diff --git a/cli/config/d2ConfigDefaults.js b/cli/config/d2ConfigDefaults.js
index d6244d74..5b64df62 100644
--- a/cli/config/d2ConfigDefaults.js
+++ b/cli/config/d2ConfigDefaults.js
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+/**
+ * Note that these values are different from the boilerplate files that
+ * are copied when using `d2-app-scripts init` -- these are used as defaults
+ * when parsing d2 config of existing apps
+ *
+ * The boilerplate files live in /config/init/
+ */
+
 const defaultsApp = {
     type: 'app',
 
diff --git a/cli/config/init/d2.config.app.js b/cli/config/init/d2.config.app.js
index ef5db10d..6e289136 100644
--- a/cli/config/init/d2.config.app.js
+++ b/cli/config/init/d2.config.app.js
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ const config = {
     entryPoints: {
         app: './src/App.jsx',
     },
+
+    direction: 'auto',
 }
 
 module.exports = config
diff --git a/cli/config/init/entrypoint.jsx b/cli/config/init/entrypoint.jsx
index 7cc3b043..0b9009b8 100644
--- a/cli/config/init/entrypoint.jsx
+++ b/cli/config/init/entrypoint.jsx
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { useDataQuery } from '@dhis2/app-runtime'
 import i18n from '@dhis2/d2-i18n'
 import React from 'react'
 import classes from './App.module.css'
+// './locales' will be populated after running start or build scripts
+import './locales'
 
 const query = {
     me: {