Fix spurious language field migrations and add USER_LANGUAGES

froide/account/forms.py

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 from froide.helper.content_urls import get_content_url
 from froide.helper.form_utils import JSONMixin
+from froide.helper.language import get_user_language_choices
 from froide.helper.spam import SpamProtectionMixin
 from froide.helper.widgets import (
     BootstrapCheckboxInput,
@@ -625,7 +626,11 @@ def save(self, commit=True):
 
 
 class AccountSettingsForm(forms.ModelForm):
+    language = forms.ChoiceField(
+        choices=get_user_language_choices,
+        widget=BootstrapSelect,
+    )
+
     class Meta:
         model = User
         fields = ["language"]
-        widgets = {"language": BootstrapSelect}

froide/account/migrations/0042_alter_user_language.py

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.12 on 2026-04-15 10:47
+
+import froide.helper.language
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('account', '0041_alter_application_authorization_grant_type'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='user',
+            name='language',
+            field=models.CharField(choices=froide.helper.language.get_language_choices, default=froide.helper.language.get_default_language, help_text='Determines the default language of communication with you.', max_length=10, verbose_name='Language'),
+        ),
+    ]

froide/account/models.py

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 from taggit.models import TagBase, TaggedItemBase
 
 from froide.helper.csv_utils import export_csv, get_dict
+from froide.helper.language import get_default_language, get_language_choices
 from froide.helper.storage import HashedFilenameStorage, delete_file_if_last_reference
 
 
@@ -180,8 +181,8 @@ class User(AbstractBaseUser, PermissionsMixin):
     language = models.CharField(
         verbose_name=_("Language"),
         max_length=10,
-        default=settings.LANGUAGE_CODE,
-        choices=settings.LANGUAGES,
+        default=get_default_language,
+        choices=get_language_choices,
         help_text=_("Determines the default language of communication with you."),
     )
 

froide/document/migrations/0032_alter_document_language.py

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.12 on 2026-04-20 10:05
+
+import filingcabinet.language
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('document', '0031_alter_document_updated_at_alter_document_user_and_more'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='document',
+            name='language',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, choices=filingcabinet.language.get_language_choices, default=filingcabinet.language.get_default_language, max_length=10),
+        ),
+    ]

froide/foirequest/forms/request.py

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 from froide.helper.auth import get_read_queryset
 from froide.helper.form_utils import JSONMixin
 from froide.helper.forms import TagObjectForm
+from froide.helper.language import get_user_language_choices
 from froide.helper.text_utils import apply_user_redaction, redact_plaintext, slugify
 from froide.helper.widgets import BootstrapRadioSelect, BootstrapSelect, PriceInput
 from froide.publicbody.models import Category, PublicBody
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ class RequestForm(JSONMixin, forms.Form):
     )
     tags = TagField(required=False, widget=forms.HiddenInput)
     language = forms.ChoiceField(
-        choices=settings.LANGUAGES,
+        choices=get_user_language_choices,
         initial=settings.LANGUAGE_CODE,
         label=_("Language"),
         widget=forms.HiddenInput,

froide/foirequest/migrations/0075_alter_foiproject_language_alter_foirequest_language.py

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# Generated by Django 5.2.12 on 2026-04-15 10:47
+
+import froide.helper.language
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('foirequest', '0074_requestdraft_proof'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='foiproject',
+            name='language',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, choices=froide.helper.language.get_language_choices, default=froide.helper.language.get_default_language, max_length=10),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='foirequest',
+            name='language',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, choices=froide.helper.language.get_language_choices, default=froide.helper.language.get_default_language, max_length=10),
+        ),
+    ]

froide/foirequest/models/project.py

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from taggit.managers import TaggableManager
 from taggit.models import TaggedItemBase
 
+from froide.helper.language import get_default_language, get_language_choices
 from froide.helper.text_utils import redact_plaintext
 from froide.publicbody.models import PublicBody
 from froide.team.models import Team
@@ -77,8 +78,8 @@ class FoiProject(models.Model):
     language = models.CharField(
         max_length=10,
         blank=True,
-        default=settings.LANGUAGE_CODE,
-        choices=settings.LANGUAGES,
+        default=get_default_language,
+        choices=get_language_choices,
     )
 
     site = models.ForeignKey(

froide/foirequest/models/request.py

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 from froide.campaign.models import Campaign
 from froide.helper.email_utils import make_address
+from froide.helper.language import get_default_language, get_language_choices
 from froide.helper.text_diff import CONTENT_CACHE_THRESHOLD, get_differences
 from froide.helper.text_utils import redact_plaintext
 from froide.publicbody.models import FoiLaw, Jurisdiction, PublicBody
@@ -413,8 +414,8 @@ class FoiRequest(models.Model):
     language = models.CharField(
         max_length=10,
         blank=True,
-        default=settings.LANGUAGE_CODE,
-        choices=settings.LANGUAGES,
+        default=get_default_language,
+        choices=get_language_choices,
     )
 
     site = models.ForeignKey(

froide/helper/context_processors.py

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ def site_settings(request):
             request, "LANGUAGE_CODE", settings.LANGUAGE_CODE
         ),
         "DEFAULT_LANGUAGE_CODE": settings.LANGUAGE_CODE,
+        "USER_LANGUAGES": settings.USER_LANGUAGES,
     }
 
 

froide/helper/language.py

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+from django.conf import settings
+
+
+def get_default_language():
+    return settings.LANGUAGE_CODE
+
+
+def get_language_choices():
+    return settings.LANGUAGES
+
+
+def get_user_language_choices():
+    return settings.USER_LANGUAGES

froide/settings.py

@@ -299,6 +299,10 @@ def STATICFILES_DIRS(self):
         ("zh-hk", _("Chinese (Traditional, Hong Kong)")),
     )
 
+    # Languages available for user-facing selection (e.g. account settings, language picker).
+    # Override in downstream projects to exclude content-only languages like de-ls.
+    USER_LANGUAGES = LANGUAGES
+
     # If you set this to False, Django will make some optimizations so as not
     # to load the internationalization machinery.
     USE_I18N = values.BooleanValue(True)

froide/templates/header.html

@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@
                         {% endif %}
                     {% endblock nav_account_login %}
                     {% block language_select %}
-                        {% if LANGUAGES|length > 1 %}
+                        {% if USER_LANGUAGES|length > 1 %}
                             <li class="nav-item dropdown">
-                                {% for lang_code, language in LANGUAGES %}
+                                {% for lang_code, language in USER_LANGUAGES %}
                                     {% if lang_code == CURRENT_LANGUAGE_CODE %}
                                         <a class="nav-link dropdown-toggle"
                                            href="#"
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@
                                 {% endfor %}
                                 <div class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-right"
                                      aria-labelledby="navbarlanguage-link">
-                                    {% for lang_code, language in LANGUAGES %}
+                                    {% for lang_code, language in USER_LANGUAGES %}
                                         <form class="dropdown-item d-grid"
                                               action="{% url 'set_language' %}"
                                               method="post">

froide/tests/test_migration_stability.py

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+from io import StringIO
+
+from django.core.management import call_command
+from django.test import override_settings
+
+import pytest
+
+# LANGUAGES / LANGUAGE_CODE values that differ from the test settings to
+# provoke a diff if any model field bakes the resolved settings value into
+# its state (via choices=settings.LANGUAGES or default=settings.LANGUAGE_CODE).
+DIFFERENT_LANGUAGES = (
+    ("fr", "French"),
+    ("ja", "Japanese"),
+    ("pt-br", "Portuguese (Brazil)"),
+)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.django_db
+@override_settings(LANGUAGES=DIFFERENT_LANGUAGES, LANGUAGE_CODE="ja")
+def test_no_migration_needed_when_languages_change():
+    """Changing LANGUAGES or LANGUAGE_CODE must not produce new migrations in froide apps."""
+    out = StringIO()
+    try:
+        call_command(
+            "makemigrations",
+            "--check",
+            "--dry-run",
+            stdout=out,
+        )
+    except SystemExit as e:
+        # Exit code 1 means migrations would be created
+        if e.code == 1:
+            pytest.fail(
+                "Changing settings.LANGUAGES or settings.LANGUAGE_CODE triggered "
+                "migration changes.\n"
+                f"Output: {out.getvalue()}"
+            )
+        raise