update-translations

name	update-translations
description	Use when translating or updating AndBible UI strings — single language or all languages at once. Triggers: "translate strings", "update translations", "add [language] translations", "translate all languages", "update all translations", "käännä stringit", "päivitä kaikki käännökset", missing translations, incomplete locale coverage.

Update Translations

Translate missing UI strings for AndBible — Android XML, Vue.js YAML, and Play Store descriptions — with consistent terminology, correct structure, and full validation. Supports single language or all languages at once.

Sandbox

All commands in this pipeline work within the default sandbox. No dangerouslyDisableSandbox is needed. Every script reads/writes only within the repo directory (.), which the sandbox allows. Do NOT request sandbox bypass for any command in this workflow.

When to Use

• Adding or completing translations for a single language
• Bulk-translating all languages after new features land
• Fixing inconsistent terminology across a locale

Overview

Single Language

1. Extract terminology glossary (run extract_glossary.py)
2. Find missing strings (run find_missing.py)
3. Prepare agent chunks (run prepare_chunks.py)
4. Dispatch translation agents with glossary + chunks
5. Restructure Android XML (run restructure.py with chunk directory)
6. Restructure Vue.js YAML (run restructure_yaml.py)
7. Restructure Play Store YAML (run restructure_playstore.py)
8. Validate everything (run validate.py)
9. Compile Play Store descriptions (run play/compile_description.py)

All Languages

1. Scan all languages (run scan_languages.py --needs-work --tier 1,2)
2. For each language needing work, dispatch a sub-agent (model: sonnet)
   that runs the full single-language pipeline (steps 1-7 above)
3. Batch 5-8 sub-agents at a time in parallel
4. Final validation sweep

Language Codes

Scripts accept the canonical code (Android directory suffix). The lang_codes.py module handles Android ↔ Vue.js code mapping automatically.

Canonical	Android dir	Vue.js file	Language
iw	values-iw	he.yaml	Hebrew
pt-rBR	values-pt-rBR	pt-BR.yaml	Portuguese (Brazil)
zh-rCN	values-zh-rCN	zh-CN.yaml	Chinese (Simplified)
zh-rTW	values-zh-rTW	zh.yaml	Chinese (Traditional)

Most languages use the same code for both (e.g., de → values-de/ + de.yaml).

Android mirror targets

Some languages must write to more than one Android directory to stay synchronized with Transifex's lang_map + the Makefile's tx-pull step. Mirror targets are defined in lang_codes.py (ANDROID_MIRRORS) and restructure.py automatically writes to both when translating such a language.

Lang	Primary target	Mirror	Why
zh-rTW	values-zh-rTW/strings.xml	values-zh/strings.xml	Transifex zh_TW → values-zh/; Makefile then cp → values-zh-rTW/. Both must stay in sync so tx push/tx pull don't destroy new translations.

When adding new translations to a mirror-target language, also push to Transifex (tx push -t -l <transifex-code> -f -r andbible.and-bible-stringsxml), otherwise the next make tx-pull will overwrite the mirror with stale Transifex content.

Some languages may not yet have a Vue.js translation file. The restructure_yaml.py script creates new files automatically when needed.

File Locations

Side	Base (English)	Target
Android	app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml	app/src/main/res/values-{android_code}/strings.xml
Vue.js	app/bibleview-js/src/lang/default.yaml	app/bibleview-js/src/lang/{vuejs_code}.yaml
Play Store	play/playstore-description.yml	play/description-translations/{playstore_code}.yml

Play Store descriptions use Jinja2 templates with {{ variable }} placeholders (e.g. {{ title }}, {{ total_documents }}). These must be preserved verbatim in translations. After translating, run python3 play/compile_description.py to compile YAML → fastlane text files.

Scripts

All scripts are in the skill directory and take the language code as first argument. Always run from the repo root.

SKILL=.claude/skills/update-translations

# Step 1: Extract terminology glossary from existing translations
python3 $SKILL/extract_glossary.py LANG

# Step 2: Find missing strings
python3 $SKILL/find_missing.py LANG

# Step 3: Prepare agent-ready chunk files
python3 $SKILL/prepare_chunks.py LANG                    # default 130/chunk
python3 $SKILL/prepare_chunks.py LANG --chunk-size 100   # custom size

# Step 5: Restructure Android XML (merges + drops stale + fixes double-escapes)
python3 $SKILL/restructure.py LANG                                    # restructure only
python3 $SKILL/restructure.py LANG tmp/translate-chunks/                # merge from directory
python3 $SKILL/restructure.py LANG chunk1.xml chunk2.xml              # merge from files
python3 $SKILL/restructure.py LANG tmp/translate-chunks/ --keep-stale   # keep stale strings

# Step 6: Restructure Vue.js YAML (merges + drops stale + correct key order)
python3 $SKILL/restructure_yaml.py LANG                          # restructure only
python3 $SKILL/restructure_yaml.py LANG tmp/translate-results/new.yaml     # merge new + restructure

# Step 7: Restructure Play Store YAML (merges + preserves base key order + comments)
python3 $SKILL/restructure_playstore.py LANG                                    # restructure only
python3 $SKILL/restructure_playstore.py LANG tmp/translate-results/playstore.yml # merge new + restructure

# Step 8: Validate coverage, format specifiers, order, XML, Play Store lengths
python3 $SKILL/validate.py LANG

# Step 9: Compile Play Store descriptions (YAML → fastlane text files)
cd play && python3 compile_description.py &&  ..


python3 /scan_languages.py                            
python3 /scan_languages.py --needs-work               
python3 /scan_languages.py --tier 1,2                  
python3 /scan_languages.py --only de,fr,es            
python3 /scan_languages.py --exclude ar,ko,hi         
python3 /scan_languages.py --tier 1 --exclude ,iw   

Step 1: Extract Terminology Glossary

python3 $SKILL/extract_glossary.py LANG

Automatically extracts term mappings from existing translations by comparing short English strings with their translations. Outputs a markdown table ready to paste into agent prompts.

Also identify grammar patterns for the target language:

• Button/action labels (typically imperative)
• Setting titles (noun phrases)
• Descriptions/summaries (full sentences)
• Confirmation dialogs (question form)

Why this matters: Without a glossary, the same English term gets translated inconsistently. "Label" might become three different words. The glossary enforces consistency.

Step 2: Find Missing Strings

python3 $SKILL/find_missing.py LANG

Reports missing strings as name|||English value for both Android XML and Vue.js YAML. Also detects stale (extra) keys, empty values, and order mismatches.

If nothing is missing, skip to Step 7 (validate) to confirm.

Step 3: Prepare Agent Chunks

python3 $SKILL/prepare_chunks.py LANG

Splits missing strings into chunk files in tmp/translate-chunks/. Outputs a summary telling you how many agents to dispatch. Each chunk file contains name|||English value lines.

Step 4: Translate

For small batches (<50 strings): translate directly

For large batches (>50 strings): use parallel sub-agents

Dispatch one agent per chunk file. Always use model: "sonnet" for translation agents — translation is a straightforward task that doesn't need Opus, and Sonnet is significantly faster and cheaper for batch translation work.

Each sub-agent gets:

1. Its chunk file content (read from tmp/translate-chunks/)
2. The terminology glossary from Step 1
3. Grammar rules for the target language
4. Output format instructions

Sub-agent prompt template essentials:

• Output format: raw <string name="...">...</string> XML lines (Android) or YAML key-value pairs (Vue.js)
• Terminology glossary as a lookup table
• Grammar patterns with examples
• Format specifier preservation rules: %s, %1$s, %d must stay verbatim
• XML escaping rules: \', &, <, >, \"
• CRITICAL: Agents MUST use the Write tool to save results to files. Never use Bash heredocs or cat <<EOF for XML content — bash mangles <!-- via history expansion, and large heredocs cause parser timeouts.

After agents return: Each agent saves its Android output directly to tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_chunk_{N}.xml using the Write tool, and Vue.js output to tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_vuejs.yaml. The restructure scripts handle merging.

Sub-agent output instructions (include in every agent prompt):

Save your Android XML output using the Write tool to tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_chunk_{N}.xml. The file must contain one <string name="...">...</string> per line, no XML header, no <resources> wrapper. Do NOT use Bash heredocs or echo to write the file. Always use the Write tool.

Critical translation rules

1. Format specifiers (%s, %1$s, %2$d) — preserve exactly, same order
2. XML escaping — \' for apostrophes, & for &, \" inside quoted strings
3. YAML quoting — strings with %s or special chars need quoting
4. Placeholders in context — understand what each %s represents before translating the surrounding sentence
5. Short UI strings — check usage context in code for ambiguous words ("Copy", "Share", "Hidden")

Post-translation: verify agent output count

After all agents return, count the translated strings and compare against the expected count. If any are missing, identify which ones and translate them manually before proceeding. Agents occasionally drop strings silently.

To count results without sandbox prompts, use Grep tool (not Bash) to search for <string name= in tmp/translate-results/ directory, or use Glob to list the files. Avoid Bash brace expansion ({1,2,3}) — it triggers a sandbox confirmation prompt.

Step 5: Restructure Android XML

# Merge translations from a directory of agent output files:
python3 $SKILL/restructure.py LANG tmp/translate-results/

# Or from individual files:
python3 $SKILL/restructure.py LANG chunk1.xml chunk2.xml chunk3.xml

The script:

• Accepts a directory (globs *.xml) or multiple files
• Fixes double-escaped XML entities (& → &) automatically
• Drops stale strings (not in base) by default (use --keep-stale to preserve)
• Mirrors base file structure: same comments, grouping, blank lines, string order

After restructure: immediate validation

Do NOT proceed without checking the script output:

1. Comments: N — must be >0 (base has ~110 section comments). If 0, the script has a bug.
2. Strings: N — must equal total translation count.

CRITICAL: Never use Bash for writing XML content

The <!-- sequence contains ! which bash interprets as history expansion, silently corrupting it to <\!--. Large XML heredocs also cause parser timeouts. Always use the Write tool or Python scripts for XML files, never Bash heredocs/echo.

Step 6: Restructure Vue.js YAML

# Merge new translations and restructure:
python3 $SKILL/restructure_yaml.py LANG tmp/translate-results/vuejs_new.yaml

# Or just restructure existing translations:
python3 $SKILL/restructure_yaml.py LANG

The script:

• Reads base key order from default.yaml
• Merges existing + new translations (new overrides existing)
• Drops stale keys automatically
• Handles YAML yes key (boolean coercion) correctly
• Preserves proper quoting for strings with %s, colons, special characters

Step 7: Restructure Play Store YAML

# Merge new translations and restructure:
python3 $SKILL/restructure_playstore.py LANG tmp/translate-results/playstore.yml

# Or just restructure existing translations:
python3 $SKILL/restructure_playstore.py LANG

The script preserves the base file's key order and comments, drops stale keys, and handles YAML quoting.

Step 8: Validate

python3 $SKILL/validate.py LANG

Checks: coverage, format specifiers, string/key order, XML well-formedness, empty values, Play Store template variables and length limits (title ≤ 30, short_description ≤ 80).

Step 9: Compile Play Store Descriptions

cd play && python3 compile_description.py && cd ..

Compiles all Play Store YAML translations into fastlane/metadata/android/ text files. Run this after all languages are updated. Warns about title > 30, short_description > 80, and full_description > 4000 chars.

Additional validation (only when Vue.js strings changed)

cd app/bibleview-js && npm run test:ci && npm run lint

IMPORTANT: cd app/bibleview-js changes the working directory. Always return to the repo root afterward.

Spot-check

Review a sample from each thematic group (AI, bookmarks, settings, etc.) for terminology consistency.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Inconsistent terms (same English word → different translations)	Run extract_glossary.py first, use glossary in agent prompts
Broken format specifiers (%1$s changed to %s)	validate.py catches these
Double-escaped entities (&) from agent output	restructure.py fixes these automatically
XML via bash heredoc/echo causes parser timeout or <!-- corruption	Always use the Write tool for XML/YAML files, never Bash
Restructure drops all comments (0 in output)	Fix the script, don't fix the output manually
Agent silently drops strings	Count output lines and diff against expected count
Working directory stuck in app/bibleview-js	Always cd back to repo root after Vue.js commands
YAML yes key parsed as boolean True	restructure_yaml.py handles this automatically
Bash brace expansion {1,2,3} triggers sandbox prompt	Use Grep/Glob tools or ls/for f in dir/*.xml instead
Stale strings appended to output	restructure.py drops stale by default now
Cross-language contamination when translating multiple languages in one session	restructure.py now filters chunk files by language prefix. Always clean tmp/translate-results/ between languages, or rely on the {LANG}_ prefix filtering.
Multiline <string> tags in agent output silently dropped by restructure.py	Fixed: restructure.py now parses multiline entries via XML parsing with single-line regex fallback

Quick Reference — Single Language

SKILL=.claude/skills/update-translations

# Full workflow for language XX:
1. python3 $SKILL/extract_glossary.py XX → terminology glossary
2. python3 $SKILL/find_missing.py XX → see what's missing
3. python3 $SKILL/prepare_chunks.py XX → chunk files in tmp/translate-chunks/
4. Dispatch agents (1 per chunk) with glossary + chunk content
5. Save agent output to tmp/translate-results/*.xml, *.yaml, and *_playstore.yml
6. python3 $SKILL/restructure.py XX tmp/translate-results/
7. python3 $SKILL/restructure_yaml.py XX tmp/translate-results/vuejs.yaml
8. python3 $SKILL/restructure_playstore.py XX tmp/translate-results/XX_playstore.yml
9. python3 $SKILL/validate.py XX
10. cd play && python3 compile_description.py && cd ..

All Languages Workflow

For translating/updating all supported languages at once.

Language Quality Tiers

Languages are categorized by Claude Sonnet translation quality:

Tier	Quality	Count	Languages
1	Excellent	30	ar, bg, ca, cs, da, de, el, es, fi, fr, hi, hr, hu, it, iw, ja, ko, nl, pl, pt, pt-rBR, ro, ru, sv, th, tr, uk, vi, zh-rCN, zh-rTW
2	Good	18	af, b+sr+Latn, b+sr+RS, bn, eo, et, fil, in, lt, ms, nb, ne, sk, sl, sw, ta, te, ur
3	Fair	6	az, kk, ml, my, uz, yue

Default: Tier 1 only (30 languages). Use --tier 1,2 for tier 2 or --all-tiers for everything.

Step 0: Clean tmp directories

rm -rf tmp/translate-chunks/ tmp/translate-results/

Always clean before starting a new all-languages run. Leftover files from previous runs can cause cross-language contamination because all languages share the same tmp directories (files are language-prefixed, but stale files could confuse agents).

Step 1: Scan

SKILL=.claude/skills/update-translations
python3 $SKILL/scan_languages.py --needs-work

Reports a table showing each language's missing string count for Android and Vue.js.

Step 2: Dispatch Per-Language Agents

For each language that needs work, dispatch a sub-agent using model: "sonnet".

Batching: Dispatch 5-8 agents at a time in parallel. Wait for each batch to complete before dispatching the next. This prevents overloading the system.

Each sub-agent runs the full single-language pipeline independently:

1. Extract glossary
2. Find missing strings (if nothing missing, report "complete" and stop)
3. Prepare chunks
4. Translate the chunks directly (small batches) or dispatch sub-sub-agents (large batches)
5. Restructure Android XML
6. Restructure Vue.js YAML (if applicable)
7. Validate

Sub-agent prompt template:

You are translating AndBible UI strings to {LANGUAGE_NAME} ({LANG_CODE}).
You MUST ONLY translate to {LANGUAGE_NAME}. Do not translate to any other language.

IMPORTANT: All commands in this workflow run within the default sandbox.
Do NOT use dangerouslyDisableSandbox for any command.

SKILL=.claude/skills/update-translations

Follow these steps exactly. Run all commands from the repo root.

1. Extract glossary:
   python3 $SKILL/extract_glossary.py {LANG}

2. Find missing:
   python3 $SKILL/find_missing.py {LANG}
   If nothing missing, report "complete" and stop.

3. Prepare chunks:
   python3 $SKILL/prepare_chunks.py {LANG}

4. For each chunk file in tmp/translate-chunks/{LANG}_*.txt, translate the strings:
   - Read ONLY files prefixed with "{LANG}_" from tmp/translate-chunks/
   - Do NOT read or use files belonging to other languages
   - Use the glossary from step 1 for consistent terminology
   - Translate each string. Preserve format specifiers (%s, %1$s, %d) exactly.
   - Android: save as <string name="...">...</string> XML lines using the Write tool
     to tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_chunk_N.xml (one file per input chunk)
   - Vue.js: save as YAML key-value pairs using the Write tool
     to tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_vuejs.yaml
   - Play Store: save as YAML key-value pairs using the Write tool
     to tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_playstore.yml
     IMPORTANT: Preserve {{ variable }} placeholders exactly (e.g. {{ title }}, {{ total_documents }}).
     title must be ≤ 50 chars, short_description ≤ 80 chars.
   - NEVER use Bash heredocs for XML — always use the Write tool.

5. Restructure Android:
   python3 $SKILL/restructure.py {LANG} tmp/translate-results/
   (The script automatically filters for {LANG}_*.xml files only)

6. Restructure Vue.js (if Vue.js strings were translated):
   python3 $SKILL/restructure_yaml.py {LANG} tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_vuejs.yaml

7. Restructure Play Store (if Play Store strings were translated):
   python3 $SKILL/restructure_playstore.py {LANG} tmp/translate-results/{LANG}_playstore.yml

8. Validate:
   python3 $SKILL/validate.py {LANG}

Report the validation result.

Step 3: Final Validation

After all batches complete, run a sweep:

SKILL=.claude/skills/update-translations
# Validate all tier 1+2 languages
for lang in $(python3 $SKILL/scan_languages.py --tier 1,2 --json | python3 -c "import sys,json; [print(l['lang']) for l in json.load(sys.stdin)]"); do
  python3 $SKILL/validate.py $lang 2>&1 | tail -1
done

Step 4: Compile Play Store

After all languages are validated:

cd play && python3 compile_description.py && cd ..

Quick Reference — All Languages

SKILL=.claude/skills/update-translations

0. rm -rf tmp/translate-chunks/ tmp/translate-results/    → clean stale files
1. python3 $SKILL/scan_languages.py --needs-work  → see what needs work
2. For each language: dispatch sub-agent (model: sonnet) with template above
3. Batch 5-8 agents at a time, wait between batches
4. Final validation sweep