translate-changes

name	translate-changes
description	Detects changes to en.json in current branch and translates modified strings to other language files (de, es, fr, it, ru, uk). Only translates modifications, not missing keys.
allowed-tools	Read, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep

Translation Updates Skill

Automatically translates changes made to src/langs/json/en.json in the current branch to all other language files.

Important: Only Modified Keys

This skill ONLY translates keys that have been modified or added in the current branch. It does NOT translate pre-existing keys that are missing translations.

How it works

1. Detect changes: Uses git diff to find modified keys in en.json (both uncommitted and committed changes)
2. Extract modified keys: Parses the diff to identify new or changed English strings
3. Translate: Generates appropriate translations for each supported language
4. Update files: Applies translations to language-specific JSON files

Supported Languages

• German (de.json)
• Spanish (es.json)
• French (fr.json)
• Italian (it.json)
• Russian (ru.json)
• Ukrainian (uk.json)

All files are located in src/langs/json/

Usage

After modifying strings in en.json, simply ask:

translate the changes to en.json

Or invoke the skill directly:

/translate-changes

Workflow

Step 1: Detect modifications

The skill detects changes from two sources:

# Uncommitted changes (working directory + staged)
git diff HEAD -- src/langs/json/en.json

# Committed changes in current branch
git diff main...HEAD -- src/langs/json/en.json

This captures both uncommitted modifications and changes committed in the current branch compared to main.

Step 2: Parse changes

Look for lines starting with + in the diff that contain JSON keys:

• Lines like + "keyName": "Value" indicate additions or modifications
• Ignore lines that are just structural changes (commas, brackets)

Step 3: Extract key paths

For each modified line, determine:

• The full JSON path (e.g., addonDispatchDialog.signedOut)
• The new English value

Step 4: Translate

For each modified key:

1. Generate translations for all 6 languages
2. Maintain the same HTML structure (e.g., <a href="{href}">text</a>)
3. Preserve placeholders like {href}, {n}, etc.
4. Match the tone and formality of existing translations in that language

Step 5: Update files

For each language file:

1. Read the current content
2. Locate the key to update using the JSON path
3. Use Edit tool to update the specific key
4. Preserve JSON formatting and structure

Translation Guidelines

• Maintain HTML: If English has HTML tags, keep them in translations
• Preserve placeholders: Variables like {href}, {n}, etc. must stay unchanged
• Match formality: Use the same level of formality as existing translations
• ICU format: Respect plural rules (e.g., {n, plural, one {...} other {...}})
• Context aware: Consider the key path for context (e.g., button vs paragraph text)

Example Translations

English:

"signedOut": "You must <a href=\"{href}\">sign in</a> before dispatching this add-on."

Translations should maintain:

• The <a href="{href}"> structure
• The {href} placeholder
• Appropriate word order for each language

Output Format

After translating, show:

1. Summary of changes detected
2. List of keys modified
3. Confirmation of files updated
4. Verification command to check results

Verification

After updates, verify with:

for file in src/langs/json/{de,es,fr,it,ru,uk}.json; do
  echo "=== $file ==="
  jq -r '.path.to.modified.key // "MISSING"' "$file"
done

Notes

• JSON files use Unicode escape sequences (e.g., \u00e9 for é)
• The Edit tool will preserve this encoding automatically
• Always use Edit tool, not Bash sed/awk, to maintain JSON validity
• Files should remain valid JSON after updates