Make PO files the source of truth: remove purge flags from make-json

[Copilot]

The make-json command was destructive by default, removing JS strings from PO files via --purge. This destroyed translations and broke subsequent workflow runs.

Changes

Removed destructive flags from make-json:

• Eliminated --purge and --update-mo-files flags
• PO files now remain unmodified
• Removed remove_js_strings_from_po_file() method

Moved JS-filtering to output commands:

• Created JsStringFilterTrait with shared filtering logic
• make-mo and make-php now exclude JS-only strings automatically
• Keeps MO/PHP files small without touching source PO files

Enhanced JS file detection:

• Now recognizes .jsx, .ts, .tsx, .mjs, .cjs in addition to .js
• Uses pathinfo() for proper extension detection

Architecture

Before: make-json modified PO → generated JSON (destructive)

After:

• make-json reads PO → generates JSON (non-destructive)
• make-mo/make-php read PO → filter JS-only strings → generate optimized output

PO files are now the single source of truth for deterministic MO, PHP, and JSON generation.

Example

// A translation with mixed references
#: script.js:10
#: admin.php:20
msgid "Save Changes"
msgstr "Änderungen speichern"

• Before: After make-json, this string would be removed from the PO file if all references were JS
• After: PO file remains intact; string excluded from MO/PHP files only if all references are JS

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• api.wordpress.org
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s REDACTED (dns block)
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s REDACTED sh or/b�� exec 'git' 'rev---use-map=[{"src/index.js": "build/index.js"},"build/map.json"] (dns block)
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -s REDACTED which or/w�� (dns block)
• downloads.wordpress.org
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/curl curl -sSfL REDACTED stty 18n-�� 08303/foo-theme' sh de/node/bin/sh -flags make-mo (dns block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>make-json is is too destructive</issue_title>
<issue_description>Reading the documentation;

[--purge]
Whether to purge the strings that were extracted from the original source file. Defaults to true, use --no-purge to skip the removal.
[--update-mo-files]
Whether MO files should be updated as well after updating PO files. Only has an effect when used in combination with --purge.

Considering my observations, --purge is the default.

But WHY is this a thing in the first place.

I understand why Javascript strings would be removed from the MO file, as the MO is used in PHP only, however, removing the strings from the PO file removes the translations, and thus next run, from the JSON as well.

THIS IS BROKEN.

--no-purge should be the default
--purge should only remove from MO, never from PO.
</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>- Remove the purge and update-mo-files flags from the make-json command

• The logic from remove_js_strings_from_po_file should be added to MakePhpCommand and MakeMoCommand</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@swissspidy Hi there,

Thanks for opening this issue. Sorry to hear you had an unpleasant experience while working with the wp i18n family of commands.

Considering my observations, --purge is the default.

That is correct. As the documentation says:

Defaults to true, use --no-purge to skip the removal.

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This topic has come up before:

• Consider making make-json not destructive by default #144
• Update MO files when purging #126

Now that the JS translation approach is fairly established in WP and we also have l10n.php translation files (which are preferred over MO files), it probably makes sense to revisit this, perhaps in a more holistic way:

• .po should always be the source of truth and allow for deterministic generation of mo, php, and json translation files
• make-mo and make-php should never include JS-only strings to keep them small.
• this removes the need for the --purge and --update-mo-files flags

This only works of course if leveraging the WP JS translation approach. If you expect your MO files to contain JS-only strings for some reason, then maybe we need to provide an opt-out.</comment_new>

• Fixes make-json is is too destructive #453

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