diff --git a/.github/scripts/check_pot_freshness.py b/.github/scripts/check_pot_freshness.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8eacaf3553
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/check_pot_freshness.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Check that all tr() strings from code exist in base.pot.
+
+Used by CI. Fails if any translatable string is missing from the committed pot.
+
+Usage:
+	xgettext ... -o /tmp/generated.pot
+	python3 check_pot_freshness.py /tmp/generated.pot locales/base.pot
+"""
+
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+def extract_msgids(path: str) -> set[str]:
+	content = Path(path).read_text()
+	ids: set[str] = set()
+	current: str | None = None
+
+	for line in content.splitlines():
+		if line.startswith('msgid '):
+			m = re.search(r'"(.*)"', line)
+			current = m.group(1) if m else ''
+		elif current is not None and line.startswith('"'):
+			m = re.search(r'"(.*)"', line)
+			if m:
+				current += m.group(1)
+		else:
+			if current is not None and current:
+				ids.add(current)
+			current = None
+
+	if current:
+		ids.add(current)
+
+	return ids
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+	generated = extract_msgids(sys.argv[1])
+	committed = extract_msgids(sys.argv[2])
+
+	missing = sorted(generated - committed)
+
+	if missing:
+		print('::error::New tr() strings not in base.pot - run locales_generator.sh:')
+		for s in missing:
+			print(f'  {s}')
+		sys.exit(1)
+
+	print('All tr() strings are present in base.pot')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+	main()
diff --git a/.github/workflows/translation-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/translation-check.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6d99630948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/translation-check.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+name: Translation validation
+on:
+    push:
+        paths:
+            - 'archinstall/**/*.py'
+            - 'archinstall/locales/**'
+            - '.github/workflows/translation-check.yaml'
+            - '.github/scripts/check_pot_freshness.py'
+    pull_request:
+        paths:
+            - 'archinstall/**/*.py'
+            - 'archinstall/locales/**'
+            - '.github/workflows/translation-check.yaml'
+            - '.github/scripts/check_pot_freshness.py'
+jobs:
+    validate-po:
+        name: Validate .po files and translation patterns
+        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        container:
+            image: archlinux/archlinux:latest
+        steps:
+            - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+              with:
+                fetch-depth: 0
+            - name: Find changed files
+              id: changed
+              run: |
+                if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ]; then
+                    base="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}"
+                    head="${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}"
+                else
+                    base="${{ github.event.before }}"
+                    head="${{ github.sha }}"
+                fi
+                changed_po=$(git diff --name-only "$base" "$head" 2>/dev/null | grep '\.po$' || true)
+                changed_py=$(git diff --name-only "$base" "$head" 2>/dev/null | grep '\.py$' || true)
+                if [ -n "$changed_po" ]; then
+                    echo "has_po=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+                    echo "$changed_po" > /tmp/changed_po.txt
+                else
+                    echo "has_po=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+                fi
+                if [ -n "$changed_py" ]; then
+                    echo "has_py=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+                else
+                    echo "has_py=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+                fi
+            - name: Install gettext
+              if: steps.changed.outputs.has_po == 'true'
+              run: |
+                pacman-key --init
+                pacman --noconfirm -Sy archlinux-keyring
+                pacman --noconfirm -Syyu
+                pacman --noconfirm -S gettext
+            - name: Check changed .po syntax with msgfmt
+              if: steps.changed.outputs.has_po == 'true'
+              run: |
+                failed=0
+                while IFS= read -r po; do
+                    if [ -f "$po" ] && ! msgfmt --check --output-file=/dev/null "$po" 2>&1; then
+                        echo "FAIL: $po"
+                        failed=1
+                    fi
+                done < /tmp/changed_po.txt
+                if [ "$failed" -eq 1 ]; then
+                    echo "::error::Some .po files have syntax errors"
+                    exit 1
+                fi
+                echo "All changed .po files passed syntax check"
+            - name: Warn if changed .mo files are out of sync
+              if: steps.changed.outputs.has_po == 'true'
+              run: |
+                out_of_sync=0
+                while IFS= read -r po; do
+                    if [ ! -f "$po" ]; then continue; fi
+                    mo="${po%.po}.mo"
+                    if [ ! -f "$mo" ]; then
+                        echo "::warning::Missing .mo file for $po"
+                        out_of_sync=1
+                        continue
+                    fi
+                    tmp_mo=$(mktemp)
+                    msgfmt --output-file="$tmp_mo" "$po"
+                    if ! cmp -s "$mo" "$tmp_mo"; then
+                        echo "::warning::$mo is out of sync with $po - run locales_generator.sh"
+                        out_of_sync=1
+                    fi
+                    rm -f "$tmp_mo"
+                done < /tmp/changed_po.txt
+                if [ "$out_of_sync" -eq 1 ]; then
+                    echo "Some .mo files are out of sync (warning only)"
+                fi
+            - name: Check for tr(f-string) anti-pattern
+              if: steps.changed.outputs.has_py == 'true'
+              run: |
+                if grep -rn --include='*.py' "tr(f['\"]" archinstall/; then
+                    echo "::error::Found tr(f'...') pattern. Use tr('...{}').format(...) instead"
+                    exit 1
+                fi
+                echo "No tr(f-string) anti-pattern found"
+
+    validate-pot:
+        name: Validate base.pot is up to date
+        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+        container:
+            image: archlinux/archlinux:latest
+        steps:
+            - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+              with:
+                fetch-depth: 0
+            - name: Check for changed Python files
+              id: check_py
+              run: |
+                if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ]; then
+                    base="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}"
+                    head="${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}"
+                else
+                    base="${{ github.event.before }}"
+                    head="${{ github.sha }}"
+                fi
+                if git diff --name-only "$base" "$head" 2>/dev/null | grep -q '\.py$'; then
+                    echo "has_py_changes=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+                else
+                    echo "has_py_changes=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+                fi
+            - name: Install gettext and python
+              if: steps.check_py.outputs.has_py_changes == 'true'
+              run: |
+                pacman-key --init
+                pacman --noconfirm -Sy archlinux-keyring
+                pacman --noconfirm -Syyu
+                pacman --noconfirm -S gettext python
+            - name: Check for missing translatable strings
+              if: steps.check_py.outputs.has_py_changes == 'true'
+              run: |
+                cd archinstall
+                find . -type f -name '*.py' | xargs xgettext \
+                    --no-location --omit-header --keyword='tr' \
+                    -d base -o /tmp/generated.pot
+                python3 ../.github/scripts/check_pot_freshness.py /tmp/generated.pot locales/base.pot
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py b/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py
index eac936bdd0..1e18890f77 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@ def _prev_install_invalid_config(self, item: MenuItem) -> str | None:
 			return text[:-1]  # remove last new line
 
 		if error := self._validate_bootloader():
-			return tr(f'Invalid configuration: {error}')
+			return tr('Invalid configuration: {}').format(error)
 
 		self.sync_all_to_config()
 		summary = ConfigurationOutput(self._arch_config).as_summary()
diff --git a/archinstall/locales/base.pot b/archinstall/locales/base.pot
index 31f5e1960f..1b9ba9d1d7 100644
--- a/archinstall/locales/base.pot
+++ b/archinstall/locales/base.pot
@@ -1245,7 +1245,7 @@ msgid "Product"
 msgstr ""
 
 #, python-brace-format
-msgid "Invalid configuration: {error}"
+msgid "Invalid configuration: {}"
 msgstr ""
 
 msgid "Ready to install"
diff --git a/scripts/pot_tools.py b/scripts/pot_tools.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..aec7374e06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/pot_tools.py
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Tools for managing base.pot: find and add missing translatable strings.
+
+Usage (from repo root):
+	scripts/pot_tools.py stats
+	scripts/pot_tools.py list
+	scripts/pot_tools.py add_missing [--dry-run]
+
+Requires: gettext (xgettext) installed.
+"""
+
+import os
+import re
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+ARCHINSTALL_DIR = REPO_ROOT / 'archinstall'
+BASE_POT = ARCHINSTALL_DIR / 'locales' / 'base.pot'
+
+
+def extract_msgids(path: Path) -> set[str]:
+	content = path.read_text()
+	ids: set[str] = set()
+	current: str | None = None
+
+	for line in content.splitlines():
+		if line.startswith('msgid '):
+			m = re.search(r'"(.*)"', line)
+			current = m.group(1) if m else ''
+		elif current is not None and line.startswith('"'):
+			m = re.search(r'"(.*)"', line)
+			if m:
+				current += m.group(1)
+		else:
+			if current is not None and current:
+				ids.add(current)
+			current = None
+
+	if current:
+		ids.add(current)
+
+	return ids
+
+
+def generate_fresh_pot() -> Path:
+	fd, tmp_path = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix='.pot')
+	os.close(fd)
+	tmp = Path(tmp_path)
+	py_files = sorted(str(p) for p in ARCHINSTALL_DIR.rglob('*.py'))
+
+	cmd = [
+		'xgettext',
+		'--no-location',
+		'--omit-header',
+		'--keyword=tr',
+		'-d',
+		'base',
+		'-o',
+		str(tmp),
+	] + py_files
+
+	subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, capture_output=True)
+	return tmp
+
+
+def get_missing(fresh_pot: Path) -> set[str]:
+	generated = extract_msgids(fresh_pot)
+	committed = extract_msgids(BASE_POT)
+	return generated - committed
+
+
+def cmd_stats() -> None:
+	fresh_pot = generate_fresh_pot()
+	try:
+		generated = extract_msgids(fresh_pot)
+		committed = extract_msgids(BASE_POT)
+		missing = generated - committed
+
+		print(f'Code:        {len(generated)} translatable strings')
+		print(f'base.pot:    {len(committed)} msgids')
+		print(f'  Missing:   {len(missing)}')
+	finally:
+		fresh_pot.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+
+
+def cmd_list() -> None:
+	fresh_pot = generate_fresh_pot()
+	try:
+		missing = sorted(get_missing(fresh_pot))
+
+		if missing:
+			print(f'=== MISSING ({len(missing)}): in code but not in base.pot ===')
+			for s in missing:
+				print(f'  + {s}')
+		else:
+			print('No missing strings')
+	finally:
+		fresh_pot.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+
+
+def cmd_add_missing(dry_run: bool = False) -> None:
+	fresh_pot = generate_fresh_pot()
+	try:
+		missing = sorted(get_missing(fresh_pot))
+
+		if not missing:
+			print('No missing strings, base.pot is up to date')
+			return
+
+		print(f'Adding {len(missing)} missing string(s)')
+		for s in missing:
+			print(f'  + {s}')
+
+		if dry_run:
+			print('(dry-run, no changes written)')
+			return
+
+		with open(BASE_POT, 'a') as f:
+			for s in missing:
+				if '{' in s:
+					f.write('\n#, python-brace-format')
+				f.write(f'\nmsgid "{s}"\nmsgstr ""\n')
+
+		print(f'Done. Added to {BASE_POT}')
+	finally:
+		fresh_pot.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+	if len(sys.argv) < 2 or sys.argv[1] in ('-h', '--help'):
+		print('Usage: pot_tools.py {stats|list|add_missing} [--dry-run]')
+		sys.exit(0)
+
+	cmd = sys.argv[1]
+	if cmd == 'stats':
+		cmd_stats()
+	elif cmd == 'list':
+		cmd_list()
+	elif cmd == 'add_missing':
+		dry_run = '--dry-run' in sys.argv
+		cmd_add_missing(dry_run)
+	else:
+		print(f'Unknown command: {cmd}')
+		sys.exit(1)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+	main()