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Adding New Language Support to the Self Service Portal in 5 Mins

GPU Cloud Providers and enterprises serving a global user base need the end user facing Self Service Portal to speak their end users' language — literally. If you're serving AI researchers in Paris, data scientists in Montreal, or ML engineers across Francophone Africa, offering the portal in French is a powerful way to reduce friction and make GPU consumption feel native.

The Rafay Platform's Language Customization feature makes it straightforward for admins to add French (or any other language), customize translations, and give end users the ability to switch languages on their own. In this post, we'll walk through the entire process of adding French to the Self Service Portal — from configuring the default locale to verifying the end user experience.

New Language

Why Localization Matters

Self-service portals are the front door for end users consuming GPU resources, launching Jupyter notebooks, deploying inference endpoints, and managing workspaces. If that front door only opens in one language, you're limiting adoption among non-English-speaking teams.

Localization helps GPU Cloud Providers and enterprises in several ways. It reduces support tickets by allowing users to navigate the portal in a language they're comfortable with. It accelerates onboarding for international teams and demonstrates a commitment to the diverse user communities consuming your platform. For Sovereign AI Cloud providers operating in Francophone regions — whether in Europe, Canada, or Africa — offering the portal in French may even be a contractual or regulatory requirement.

Language Customization Settings

To get started, log in to the Ops Console and navigate to the Localization settings. This is where all language configuration lives — from setting the default locale to enabling new languages and managing translations.

Localization

Default Locale

The Default Locale determines the fallback language for the Self Service Portal. This is the language the portal displays when a user hasn't explicitly chosen a preferred language. For most deployments, English (en) is set as the default. If the majority of your user base is French-speaking, you could change this to French (fr) so that the portal loads in French by default — but for this walkthrough, we'll keep English as the default and add French as an additional language option.

Enable Language Options

Before end users can see a language as a selectable option, an admin must explicitly enable it. The platform provides a list of supported languages that you can toggle on or off. Only enabled languages appear as options for end users on the login page and within the Developer Hub.

To offer the portal in French, find French (fr) in the list and enable it. This immediately makes French available as a selection option for your users.

Add French

Language Translations

Each enabled language comes with a set of translation strings — the text that appears across every element of the self service portal.

The localization feature covers all text visible in the portal, including navigation menus, page headers, button labels, form fields, tooltips, status messages, and error messages. This comprehensive coverage ensures that the end user experience feels cohesive no matter which language is selected.

Compare & Edit

One of the most practical features of the localization workflow is the Compare & Edit view. This allows admins to see English side by side with French. You can review each translation string, identify any that are missing or need adjustment, and make edits inline.

This side-by-side approach makes it easy to maintain consistency and catch any translations that may not convey the intended meaning in context. It's especially useful when working with domain-specific terminology common in AI/ML workflows. For example, should "Compute Instance" be translated as « Instance de calcul » or kept as a recognized technical term? Should "Workspace" become « Espace de travail » or remain untranslated? The Compare & Edit view lets you make these decisions string by string.

Adding French Language Support

Now, let's review the step-by-step process to add French language support.

Step 1

In the Ops Console, go to the Localization section under your Cloud Provider settings. In the list of available languages, add French (fr). This registers French as an available language in your portal.

Step 2

Provide the translated JSON files. To streamline this process, we recommend customers use the optimized prompt with your favorite AI Chat app such as Claude, ChatGPT etc. 

TRANSLATE THIS i18n LOCALE FILE

TARGET LANGUAGE: French

STRICT OUTPUT RULES (VERY IMPORTANT):
• Output ONLY valid JSON.
• ALWAYS wrap the JSON inside a code block using triple backticks (```).
• Do NOT output anything outside the code block.
• The JSON MUST start with { and end with }.
• Use ONLY standard double quotes (") — NEVER use curly quotes (“ ”).
• Do NOT include any explanation, notes, or extra text.
• Do NOT include LTR or RTL.
• Do NOT include trailing commas.
• The output must be directly parsable by JSON.parse().
• Preserve the exact structure of the input.

TRANSLATION RULES:
• Translate ONLY the VALUES. Do NOT change any key names.
• Keep every {{placeholder}} exactly as-is.
• Keep HTML tags exactly as-is.
• Do NOT translate: SKU, IdP, SSO, OTP, TOTP, MFA, PaaS, OPA Gatekeeper, GenAI, AI/ML, CTA, API.

VALIDATION:
• Ensure the JSON is valid before responding.
• If not valid, regenerate until it is valid.

---
<COPY/PASTE JSON HERE>

Important

Ensure that you translate the provided JSON for both "portal navigation" and "portal interface" text.

Portal JSON

Step 3

If French should be the default language for your portal — for instance, if you're operating a Sovereign AI Cloud in France — update the Default Locale to fr. Otherwise, leave English as the default and French will simply be available as an option users can select.

Step 4

Save your changes and verify by loading the Self Service Portal. Switch to French using the language selector and navigate through key workflows — creating a workspace, launching a compute instance, checking the dashboard — to confirm the French translations appear correctly throughout.

Once French is configured, the platform handles the rest. The French translation strings are applied dynamically across the portal UI whenever a user selects French as their language. There is no need to redeploy or restart any services — changes take effect immediately.

Info

The system maintains a clean separation between the portal's functional logic and its display text. This means adding French doesn't interfere with the underlying features, APIs, or workflows. End users continue to interact with the same compute profiles, workspaces, and services — just in French.

End User Experience

With French configured, end users have two touchpoints for selecting it as their preferred language.

1. Language Selection on the Login Page

When end users arrive at the Self Service Portal login page, they see a language selector. They can pick Français before even logging in. The entire login flow — including field labels, buttons, and any informational text — renders in French immediately.

Login French

2. Switching to French Inside the Developer Hub

After logging in, users can also switch to French from within the Self Service Portal. This is useful for users who may have started in English and want to switch mid-session. The portal re-renders in French without requiring a logout or page refresh.

This dual-entry approach ensures that French-speaking users always have control over their language preference, regardless of where they are in the portal.

SSP French

Conclusion

Adding French to the Rafay Platform's Self Service Portal was a very straightforward process that can meaningfully improve the experience for your Francophone users. With the built-in localization feature in the Rafay Ops Console, admins can enable a new language, fine-tune translations with the side-by-side Compare & Edit view, and give end users full control over their language preference — all without any code changes or redeployments.

For GPU Cloud Providers and enterprises serving French-speaking teams across Europe, Canada, Africa, and beyond, this is a simple but impactful step toward making your AI infrastructure accessible to everyone. The same process applies to any other language you want to add in the future. Refer to the Rafay Localization Documentation for detailed instructions.