IDEA 8 can't resolve resource bundles via EL. Works fine with IDEA 7. Example: #{messages.<can't resolve message key>} Seam conf: .. ... <core:resource-loader> <core:bundle-names> <value>messages</value> </core:bundle-names> </core:resource-loader> ... ... JSF conf: ... ... <locale-config> <default-locale>en</default-locale> <supported-locale>da</supported-locale> <supported-locale>en</supported-locale> </locale-config> ... ...