translate-minecraft-modpack

name	translate-minecraft-modpack
description	This skill docs how to fully translate a Minecraft modpack. Must use this skill if user requires you to translate a modpack from one language to another language.

Translate Minecraft Modpack

Pack Source

If user provided a modpack folder under packs/<modpack-slug>/<version> folder like packs/all-the-mods-10/6.6, go to the folder stucture part. Or if the path doesn't follow this rule, you should ask user whether to move the provided folder to packs folder and move it on behalf of the user if permitted.

• CurseForge Download for downloading a modpack from a CurseForge URL (URL under www.curseforge.com domain)

Folder Structure

Following structure shows folders that need to be translated. DON'T read other files especially manifest.json, modlist.html or mods/, they will be huge and irrelevant to translations, hardcoded text inside .jar mod files do not need be translated.

packs
└── all-the-mods-10
    └── 6.6
        └── overrides
            ├── config
            │   └── ftbquests
            └── kubejs

If required, create the out/<modpack-slug>/<version>/<lang-code> (e.g. out/all-the-mods-10/6.6/zh_cn) folder under root folder (same level as packs folder) for storing all translation outputs. The out folder structured like:

out
└── all-the-mods-10
    └── 6.6
        └── zh_cn
            ├── files.json
            ├── terms.json
            └── trans
                ├── config
                │   └── ftbquests
                └── kubejs

Note we don't need a overrides layer in the out.

Module

We split translation guidelines by modules. ftbquests and kubejs modules are supported now. Read the specific modules' documentations if corresponding folder exists before getting into translation job.

• ftbquests for config/ftbquests folder translation
• kubejs for kubejs folder translation

Steps

It would be better if you can do heavy steps in a single dedicated sub-agent. When spawning sub-agent, always ask sub-agent to load translate-minecraft-modpack skill.

Do translatation in order:

Scan

Scan files in only mentioned folder, generate a files.json and a terms.json.

files.json including all file need be changed in a single array (if a file only contains translation key like ftbquests.chapter_groups_123456.title but not real text phrase to translate, we don't include that file). Example:

[
  "config/ftbquests/quests/chapter_groups.snbt",
]

terms.json containing all generic terms (usually item name) in these files. Do not translate terms in this step, keep all values as empty strings. Keep this file small, don't put entire sentences in this file. Example:

{
  "Some Generic Term": ""
}

Translate Terms

Create a sub-agent and ask it to load packtrans-glossary-cli skill to translate the terms in terms.json. The sub-agent should fill in the empty string values with the actual translations.

Translate

When translating, create a copy of the source file and save it in the corresponding location under the out folder.

For example, if you are translating language file like kubejs/assets/kubejs/lang/en_us.json, you should save the translation to out/<modpack-slug>/<version>/<lang-code>/trans/kubejs/assets/kubejs/lang/<lang-code>.json, this applied to quest lang snbt file (like config/ftbquests/quests/lang/en_us.snbt) as well. For non-lang .snbt file, .js and other scripts files, you should save it in the same path but with original file name. Only modify the translated strings; keep file names, internal keys, structure, and non-text data exactly as in the original.

Large File Processing

If a file has more than 1000 lines, split it into multiple chunks with no more than 1000 lines each. Each chunk should be processed in a dedicated sub-agent (always ask sub-agent to load translate-minecraft-modpack skill). Use different splitting strategies depending on file type:

1. JSON and SNBT files: Split at object/array boundaries so every chunk remains valid JSON or SNBT. Keep the outermost brackets ({} or []) in every chunk so each chunk is parseable on its own — do not break in the middle of a key-value pair or nested structure.
2. Markdown and plain text files: Do not split in the middle of a section or paragraph. Keep context as complete as possible — split at section headings or natural breaks only.

After all chunks are translated, merge them back into a single file and validate the complete file using the Verify step.

Rules MUST follow when translating

• NEVER translate modpack name into other language unless the source language of name is not English.
• Preserve Minecraft formatting codes such as §b, §r, \u0026a, etc.
• Preserve string placeholders like %s, %d, %1$s.
• Preserve mod name as-is, like Applied Energistics, Botania, Mekanism, Immersive Engineering.
• Always read all terms from terms.json, query term if you are not usre and doesn't exist in terms.json with packtrans-glossary-cli.

Verify

For each JSON and SNBT translated file, Run syntax_check.py on all translated files to check syntax errors first, then run key_check.py to ensure no keys were accidentally added or removed during translation.

# Check specific files
python3 syntax_check.py file1.snbt file2.json

# Recursively scan a directory
python3 syntax_check.py -r config/ftbquests/quests
python3 syntax_check.py -r config/kubejs/assets

# Diff keys between source and translated files
python3 key_check.py packs/.../en_us.snbt out/.../zh_cn/trans/.../zh_cn.snbt
python3 key_check.py -r packs/.../kubejs out/.../zh_cn/trans/kubejs

Zip

Pack the files and folders under out/<modpack-slug>/<version>/<lang-code>/trans into a zip file named <modpack-slug>-<version>-<lang-code>.zip under out/<modpack-slug>/<version>/<lang-code>, config folder should be at the top layer, DO NOT add an extra top folder. Try these command: zip -r <out> <in>, 7z a <out> -tzip <in>, python/python3 -m zipfile -c <out> <in> to pack, noting that <out> and <in> may be different in these command. If none of them works, tell user to install one of them and how to zip the out folder manually.