtime manipulation needed.

[TS1997]

Thanks for the detailed response! I’ll check that out tomorrow

[invisiblehqck]

You can solve this by doing the following:

Avoid Route::prefix('{locale?}') — the optional parameter causes //route double slashes when locale is empty. Use two explicit route groups instead
Register your routes in a shared closure or included file so you don't repeat yourself across both groups
Add a SetLocale middleware that reads the first URL segment and sets the app locale accordingly
Bind locale as a URL default in your AppServiceProvider so route() picks it up automatically

For Laravel specifically, you can use:
php// routes/web.php
Route::group([], function () {
require DIR.'/routes_shared.php'; // default locale, no prefix
});

Route::prefix('{locale}')
->where(['locale' => 'fr|de|nl'])
->group(function () {
require DIR.'/routes_shared.php'; // other locales
});
php// App\Http\Middleware\SetLocale
public function handle(Request $request, Closure $next)
{
$locale = $request->segment(1);

if (in_array($locale, config('app.supported_locales'))) {
    app()->setLocale($locale);
} else {
    app()->setLocale(config('app.fallback_locale'));
}

return $next($request);

}
php// App\Providers\AppServiceProvider
public function boot(): void
{
URL::defaults(['locale' => app()->getLocale()]);
}
For Wayfinder specifically, since it generates static files at build time it has no runtime locale awareness like Ziggy does. You have two practical options:

Named route groups — prefix route names per locale (fr.home, de.home etc.) so Wayfinder generates separate actions per locale and you select the right one based on current locale
Wrapper utility — write a thin localizedAction() helper that prepends the current locale to any Wayfinder-generated URL at call time

Avoid mcamara/laravel-localization entirely if staying on Wayfinder — it hijacks route generation in a way Wayfinder's static analysis cannot follow and you'll be fighting both tools at once.