| name | cf-translate |
| description | Translate content into 15+ languages preserving brand voice, citations, and SEO. Three localization levels. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
| argument-hint | [target-language] |
| effort | high |
Content Translation — Multilingual Publishing
Translate publication-ready ContentForge content into 15+ languages while preserving brand voice integrity, citation accuracy, and SEO optimization. Three localization levels let you control the depth of cultural adaptation.
When to Use
Use /contentforge:cf-translate when you need:
- Translated content for international markets (15+ languages)
- Brand-consistent multilingual content that matches your source voice in the target language
- SEO-localized content with keywords adapted for target market search behavior
- Citation-safe translations where URLs, source references, and inline citations remain intact
- Cultural adaptation beyond word-for-word translation (adapted or transcreated levels)
Prerequisite: Content must be produced (or imported) through the ContentForge pipeline first. Raw untreated content should go through /contentforge:create-content before translation.
Supported Languages
| Code | Language | Direction | Notes |
|---|
es | Spanish | LTR | Spain + Latin America variants |
fr | French | LTR | France + Canadian French |
de | German | LTR | Compound word handling |
pt | Portuguese | LTR | Brazil + Portugal variants |
it | Italian | LTR | |
nl | Dutch | LTR | |
ja | Japanese | LTR | Honorifics and formality levels |
zh | Chinese (Simplified) | LTR | Simplified by default, Traditional on request |
ko | Korean | LTR | Honorific levels mapped to brand formality |
ar | Arabic | RTL | Right-to-left layout considerations |
hi | Hindi | LTR | Devanagari script handling |
ru | Russian | LTR | |
pl | Polish | LTR | |
tr | Turkish | LTR | |
vi | Vietnamese | LTR | Diacritics preservation |
Localization Levels
Literal (Level 1)
Word-for-word structural translation. Preserves the exact document structure, sentence order, and paragraph boundaries. Translates meaning accurately but does not adapt cultural references, humor, or idiomatic expressions.
Best for: Technical documentation, legal disclaimers, regulatory content, data-heavy research papers.
Adapted (Level 2) — Recommended
Cultural adaptation with structural fidelity. Adjusts cultural references (dates, currencies, idioms, humor) to resonate in the target market while preserving the original content structure and argument flow.
Best for: Articles, blog posts, whitepapers, marketing content for established global brands.
Transcreated (Level 3)
Reimagined for the target market. Preserves the core message and intent but rebuilds the content to feel native in the target language. May restructure sections, replace examples, and adjust tone for maximum local impact.
Best for: Advertising copy, brand storytelling, thought leadership targeting specific regional audiences.
Required Inputs
Minimum Required:
- Source Content -- Google Drive URL, file ID, or local .docx path (must be ContentForge output)
- Target Language -- Language code from the supported list (e.g.,
es, fr, de)
- Brand -- Brand profile name (must exist, source language profile required)
Optional:
- Localization Level --
literal, adapted, or transcreated (defaults to adapted)
- Regional Variant -- Specify when multiple variants exist (e.g.,
es-latam, pt-br, fr-ca)
- Target Keywords -- Override SEO keywords for target market (auto-researched if not provided)
- Glossary Override -- Brand-specific term translations that override defaults
How to Use
Interactive Mode
/contentforge:cf-translate
Prompts you for:
- Source content (URL or file path)
- Target language (select from 15 options)
- Brand profile
- Localization level (literal / adapted / transcreated)
- Regional variant (if applicable)
Quick Mode
/contentforge:cf-translate "https://drive.google.com/file/d/ABC123" --lang=es --brand=AcmeMed --level=adapted
Multi-Language Batch
/contentforge:cf-translate "https://drive.google.com/file/d/ABC123" --lang=es,fr,de,pt --brand=AcmeMed --level=adapted
Queues translations for all specified languages and processes them sequentially.
What Happens
Phase 1: Source Analysis (1-2 minutes)
- Loads source content and brand profile
- Identifies content type, word count, citation count, SEO keywords
- Detects source language (auto-detected or confirmed)
- Quality Gate: Source must be ContentForge output with quality score >= 7.0
Phase 2: Element Classification (1-2 minutes)
- Separates content into translatable and immutable elements
- Translatable: Body text, headings, meta tags, alt text, CTAs
- Immutable: Citation URLs, DOIs, proper nouns (configurable), brand names, code snippets, email addresses, phone numbers
- Creates element map with translation instructions per element
- Quality Gate: All elements classified, immutable list confirmed
Phase 3: Translation Execution (3-5 minutes)
- Translator Agent (11-translator) processes content section by section
- Applies localization level rules (literal / adapted / transcreated)
- Uses DeepL MCP if available (optional) -- falls back to built-in translation
- Preserves document structure, heading hierarchy, and formatting
- Quality Gate: All translatable elements processed, document structure intact
Phase 4: Brand Voice Mapping (2-3 minutes)
- Loads brand voice mapping from
config/multilingual-patterns.json
- Maps source voice characteristics to target language equivalents
- Example: "authoritative" in English maps to "formal, datos primero" in Spanish
- Applies target language formality defaults
- Adjusts personality markers for cultural appropriateness
- Quality Gate: Brand voice rating >= 8/10 in target language
Phase 5: Citation Preservation Check (1 minute)
- Verifies all citation URLs remain unchanged
- Translates article and book titles in bibliography (preserving original in brackets)
- Confirms inline citation formatting matches source pattern
- Verifies DOIs, ISBNs, and reference identifiers are untouched
- Quality Gate: Zero citation URL changes, zero broken references
Phase 6: SEO Adaptation (2-3 minutes)
- Researches target market keywords (or uses provided overrides)
- Translates meta title (<= 60 chars in target language)
- Translates meta description (<= 155 chars in target language)
- Adjusts keyword density for target language norms
- Generates localized URL slug
- Quality Gate: Meta tags within char limits, keyword density within target range
Phase 7: Target Language Humanization (2-3 minutes)
- Runs Humanizer Agent for target language fluency
- Removes AI telltale phrases specific to target language (loaded from
config/multilingual-patterns.json)
- Checks sentence variety (burstiness) against target language norms
- Ensures natural reading flow for native speakers
- Quality Gate: Target language burstiness >= 0.7, zero AI patterns in target language
Phase 8: Quality Verification (1-2 minutes)
- Readability check calibrated for target language (grade level equivalents)
- Brand voice consistency rating (target: >= 8/10)
- Citation integrity confirmation (zero errors)
- SEO keyword density within +/- 0.5% of target
- Back-translation spot check (3-5 key sentences translated back to source for meaning verification)
- Quality Gate: All checks pass, composite translation score >= 8.0/10
Phase 9: Output (1 minute)
- Generates translated .docx with proper formatting
- Delivers via the brand's tracking backend (
tracking.backend in the brand profile): Google Drive folder, Airtable attachment, or local filesystem (~/Documents/ContentForge/{brand}/{type}/{YYYY-MM}/{slug}_{lang}.docx)
- Creates translation report with quality metrics
- Adds a translation entry to the tracking backend
Output
Translated Content Package — SYNTHETIC EXAMPLE, fabricated for illustration:
Translation Complete: "AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends" --> Spanish (es)
Processing Time: 16 minutes
Translation Score: 8.8/10
Localization Level: Adapted
Regional Variant: es (Spain, neutral)
Quality Metrics:
- Brand Voice Consistency: 9.0/10 (authoritative mapped to "formal, datos primero")
- Citation Integrity: 100% (14 URLs unchanged, 14 titles translated)
- SEO Adaptation: 8.5/10 (meta tags localized, keyword density 2.0%)
- Readability: 8.8/10 (Grade 11 equivalent for Spanish)
- Humanization: 9.0/10 (burstiness 0.74, zero AI patterns in Spanish)
Content Stats:
- Source Word Count: 1,947
- Translated Word Count: 2,134 (Spanish typically +10% vs English)
- Citations Preserved: 14/14 (100%)
- Immutable Elements: 23 (all preserved)
- Back-Translation Check: 5/5 sentences verified
Output Location:
Google Drive: ContentForge Output/AcmeMed/es/AI-in-Healthcare-2026-Trends_es_v1.0.docx
Translation Report:
Google Drive: ContentForge Output/AcmeMed/es/AI-in-Healthcare-2026-Trends_es_translation-report.json
Brand Voice Mapping Examples
The Translator Agent uses config/multilingual-patterns.json to map voice characteristics:
| Source Voice (EN) | Spanish (es) | French (fr) | German (de) | Japanese (ja) |
|---|
| Authoritative | Formal, datos primero | Assertif, ton expert | Sachlich, faktenbasiert | Formal keigo, data-driven |
| Conversational | Cercano, tuteo | Decontracte, tutoiement | Locker, Du-Form | Casual desu/masu |
| Technical | Preciso, terminologia exacta | Technique, jargon specialise | Fachsprachlich, Komposita | Senmon-teki, katakana loanwords |
| Witty | Ingenioso, juegos de palabras | Spirituel, jeux de mots | Geistreich, Wortspiel | Witty is rare; use light irony |
Immutable Element Handling
These elements are never translated:
| Element Type | Example | Handling |
|---|
| Citation URLs | https://doi.org/10.1234 | Preserved exactly |
| Brand names | "ContentForge", "AcmeMed" | Kept in original form |
| Proper nouns (people) | "Dr. Sarah Chen" | Kept unless transcreated level |
| Code snippets | config.json | Never translated |
| Email addresses | info@acmemed.com | Preserved exactly |
| Phone numbers | +1-555-0123 | Preserved (format may adapt) |
| Product names | "MedAssist Pro" | Kept in original form |
| DOIs / ISBNs | 10.1038/s41586-024 | Preserved exactly |
MCP Integrations
Optional (none required)
- Google Drive -- Only needed if the brand's tracking backend is Google Sheets + Drive, or when running in Cowork (sandbox persistence). Local and Airtable backends work without it.
- DeepL -- Machine translation baseline. If a DeepL MCP server is configured in
.mcp.json, the Translator Agent uses its output as a starting point and refines for brand voice, cultural adaptation, and SEO. Before recommending a DeepL MCP package, verify it exists and is maintained on npm (npm view <package> version). When unavailable, the Translator Agent handles all translation natively -- this is the default and works fine.
Relative Effort
Literal is the fastest level; adapted adds cultural-adaptation passes; transcreated is the most thorough and may restructure content. Actual time varies with content length, model speed, and MCP availability — do not promise specific durations.
Limitations
- Source content must be ContentForge output (or at minimum, well-structured markdown with citations)
- RTL languages (Arabic) require downstream layout adjustments in CMS/publishing tool
- Transcreation may change content structure significantly -- review recommended
- Regional variants (es-latam vs es-es) affect vocabulary but not pipeline structure
- DeepL free tier has character limits -- monitor usage for high-volume batches
Troubleshooting
"Brand profile not found"
Error: Brand profile "{brand}" not found at
~/.claude-marketing/{brand-slug}/Brand-Guidelines/{BrandName}-brand-profile.json
Action: Translation requires a brand profile for voice mapping.
Run /contentforge:brand-setup "{brand}" first, then retry.
"Source quality score below threshold"
Cause: Source content scored < 7.0 in the original pipeline.
Solution: Re-run /contentforge:create-content or /contentforge:content-refresh on the source first.
"Brand voice mapping not found for [language]"
Cause: Target language not configured in config/multilingual-patterns.json.
Solution: Check supported languages list. If the language is supported but mapping is missing, update the config.
"Citation count mismatch after translation"
Cause: A citation was accidentally merged or split during translation.
Solution: Translator Agent will auto-retry the affected section. If persistent, check for unusual citation formats in the source.
"Meta title exceeds character limit in target language"
Cause: Target language is more verbose than English (common for German, Spanish).
Solution: Translator Agent auto-shortens while preserving primary keyword. Review the shortened version.
Related Skills
Agents: Translator (11-translator), Humanizer (06.5-humanizer); pseudocode reference: utilities/translation-manager.md (prose doc, not a script)
Quality Guarantee: Brand voice >= 8/10, zero citation errors, SEO keywords adapted for target market
