| name | obsidian-localize-update |
| description | Sync recent English source changes into an existing obsidian-help locale — creating stubs for new pages, translating untranslated stubs, and retranslating manually flagged files. Use this skill whenever the user wants to update, sync, or refresh an existing locale translation in obsidian-help, catch up a locale with EN changes, or re-translate specific pages. |
Sync recent English source changes into an existing locale.
The working directory is the obsidian-help repo root. If the user hasn't specified a locale code (e.g. fr, de), ask for it before proceeding.
Context
The en/ directory is source of truth. Translated files have no special frontmatter marker. Stubs (created by sync-locale for new EN pages) have localized: false — this is the only use of the localized field. To force a re-translation, add needs-retranslation: true to a file's frontmatter manually.
Pipeline
Start each step with --dry-run so the user can review before committing.
Step 1 — Sync structure from EN
Picks up new EN files (creates stubs), removes deleted pages, and cleans up empty legacy folders. Does NOT touch already-translated content.
npx tsx scripts/sync-locale.ts <locale> --dry-run
npx tsx scripts/sync-locale.ts <locale>
Step 2 — Translate stubs + flagged files
For stubs (localized: false): full translation from scratch.
For manually flagged files (needs-retranslation: true): full re-translation.
npx tsx scripts/translate-locale.ts <locale> --dry-run
npx tsx scripts/translate-locale.ts <locale>
After translation, localized and needs-retranslation are removed from frontmatter.
Step 3 — Validate
npx tsx scripts/check-links.ts <locale>
npx tsx scripts/check-terms.ts <locale>
npx tsx scripts/check-terms.ts <locale> --fix
Step 4 — Rebuild publish.js
en/publish.js is the source of truth. Each locale's publish.js = switcher + its own publish.strings.js. Rebuild after any change to en/publish.js or a locale's strings file.
npx tsx scripts/build-publish-js.ts [locale ...]
Step 5 — Publish
ob publish --path <locale> --all --yes
Diff-based updates (working from a base commit)
When the user provides a base commit, inspect the diff first before deciding what action to take:
git show <commit> --stat
git show <commit>
Categorize each changed EN file by the nature of its changes, then act accordingly:
| Change type | Action |
|---|
| Wikilink/anchor fix only (target or anchor changed, display text unchanged) | Apply the same link fix surgically to each locale file — do NOT retranslate |
| Display text of a wikilink changed (e.g. "notes" → "data") | Apply surgically: update both anchor and display text using the locale's headings.txt for the correct translation |
| EN page renamed (wikilinks now point to a different file) | Update wikilinks in locale files to point to the locale equivalent of the new EN filename |
| Prose/content changed | Flag affected locale files with needs-retranslation: true, then run translate-locale |
| New page added | sync-locale creates a stub; translate-locale translates it |
| Page deleted | sync-locale removes the locale file |
Never use needs-retranslation: true for wikilink-only changes. Re-translating an entire file to fix a link destroys existing translation work.
When applying surgical link fixes: find the locale equivalent file by matching the permalink field, then apply the exact diff pattern to that file.
Common scenarios
A new EN page was added → sync-locale creates a stub, translate-locale translates it.
An EN page was deleted → sync-locale deletes the locale file.
A specific page needs re-translation → add needs-retranslation: true to its frontmatter, then run translate-locale.
EN wikilinks/anchors corrected → inspect each change, apply surgically to locale files. Check if the old pattern actually appears in locale files before assuming it does.
EN nav order changed → run sync-nav-order.ts for affected locales.
EN publish.js changed → run build-publish-js.ts to rebuild all locale publish.js files.
Locale UI strings need updating → edit <locale>/publish.strings.js, then rebuild with build-publish-js.ts.
Key flags
| Command | Flag | Effect |
|---|
sync-locale | --dry-run | Preview without writing |
translate-locale | --dry-run | Preview without calling LLM |
translate-locale | --limit N | Process N files at a time |
translate-locale | --file path | Retranslate a specific file |
translate-locale | --fix-links | Rewrite stale wikilink targets |
translate-locale | --translate-descriptions | Batch-translate description fields |
localize-nav-order | --dry-run | Preview path translations without applying |
build-publish-js | --dry-run | Preview without writing |
Notes
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY must be set, or scripts/llm-config.json must exist- Always run
check-links before publishing
- If EN files were renamed, update
filenames.txt and re-run sync-locale to move locale files to their new paths
publish.js is excluded from sync-locale — it is generated by build-publish-js.ts- Active locales are defined in
scripts/locales.json — this is the single source of truth. Do not edit en/publish.js or publish-all.ts directly.
