Document Internationalization Plugin: Missing Base Language and Extra Create Option

Great question! The new version of @sanity/document-internationalization (v2+) has made some significant architectural changes that explain what you're seeing.

What Changed: No More "Base Language"

In the previous version, the plugin used a base language concept where one language was the "source" and others were translations. The new version completely removed this concept in favor of a more flexible approach where all languages are treated equally.

Why You're Seeing 3 Create Options

When you configure 2 languages in supportedLanguages, you're actually getting 3 creation options:

1. Default document template (language-agnostic)
2. Language 1 template (e.g., "Spanish")
3. Language 2 template (e.g., "English")

The plugin now creates document templates for each configured language, plus the default schema template still exists. This is intentional behavior to give you flexibility in how you create documents.

How It Works Now

Instead of storing translations as references on the documents themselves (which required a base language), the new version uses a separate translation.metadata document that links all language versions together. This means:

• No language is "special" or the base
• All language versions are independent documents
• They're connected through a metadata document with references to each version
• You can create a document in any language first

If You Want Only 2 Options

If you find the default template confusing, you can remove the default template from your schema configuration. This is covered in the plugin's documentation.

The key thing to understand is that the new architecture is more flexible and scalable, but it does mean letting go of the "base language" mental model. Each language version is now a first-class document that gets linked to others through the metadata system.