Title: @wordpress/babel-plugin-makepot
Published: March 9, 2021
Last modified: April 14, 2026

---

# @wordpress/babel-plugin-makepot

## In this article

 * [Installation](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-babel-plugin-makepot/?output_format=md#installation)
 * [Contributing to this package](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-babel-plugin-makepot/?output_format=md#contributing-to-this-package)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-babel-plugin-makepot/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Babel plugin used to scan JavaScript files for use of localization functions. It
then compiles these into a [gettext POT formatted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettext)
file as a template for translation. By default the output file will be written to`
gettext.pot` of the root project directory. This can be overridden using the `"output"`
option of the plugin.

    ```language-json
    {
        "plugins": [
            [
                "@wordpress/babel-plugin-makepot",
                { "output": "languages/myplugin.pot" }
            ]
        ]
    }
    ```

## 󠀁[Installation](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-babel-plugin-makepot/?output_format=md#installation)󠁿

Install the module:

    ```bash
    npm install @wordpress/babel-plugin-makepot --save-dev
    ```

**Note**: This package requires Node.js version with long-term support status (check
[Active LTS or Maintenance LTS releases](https://nodejs.org/en/about/previous-releases)).
It is not compatible with older versions.

## 󠀁[Contributing to this package](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-babel-plugin-makepot/?output_format=md#contributing-to-this-package)󠁿

This is an individual package that’s part of the Gutenberg project. The project 
is organized as a monorepo. It’s made up of multiple self-contained software packages,
each with a specific purpose. The packages in this monorepo are published to [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/)
and used by [WordPress](https://make.wordpress.org/core/) as well as other software
projects.

To find out more about contributing to this package or Gutenberg as a whole, please
read the project’s main [contributor guide](https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/tree/HEAD/CONTRIBUTING.md).

First published

March 9, 2021

Last updated

April 14, 2026

Edit article

[ Improve it on GitHub: @wordpress/babel-plugin-makepot ](https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/edit/trunk/packages/babel-plugin-makepot/README.md)

[  Previous: @wordpress/babel-plugin-import-jsx-pragma](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-babel-plugin-import-jsx-pragma/)

[  Next: @wordpress/babel-preset-default](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/packages/packages-babel-preset-default/)