maboloshi/github-chinese

A reasonable install for anyone who finds GitHub's English interface slows them down; it is a translation layer, not a change to how GitHub works.

The problem

A Chinese-speaking developer opens GitHub to review a pull request or adjust account settings and has to mentally decode menu labels, button text and date formats before getting to the actual work. The page structure and links stay the same; only the labels are unfamiliar. This userscript swaps those interface strings for Chinese dynamically, so the same navigation reads in the user's language without switching GitHub's official language setting or leaving the site.

What's different

The mechanism is a userscript that runs in the browser and rewrites interface text after the page loads, using regex matching against a maintained dictionary rather than a one-off manual translation. That dictionary is updated continuously, and the project publishes a development build refreshed weekly and a stable build synced weekly, so translations can keep up with GitHub's interface changes (feature list). It also localizes time elements and optionally offers human-machine translation of project descriptions, which is wider than just labelling buttons.

The trade-off is that this is text replacement on pages the project does not control. A GitHub UI change can break a label or menu until the dictionary is updated; the changelog shows a fix for dropdown menus after React GlobalNav and page-body layers began sharing a Primer popover (v1.9.4.4 changelog). Expect occasional untranslated or awkward strings and periodic updates, rather than a guaranteed complete translation.

Who should try it

This fits a developer who reads English functionally but prefers Chinese labels for scanning menus and settings quickly, especially on a shared or older machine where changing the browser language is inconvenient. It is a poor fit for someone who wants GitHub fully translated including user-generated content, since project descriptions rely on machine translation and are not part of the interface dictionary. It is also a poor fit for anyone unwilling to install a userscript manager and keep it updated, because the project ships a browser/VS Code path rather than a standalone app.

Requirements and limitations

The browser route requires a userscript manager: Tampermonkey or Violentmonkey on Chrome/Chromium and Firefox, and Tampermonkey, Macaque or Stay on Safari. On Chrome/Chromium you must enable developer mode for extensions and allow the manager to run user scripts; the README points to Tampermonkey's own guidance and notes known Manifest V3 issues (compatibility and setup, Manifest V3 note). Installation is a one-time setup, but updates are ongoing: you choose between the weekly development build and the stable build, and should expect to refresh when GitHub changes.

There is also a VS Code integrated-browser extension path for people who browse GitHub inside the editor, documented separately (VS Code extension notes). Local debugging requires allowing the script manager to read local files and pointing the script at a downloaded dictionary, which is a developer-oriented route rather than a simpler install.

HotRepo's take

HotRepo recorded the project at 36,600 stars on 2026-10-25, with 124 stars added that day, its only observed appearance on the daily Trending board. With just one dated board observation, persistence of interest cannot be judged from these signals. Before installing, check whether the current dictionary covers the GitHub pages you use most and whether the stable or development build matches your tolerance for frequent updates.