Typed keys

The concept

Sonenta extends the notion of a key. Beyond its path (flat or nested), each key carries a type that describes its role in the interface. The type is an axis in its own right, distinct from structure: a checkout.pay key (nested path) can be of type button.

A key's type informs three things:

• Translation: the type provides context. A button is translated short and in the imperative, a heading is nominal, an error_message stays clear and actionable.
• Accessibility: the type decides which accessibility surfaces the key carries. A button calls for an aria_label, an image for an alt_text, a text / heading / label for plain_language and screen_reader.
• Tooling: the agents and the dashboard adapt their recommendations to the type.

The key types

Sonenta defines 17 types. The default type is text.

Type	Usage
text	running text (default)
heading	heading
label	field or element label
caption	caption
badge	pill / short tag
tooltip	tooltip
error_message	error message
toast	ephemeral notification
button	button
link	link
menu_item	menu entry
input_placeholder	field placeholder text
input_label	input field label
image	image
icon	icon
meta_title	metadata title (SEO)
meta_description	metadata description (SEO)

Type and structure: two distinct axes

The type describes a key's role. The structure (flat or nested path) describes how you organize it. The two are independent: you freely choose the nesting, and each key keeps its type. For the structural axis, see Key nesting.

Configuration

Assign a type to each key, manually in the dashboard or via the agents' recommendation. Without an explicit type, a key is text. The type is carried by the key, in the content layer, and follows the key everywhere (translation, surfaces, CDN).