Translator

Four-step professional translation workflow, producing publication-level translations: Analysis → Initial Translation → Review → Final Draft.

Usage

/translate [--from <lang>] [--to <lang>] [--audience <audience>] [--style <style>] [--glossary <file>] <source>

```
<source>
```
: File path, URL, or directly paste the article text in the conversation
```
--from
```
: Source language (auto-detected if omitted)
```
--to
```
: Target language (default
```
zh-CN
```
)
```
--audience
```
: Target readers (default
```
general
```
)
```
--style
```
: Translation style (default
```
auto
```
)
```
--glossary
```
: Additional glossary file, merged with built-in glossary
Supported language pairs:
```
ZH↔EN
```
,
```
ZH↔JA
```
Not supported: Direct translation between
```
EN↔JA
```

Audience Presets

Value	Description	Effect
`general`	General readers (default)	Plain language, with additional annotations for technical terms
`technical`	Developers/engineers	Fewer annotations for common technical terms
`academic`	Researchers/scholars	Formal register, precise terminology
`business`	Business professionals	Business-friendly, explains technical concepts

Custom descriptions are also accepted, e.g.,

--audience "general readers interested in AI"

Style Presets

Value	Description
`auto`	Automatically match the translation style based on the original tone identified in the analysis phase (default)
`storytelling`	Smooth narration, natural transitions, vivid wording
`formal`	Professional and rigorous, clear structure, no colloquialisms
`technical`	Precise and concise, terminology-intensive, minimal embellishments
`literal`	Close to original structure, minimal restructuring
`academic`	Academically rigorous, complex clauses are acceptable
`business`	Concise and result-oriented, action-oriented
`humorous`	Preserve and adapt humor
`conversational`	Colloquial, friendly and approachable
`elegant`	Literary, pays attention to rhythm and word choice

Custom descriptions are also accepted, e.g.,

--style "poetic and lyrical"

Workflow

Step 1: Preparation

Load built-in glossaries based on language pairs:
- ZH→EN / EN→ZH: references/glossary-en-zh.md
- ZH→JA / JA→ZH: references/glossary-zh-ja.md
- When Chinese-Japanese texts contain English technical terms, product names or abbreviations, additionally refer to references/glossary-en-ja.md
If
```
--glossary
```
file is provided, merge it (CLI settings override built-in entries)
Materialize source content:
- File path: Directly read and use
- URL: Prioritize using
```
curl -L
```
  to request
```
https://r.jina.ai/http://<url>
```
  to get the body content in Markdown, save to
```
translate/{slug}.md
```
  - Do not prioritize default HTTP clients like
    urllib
    ; such implementations are more likely to encounter
    403
    errors or be blocked by the target side
  - If the returned content lacks the main body, only gets navigation/summaries, is truncated by paywalls, or the request fails, stop the process immediately
  - When stopping, clearly inform the user: "The full body content cannot be stably fetched from the current URL. Please download, copy or paste the original text and try again."
  - Do not continue analysis, summarization or translation with incomplete content
- Text pasted in conversation: Directly use without saving to file
Create a temporary working directory for intermediate files (will be cleaned up eventually)
Auto-detect source language (unless
```
--from
```
is specified)

Step 2: In-depth Analysis →

01-analysis.md

Conduct in-depth analysis of the source material before translation, focusing on dimensions that directly affect translation quality.

2.1 Overview

Summarize in 3-5 sentences: content theme, core arguments, most valuable insights.

2.2 Core Content

Core Argument: One-sentence summary
Key Concepts: What key concepts does the author use? How are they defined?
Structure: How is the argument developed? How do the parts connect?
Evidence: What specific examples, data or authoritative citations are used?

2.3 Context

Author: Who is the author? What is their background and stance?
Writing Context: What phenomenon, trend or debate is it responding to?
Purpose: What problem is it trying to solve? Who is the target audience?
Implicit Assumptions: What unstated premises underlie the argument?

2.4 Term Extraction

List all technical terms, proper nouns, brand names, abbreviations
Cross-check with loaded glossaries
For terms not in glossaries, find standard translations
Record to working glossary

2.5 Tone and Style

Is the original text formal or colloquial?
Does it use humor, metaphors or cultural allusions?
Considering the target audience, what register should the translation adopt?
If the target language is Japanese, the style must be locked in the analysis phase: choose either Keigo (です・ます) or Plain Form (だ・である) and explain the basis for selection. Default rules: comments, analyses, technical articles, blog bodies prioritize plain form; reader-facing instructions, announcements, emails, FAQs, customer service-style texts prioritize keigo. Except for quotations, inherent UI copy, or cited original fragments, the main text must not mix styles

2.6 Reader Comprehension Barriers

Identify areas that may be difficult for target readers (calibrated based on target audience):

Domain Terminology: Lacks well-known translations, or literal translation is meaningless
Cultural Allusions: Idioms, historical events, pop culture unique to the source culture
Implicit Knowledge: Background that the original author assumes readers have but target readers may lack
Wordplay and Metaphors: Rhetoric that cannot be directly conveyed across languages
Named Concepts: Theories, effects with specific names (e.g., "Hair Combing Effect", "Dunning-Kruger Effect")
China-Specific Nouns: Platforms, apps, institutions, policies, cultural concepts that may be unfamiliar to English or Japanese readers; when translating from Chinese to English/Japanese, retain the original noun and add a brief target-language annotation in parentheses

Record each barrier as: Original term/paragraph → Why it may cause confusion → Concise, plain explanation (for annotations). For China-specific nouns in Chinese-to-English/Japanese translation, record directly as: Original noun → Why it is unfamiliar → Target-language brief annotation.

2.7 Rhetoric and Metaphor Mapping

Identify all metaphors, similes, idioms and rhetorical expressions in the source text. Analyze each one:

Original Expression: Original sentence
Intended Meaning: What does the author really want to convey?
Literal Translation Risks: Will word-for-word translation be unnatural, lose connotation or confuse readers?
Target Language Strategy:
- Free Translation: Abandon the source language imagery, use natural target-language expressions to convey the original meaning
- Replacement: Replace with idioms/imagery in the target language that convey the same meaning and emotional effect
- Retention: Keep the original imagery if it is equally effective in the target language

Also mark:

Emotional Connotations in Word Choice: For example, "alarming" is not just an objective description but conveys subjective feelings — record the emotional effect that needs to be preserved
Implied Meaning: Sentences that seem simple but have richer meanings — record what the author really means

2.8 Structural and Creative Challenges

Complex sentence structures that need restructuring (long clauses, nested modifiers, participial phrases)
Untranslatable structural challenges (pun, ambiguity)
Author's voice or humor that requires creative adaptation

Save as
01-analysis.md
, with the following structure:

## Overview
[3-5 sentences]

## Core Content
Core Argument: [One sentence]
Key Concepts: [List]
Structure: [Outline]

## Context
Author: [Who, background, stance]
Writing Context: [What it responds to]
Purpose: [Goals and audience]
Implicit Assumptions: [Unstated premises]

## Glossary
[Term → Translation, ...]

## Tone and Style
[Evaluation]
[If target language is Japanese, additionally record: Style (Keigo/Plain Form), basis for selection, allowed exceptions]

## Reader Comprehension Barriers
- [Term/Paragraph] → [Why it may cause confusion] → [Suggested annotation]
- ...

## Rhetoric and Metaphor Mapping
- [Original Expression] → [Intended Meaning] → [Strategy: Free Translation/Replacement/Retention] → [Suggested Translation]
- ...

## Structural and Creative Challenges
[Sentence restructuring needs, puns, creative adaptation needs]

Step 3: Assemble Translation Prompt →

02-prompt.md

Read

01-analysis.md

and assemble a complete translation prompt. Integrate style instructions, content background, merged glossaries, and comprehension barriers into the prompt.

Style Derivation

auto
mode (default): Extract the original tone features from the "Tone and Style" section of
```
01-analysis.md
```
, and directly convert them into translation style instructions. Do not apply preset templates, but use specific descriptions to tell the translator "what the original tone is, and what tone the translation should maintain". For example, if the original analysis is "Relaxed and colloquial, frequent use of first person and rhetorical questions", the style instruction would be "Maintain a relaxed and colloquial tone, continue using first-person narration and rhetorical questions, and the translation should read like a natural Chinese essay rather than a formal article"
Explicitly specified style (e.g.,
```
--style formal
```
): Use the corresponding preset description, overriding the original tone
If the target language is Japanese, regardless of
```
auto
```
or explicit style, the style (Keigo or Plain Form) selected in the analysis phase must be written into the prompt, and the translator must be required to maintain consistency throughout the main text

Prompt template can be found in references/subagent-prompt-template.md.

This prompt is used for subagents (when splitting into chunks) or the main agent itself (when not splitting into chunks).

Step 4: Initial Translation →

03-draft.md

Long Text Chunk Processing

Estimate word count. If over 4000 words:

Split along Markdown block boundaries, each chunk no more than 5000 words
Keep structures such as titles, paragraphs, lists, code blocks intact
Create a subagent for each chunk, execute all in parallel
Each subagent reads
```
02-prompt.md
```
to get shared context and translates its chunk
After all subagents complete, merge the chunks in order into
```
03-draft.md
```
Seam Check (execute immediately after merging):
- Optional Annotation Deduplication: Since each subagent works independently, it may add duplicate annotations for the same term. After merging, scan the full text and only retain the first annotation that truly helps with understanding; delete subsequent duplicate annotations that do not provide new information
- Tone Consistency: Check if the tone and style of paragraphs before and after chunk boundaries are consistent, and revise abrupt style changes
- Japanese Style Consistency: If the target language is Japanese, scan the chunk boundaries and sentence endings throughout the text to ensure consistency between Keigo/Plain Form and the style locked in the analysis phase; no switching is allowed except for quotations, inherent UI copy, or cited original fragments
- Contextual Reference: Check referential terms across chunk boundaries (e.g., "mentioned earlier", "above", "as mentioned before") to confirm that the referenced target exists in the translation and can be located by readers

Short Text

Translate directly and save as

03-draft.md

Translation Principles (Must Be Followed for All Translations)

Original Text First: Translation must be done paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence based on the original text. Strictly prohibited to summarize, generalize, compress or rewrite the original content. Do not omit sentences or rephrase in your own words. Paragraphs can be re-split according to punctuation and paragraph optimization rules (allowing more paragraphs than the original), but do not merge multiple original paragraphs into one. All titles in the original text must be retained, not omitted or merged. If the content fetched from the URL differs from the original (summarized, truncated, blocked by paywalls or rewritten), stop immediately and ask the user to provide the full text. Do not continue translation based on incomplete content
Accuracy First: Facts, data, and logic must be completely consistent with the original text
Convey Meaning, Not Literal Words: Translate the author's meaning, not the literal words. When literal translation is unnatural or cannot convey the intended effect, freely restructure to express the same meaning in authentic target language
Rhetorical Processing: Understand metaphors, idioms and rhetorical expressions based on their intended meaning. When the source language imagery does not have the same connotation in the target language, replace it with natural expressions that convey the same meaning and emotional effect. Refer to the rhetoric mapping in Step 2
Emotional Fidelity: Retain the emotional connotation of words, not just dictionary definitions. Words with subjective feelings (e.g., "alarming", "haunting") should evoke the same response in the target language
Natural Fluency: Use authentic target language word order and sentence structure; when the source language structure is unnatural in the target language, freely split sentences or restructure
Japanese Style Lock: If the target language is Japanese, determine Keigo or Plain Form before starting translation. The main text's narration, explanation, transitions and conclusions must use the same set of terminal forms; only explicit exceptions such as quotations, inherent UI copy, or cited original fragments can retain different styles
Terminology Consistency: Prioritize using standard translations; only add the original term in parentheses after the translation when it first appears and truly helps the target reader understand, disambiguate or retrieve
China-Specific Noun Annotations: When translating to English or Japanese, if encountering China-specific platforms, products, institutions or cultural concepts that may be unfamiliar to target readers, retain the original noun and add a brief target-language annotation immediately after its first occurrence. Format:
```
Original Noun (target-language explanation)
```
. For example:
```
小红书（a Chinese lifestyle and social commerce platform）
```
,
```
小红书（中国のライフスタイル共有・ECプラットフォーム）
```
Retain Formatting: Keep all Markdown formatting (titles, bold, italic, images, links, code blocks)
Frontmatter Conversion: If the source text has YAML frontmatter, retain it and make the following changes: (1) Add
```
source
```
prefix (camelCase) to metadata fields describing the source article:
```
url
```
→
```
sourceUrl
```
,
```
title
```
→
```
sourceTitle
```
, etc.; (2) Translate the values of text fields and add them as new top-level fields; (3) Keep other fields unchanged, translate values appropriately
Respect Original Text: Retain the original meaning and intent; do not add, delete or comment — but sentence structures and imagery can be freely adapted to serve the meaning
Annotations: Only add concise explanations for terms, concepts or cultural allusions when lack of annotations will hinder understanding. Regular format:
```
Translation (Original Term, plain explanation)
```
; if retaining the original noun itself, use
```
Original Noun (target-language explanation)
```
. Calibrate the depth of annotations based on the target audience: ordinary readers can have moderate annotations, while technical/academic/business readers have fewer or no annotations by default. Further reduce annotations for short texts (<5 sentences) to avoid excessive instructional tone

Step 5: Critical Review →

04-critique.md

The main agent conducts a critical review of the initial draft against the original text. This step only produces diagnoses, not rewrites.

5.1 Accuracy and Completeness

Structure Comparison: Count the number of titles and paragraphs in the original text and translation. If the number of titles in the translation is less than the original, or the number of paragraphs is significantly less than the original (difference exceeds 20%), mark it as a missing risk and check each item one by one
Compare paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence against the original text
Verify all facts, figures, dates, proper nouns
Mark any unexpected additions, deletions or alterations
Check if terminology is used consistently throughout the text according to the glossary
Confirm no paragraphs or sections are missing

5.2 Translationese Diagnosis (By Target Language)

English Target Language:

Literal Syntax: Retain Chinese/Japanese topic-comment structure, topic-first structure or overly preposed adverbials, resulting in unnatural English
Missing Articles and Determiners: Improper use of
```
a/an/the
```
, this/that, some/these, etc., revealing traces of source language transfer
Stiff Prepositions and Collocations: Word-for-word mapping of Chinese/Japanese collocations, forming non-authentic English expressions
Excessive Nominalization: Sentences that could be advanced with verbs are written as rigid chains of abstract nouns
Unclear Reference: Chinese omitted subjects or Japanese omitted references directly transferred to English, resulting in ambiguous referents
Unstable Register: Overly formal writing where natural English should be concise, or overly colloquial in formal texts
Poor Information Flow: The order of old/new information in sentences does not meet the expectations of English readers, making it awkward to read

Chinese Target Language:

Redundant Conjunctions: Excessive use of 因此/然而/此外/另外 when the contextual relationship is already implied
Overuse of Passive Voice: Excessive use of 被/由/受到 when active voice is more natural
Noun Stacking: Long modifier chains should be split into short sentences
Cleft Sentences: Unnatural "是...的" structures directly copied from English "It is...that"
Excessive Nominalization: Use of abstract nouns when verbs or adjectives are more natural (e.g., "进行了讨论"→"讨论了")
Redundant Pronouns: Overuse of 他/她/它/我们/你 when they can be omitted

Japanese Target Language:

Mixed Keigo and Plain Form: Switching between
```
です・ます
```
and
```
だ・である
```
in main text narration, damaging professionalism and coherence
Terminal Form Drift: Sudden switch to another set of sentence endings in the first sentence after a subheading, supplementary explanation, summary sentence or chunk boundary
Excessive Katakana: Unnecessary use of Katakana loanwords for concepts that can be expressed in Wago or Kango
Excessive Subjects: Japanese often omits subjects; overly retaining English subject structures will be unnatural
Overuse of Passive Voice: Direct translation of English passive voice to 「〜される」 when active expression is more natural
Long Noun Modifier Chains: Literal translation of English long premodifiers is unnatural; should be split into postmodifiers or independent sentences
Unnatural Conjunctions: Overuse of hard conjunctions like 「しかしながら」「それゆえ」 when the contextual relationship is already clear and should be omitted
Translationese Word Order: Unnatural Japanese that retains English word order; should be restructured into natural word order

5.3 Rhetoric and Emotional Fidelity

Compare with the metaphor mapping in
```
01-analysis.md
```
: Are all marked metaphors/idioms handled according to the suggested strategy (free translation/replacement/retention)?
Mark metaphors or rhetorical expressions that are unnatural or lose original meaning after literal translation
Check emotional connotation: Do words with subjective feelings in the source text evoke the same response in the translation, or are they flattened into neutral/objective descriptions?
Mark lost implied meaning: Sentences where the translator was too close to the surface meaning and failed to convey the author's deep intent

5.4 Strategy Execution

Was the translation strategy in
```
02-prompt.md
```
actually followed?
Was the tone and register identified in the analysis applied?
Were the comprehension barriers identified in
```
01-analysis.md
```
handled with appropriate annotations?
Is terminology used consistently?

5.5 Expression and Logic

Mark sentences that read like "translationese" — unnatural word order, forced copying, stiff wording
Check logical flow between sentences and paragraphs
Identify areas where restructuring can improve readability
Point out places where target language customary expressions are missing

5.6 Annotation Quality

Are annotations accurate, concise and truly helpful?
Identify missing annotations for comprehension barriers
Check if China-specific nouns in Chinese-to-English/Japanese translation have sufficient brief target-language explanations when first mentioned
Mark over-annotations for terms that are obvious to the target audience
Check if cultural allusions are explained when needed

5.7 Cultural Adaptation

Are metaphors and idioms effective in the target language?
Are there references that may confuse or offend the target culture?
Are there paragraphs that may be misunderstood due to cultural context differences?

Save as
04-critique.md
, with the following structure:

## Accuracy and Completeness
- [Issue]: [Location] — [Description]

## Translationese Issues
- [Issue Type]: [Initial Draft Example] → [Suggested Revision]

## Rhetoric and Emotional Fidelity
- [Literal Metaphor]: [Original Text] → [Initial Draft] → [Suggested Free Translation]
- [Flattened Emotion]: [Original Word/Phrase] → [Initial Draft] → [How to Restore Emotional Effect]

## Strategy Execution
- [Strategy]: [Followed/Missed] — [Details]

## Expression and Logic
- [Location]: [Issue] → [Suggestion]

## Annotations
- [Add/Delete/Modify]: [Term] — [Reason]

## Cultural Adaptation
- [Issue]: [Description] — [Suggestion]

## Summary
[Overall Evaluation: X key issues, Y improvements, Z minor suggestions]

Step 6: Final Draft

Revise and polish

03-draft.md

based on all findings in

04-critique.md

, producing a publication-level translation in one step. Read the initial draft and review findings, and can also refer back to the original text and

01-analysis.md

Correct all accuracy issues identified in the review
Rewrite translationese expressions into natural target-language patterns
Re-translate literal metaphors and rhetorical expressions according to metaphor mapping
Restore flattened emotional connotations
Apply missed translation strategies
Restructure stiff or awkward sentences to improve fluency
Add, delete or modify annotations according to review suggestions
Improve transitions between paragraphs
Adapt cultural allusions according to suggestions
If the target language is Japanese, scan sentence endings and judgment sentences paragraph by paragraph to confirm that Keigo/Plain Form is consistent with the style locked in the analysis phase, and correct local drift
Read through the full text — does it flow naturally as an independent work?
Ensure consistent narrative voice throughout the text, and consistently apply the selected translation style
Final scan: Any expression that still reads like a "translation" rather than "writing" should be recast into natural target-language expression
Final check for terminology consistency throughout the text
Verify that formatting is correctly retained (titles, bold, links, code blocks)
Paragraphs and Rhythm:
- Follow natural target-language writing standards, do not mechanically copy source text syntax, nor forcibly split into single-sentence paragraphs for formal requirements
- Split paragraphs or sentences only when readability is significantly improved; each paragraph should serve a clear level or action
- Use standard full-width Chinese punctuation for Chinese target language, standard Japanese punctuation for Japanese target language, and standard English punctuation for English target language

Step 7: Output

Default Output

By default, directly output the final translation body without additional headers like "Original Text:", introductions or editor's notes
Only add such information before the main text when the user explicitly requests publication packaging (e.g., "Add original link", "Write an introduction", "Make a translation feature article")

Output Format

Automatically select output format based on translation content:

Content with Markdown formatting (titles, bold, links, code blocks, lists, etc.): Wrap the output in a Markdown code block so users can directly copy the source code:

```markdown
{Translation Content}
```

Plain text content (no Markdown formatting markers): Directly output without wrapping in code blocks

Judgment basis: Whether the translation contains Markdown syntax such as

**

[]()

, etc. As long as any Markdown formatting marker exists, wrap it in a code block.

Default Behavior: Direct Output

By default, output the final translation directly in the conversation (do not write to file). All intermediate files generated during translation (

01-analysis.md

02-prompt.md

03-draft.md

04-critique.md

chunks/

directory) are deleted before output, and the temporary working directory is also deleted.

File Writing Mode

Only save the final translation as

translation.md

when the user explicitly requests writing to file (e.g., "Save to file", "Write to file", "Output to file"). In this case, all intermediate files are also deleted, and only

translation.md

is retained in the output directory.

Image Language Check

After translation is completed, perform a lightweight image language check:

Collect image references in the translation
Identify images that may contain a lot of text (covers, screenshots, charts, framework diagrams, infographics)
If the main text language of the image does not match the translation language, actively remind the user
The reminder only lists the inventory, does not automatically localize images

Reminder format:

Image localization may be needed:
- ![Example Cover](attachments/example-cover.png): May still contain source language text
- ![Example Diagram](attachments/example-diagram.png): Text-dense framework diagram, check if labels need translation

Summary

**Translation Completed** (Professional Mode)

Source File: {source-path}
Language: {from} → {to}
Terms Applied: {count}

If in file writing mode, additionally display in the summary:

Output File: {output-dir}/translation.md

If image language mismatch is found, attach the reminder list after the summary.

translate-polisher

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content (Chinese)