Internationalized Array GROQ Migration

Goal

Help users find GROQ queries that still read locale from _key and rewrite them safely for v5.

When To Use

Use this skill when a user asks to:

• migrate sanity-plugin-internationalized-array from v4 to v5
• migrate @sanity/document-internationalization from v5 to v6 alongside sanity-plugin-internationalized-array language field changes
• find queries that still use _key for language lookup
• update GROQ filters like _key == "en" or _key == $language

Detection Workflow

Detection commands below use grep. If your environment differs, use your editor's global search with equivalent patterns.

1. Search for direct language comparisons on _key:

grep -REn --exclude-dir=node_modules "_key[[:space:]]*==[[:space:]]*(\"[^\"]+\"|'[^']+'|\\$[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)" .

1. Search for any localized-array filters that mention _key:

grep -REn --exclude-dir=node_modules "\[[^]]*_key[^]]*\]" .

1. Prioritize matches that look like localized-value reads, for example:

• field[_key == ...][0].value
• select(...) branches that compare _key to a language value

1. Check for uses of groq and verify if they use _key as the language, if it is using it, update them.

2. Explicitly check for template-interpolated language expressions and keep the same operand, for example:

   • _key == "${language}"
   • _key == "${locale}"

3. Review each match to avoid false positives where _key is used for unrelated array item identity.

Rewrite Rules

Use the same language operand from the original query. The language operand can be a string literal (for example "en"), a variable (for example $language), or a template-interpolated expression (for example "${language}").

• Before data migration is executed (backwards compatible):
  • _key == <languageExpr> -> language == <languageExpr> || _key == <languageExpr>
• After migration is complete:
  • language == <languageExpr> || _key == <languageExpr> -> language == <languageExpr>

Examples

Legacy:

*[_type == "person"]{
  "greeting": greeting[_key == $language][0].value
}

Backwards compatible:

*[_type == "person"]{
  "greeting": greeting[language == $language || _key == $language][0].value
}

Post-migration final form:

*[_type == "person"]{
  "greeting": greeting[language == $language][0].value
}

Response Template

When reporting findings to a user:

1. List each query location that still uses _key as language source.
2. Show the exact replacement using the same language expression.
3. Label each replacement as:
   • backwards-compatible (pre-migration), or
   • final (post-migration complete).
4. Label each match category as runtime, docs/example, or ambiguous.
5. Call out any ambiguous _key usage that needs manual review.