name: video-translator
description: Dub a video into another language and generate subtitles using the default Together + Cartesia stack. Trigger when the user wants to translate / dub / voice-over a video file, or generate subtitles for it. Handles .mp4 / .mkv / .webm. Installs as the violin CLI (and violin-api for the FastAPI server) via uv tool install. For alternative models (OpenAI / ElevenLabs) or custom configs, point the user to the repo: https://github.com/shang-zhu/violin.
allowed-tools: Bash, Read
Violin — operating skill
Always uses the default config (Together for translation, cartesia/sonic-3 for TTS). If the user asks for OpenAI, ElevenLabs, or custom configs, stop and point them to the Violin repo — those flows aren't supported through the global CLI.
Pre-flight
Run these silently first. Abort if any fails:
command -v violin
test -f "<input>"
printenv TOGETHER_API_KEY
If violin is missing: tell the user to uv tool install violin, then violin --install-skill to refresh this skill file. Do not auto-install.
If TOGETHER_API_KEY is missing:
- Inside the Violin repo → populate
.env (auto-loaded)
- Elsewhere →
export TOGETHER_API_KEY=... in ~/.zshrc / ~/.bashrc, then source it
Decisions
- CLI vs API: single run-and-wait file → CLI (
violin). Multi-job / HTTP / web UI → API server (violin-api); print the command, don't auto-start it.
- Style (
--style): default standard. Kids content → kids, formal/lecture → academic, casual → casual, dramatic → storyteller, news → news. Run violin --style list if unsure.
- Voiceover: keep default (mix dubbed audio over a quiet original). Use
--no-voiceover only when the user explicitly says "replace audio entirely".
Run
violin <input> <output> --language <Lang> [flags]
Flags
| Flag | Default | When to set |
|---|
--language / -l | required | Target language (e.g. Chinese, Spanish, Japanese). |
--voice / -v | auto (native voice picked by preferences.voice_gender) | Only when the user names a specific voice from the catalog (e.g. "warm female narrator"). Otherwise omit and let the default kick in. |
--source-language | auto-detect | Only if Whisper mis-detects the source language. |
--style / -s | standard | See Decisions above. |
--no-subtitles | off | User says "no SRT" / "video only". |
--no-voiceover | off | User says "replace original audio entirely". |
--config / -c | config/default.yaml | Don't use through this skill — repo-only flow. |
--timings-out | off | Only when the user wants a per-step timing JSON for debugging / benchmarking. |
Language coverage
33 target languages total. 16 ship with handpicked native-speaker voices: Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Turkish, German, Korean, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Swedish. The other 17 fall back to the English voice catalog (multilingual under Cartesia Sonic 3) — quality is decent but the voice isn't a native speaker. Mention this caveat only if the user is translating to a fallback language and asks about voice quality.
Report back
- Output video path + SRT path (printed by the run).
- Total cost (printed at end — surface, don't hide).
- If voiceover was on, mention the
_original.m4a sidecar.
Don'ts
- Don't run on multi-GB videos without first quoting the rough cost (audio length × per-provider rates in
pipeline/pricing.py).
- Don't fabricate a "subtitles-only" mode — the CLI requires the full pipeline. If the user only wants SRT, run the full pipeline and hand them just the
.srt, warning them of the cost first.
- Don't try to switch to OpenAI or ElevenLabs from this skill. Point the user to the repo +
--config config/other_api.yaml (or their own override).
- Don't paraphrase the README. For supported languages (33), voice catalog, and full flag docs, point them at
README.md or violin --help.
