blog-translate — Claude Code skill: SEO blog translation

---
name: blog-translate
description: >
  Translate existing blog posts into one or more target languages with
  SEO-optimized localization. Produces native-quality translations that
  preserve markdown structure, frontmatter, schema JSON-LD, image and chart
  embeds, and evidence-backed explanations. Localizes keywords, meta tags, numbers,
  dates, currencies, and quote styles per locale. Flags machine-translation
  artifacts for review. Run BEFORE blog-localize: this handles language
  conversion; localize handles cultural adaptation after translation
  completes.
  Use when user says "translate blog", "blog translate", "uebersetzen",
  "traduire", "traducir", "translate post", "blog auf Deutsch", "blog en
  espanol".
user-invocable: true
argument-hint: "<file> --to <comma-separated-codes>"
license: MIT
compatibility: Standalone within claude-blog. Invoked by blog-multilingual.
metadata:
  author: AgriciDaniel
  version: "2.3.1"
  category: blog
---

# Blog Translate, SEO-Optimized Blog Translation

Bundled paths below use host Markdown substitution of `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}`;
it is not an exported shell variable. Resolve them before execution, quote
paths, and refuse nonabsolute overrides. Pass `blog_reference_root` resolved
from `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../blog/references`, `blog_template_root` from
`${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../blog/templates`, and needed sibling roots to agents.
Read the main reference `orchestration-details.md` before loading project
context; pass only its helper-fenced output to downstream agents.

Translates an existing blog post into one or more target languages. Unlike
generic translation, this skill produces SEO-optimized, publication-ready
content with localized keywords, meta tags, and culturally correct
formatting.

> Adapted from `claude-blog-multilingual` by Chris Mueller (Pro Hub Challenge,
> March 2026). Original repository: no longer available as of 2026-10-12

## Key References

Load on demand:

- `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/translation-rules.md`, format preservation, number/date/currency
  formats per locale, quote handling, quality criteria.
- `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/cultural-adaptation.md`, cultural profiles per locale (DACH,
  Francophone, Hispanic, Japanese, custom). This file is shared with
  `blog-localize` (do not duplicate).

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Input Parsing

1. Read the source file (markdown, MDX, or HTML) only after resolving it
   against the project root/current working directory. Reject symlinked paths,
   traversal outside the root, files over 10 MB, and binary files.
2. Auto-detect source language. Order of preference:
   - Frontmatter `lang` field.
   - HTML `lang` attribute.
   - Content analysis (script, common stop words).
3. Parse target languages from `--to` as comma-separated Google-compatible
   hreflang tags (`de`, `fr`, `es-MX`, `ja`, `pt-BR`, `zh-Hant`).
   If `--to` is missing, ask the user once: "Which languages should I
   translate to? Provide hreflang tags such as de, fr, es-MX, ja, pt-BR."
4. Normalize every code with the shared multilingual locale rules used by
   `blog-multilingual`, `blog-localize`, and `blog-locale-audit`: ISO 639-1
   language in lowercase, optional ISO 15924 script in title case, optional
   ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 region in uppercase. Reject invalid codes with a
   suggestion (`jp` becomes "Did you mean `ja` for Japanese?"). Require a
   region or explicit neutral mode for ambiguous language-only targets such as
   `es`, `pt`, and `zh`. Google accepts a language code by itself as hreflang
   (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions,
   read 2026-10-12), but never a region by itself; this stricter rule exists
   for translation quality, not because Google requires a region. If a target
   equals the normalized source language, skip it with a notice.

### Phase 2: Content Analysis

Extract the translatable surface:

- Frontmatter: `title`, `description`, `tags`, `author` (only when
  translatable, e.g. role labels, not personal names).
- All headings (H1, H2, H3).
- Body paragraphs.
- Image `alt` text and `<figcaption>` content.
- Chart `<text>` and `<tspan>` content; preserve every SVG attribute (`x`,
  `y`, `font-size`, `fill`, `transform`).
- FAQ questions and answers.
- Evidence-backed explanation text.
- Key Takeaways or summary box.
- CTA text.
- Internal-link zone anchor text.

Preserve unchanged:

- Markdown and HTML structure, tags, attributes.
- Image URLs, link URLs, frontmatter keys.
- Executable code fences and inline code. Translate comments only outside
  executable code, or when the user explicitly asks for localized tutorial
  comments.
- Internal-link zone markers (`[INTERNAL-LINK: ...]`).
- Source organization names in citations (Gartner, McKinsey, etc.).
- Person names.
- Schema JSON-LD blocks (translate user-facing content strings only; never
  translate Person, Organization, or Brand names, URLs, IDs, `@id`, or
  `sameAs`).

Identify the primary and secondary keywords for Phase 3.

### Phase 3: Keyword Localization

For each target language:

1. Decide whether the source keyword is the established term in the target
   market. If yes (e.g., "Content Marketing" stays in German), keep it.
2. If a local equivalent has real search behavior, swap to it.
3. Apply the same logic to secondary keywords.
4. Record the mapping. The translator agent uses it to update title, meta
   description, and H2 headings consistently.

### Phase 4: Translation

Spawn the `blog-translator` agent (via Task) for each target language with:

- The source content.
- The keyword localization map from Phase 3.
- The target language code.
- Pointer to `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/translation-rules.md`.
- Instruction to limit this phase to language, register, natural topical
  coverage, and formatting. Reserve brand, legal, statistic, and cultural
  substitutions for `blog-localize`.

Run agents in parallel when translating into multiple languages.

When `blog-multilingual` invokes this skill, its invocation starts with
`Mode: orchestrated`; see Phase 5 (output root) and Phase 7 (contract).

The agent returns the fully translated post in the same format as the input.

### Phase 5: Post-Processing

For each translated version:

1. Add or update locale frontmatter:
   ```yaml
   lang: "de"
   translatedFrom: "en"
   translatedDate: "YYYY-MM-DD"
   slug: "wie-man-ki-slop-vermeidet"
   ```
2. Verify structural integrity:
   - Same number of H2 and H3 sections as the original.
   - All images present with translated alt text.
   - All SVG charts present with translated text labels (length-adjusted:
     DE +30%, FR +15%, JA -20%, others see `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/translation-rules.md`).
   - FAQ count matches.
   - Evidence-backed explanations from the source remain intact where present.
3. Save translated files. Exactly one output root applies per run:
   - Standalone (`/blog translate`): `translations/{lang}/{localized-slug}.{ext}`
     under the current working directory.
   - Orchestrated (the invocation starts with `Mode: orchestrated`):
     `multilingual/{lang}/{localized-slug}.{ext}`, the directory the
     orchestrator created. Never also write under `translations/`.

   Before writing, slugify `{localized-slug}` to lowercase ASCII with only
   `a-z`, `0-9`, and hyphens, rejecting empty or reserved names. Create the
   language directory from the normalized hreflang code only. Resolve the
   final path and require it to stay inside the intended output root; reject
   symlinked output paths.

### Phase 6: Translation-Quality Guardrails

Scan the output for machine-translation artifacts before reporting done:

- Literal idioms (English idioms transliterated, not adapted).
- Unnatural word order (SOV translated as SVO into a non-SVO language, or
  the reverse).
- Mixed-language sentences (other than established loanwords).
- Number, date, or currency strings still in source format.
- Frontmatter strings still in the source language.

Flag every issue inline (file path, line number, fix suggestion). The
translator agent should re-pass any flagged passage before delivery.

### Phase 7: Final Artifact Delivery Contract

Translation can change claims, links, metadata, schema, and rendered layout.

**Orchestrated mode.**
When invoked by blog-multilingual (orchestrated mode), skip the delivery contract; blog-multilingual runs it once per locale on the final text.
Orchestrated mode is signaled by the literal line `Mode: orchestrated` at the top of the invocation.
In that mode report each locale's status as `pending (contract deferred to
blog-multilingual)` and never call a translation complete or publication-ready.

**Standalone runs.** Before calling any translated file complete or
publication-ready, run the canonical sequence against each final locale
independently (this skill is the last text change for the locale):

1. Resolve `BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR="${CLAUDE_BLOG_SCRIPTS_DIR:-${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts}"`
   and reject it unless absolute. Never resolve a helper from the current
   project's `scripts/` directory.
2. Visuals: create a per-locale delivery staging directory under the intended
   language output and copy the final locale file there under its lowercase
   localized slug. Resolve every draft marker (`[INTERNAL-LINK`, `[IMAGE`,
   `[CHART`): none may remain. Reuse the source hero (copy it as
   `hero.<ext>`); a new paid hero needs the `blog-image` cost and consent gate.
3. Render: `python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_render.py" --md <locale-file> --out-dir <locale-delivery-dir>`.
4. Init nonce: `python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_preflight.py" --draft <locale-delivery-dir> --init-review-nonce`.
5. Review: pass only the printed nonce to a fresh `blog-reviewer` invocation
   against the rendered locale HTML. The reviewer returns text; save it
   verbatim to `<locale-delivery-dir>/review.md`.
6. Gates: `python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_preflight.py" --draft <locale-delivery-dir> --strict --slug <localized-slug>`.
7. Loop: after ANY change to the file, hero, HTML, or PDF, re-render, re-init
   the nonce, and re-review. Maximum 3 iterations.

Require 90+/100, zero P0, the matching nonce, final `BLOCKING: false`, and all
other gates. A failed locale remains `draft-blocked`; report its diagnostic and
do not describe it as complete.

### Phase 8: Delivery

```
## Translation complete: [Original title]

### Source
- Language: [source]
- File: [source path]

### Translations
| Language | File | Keywords adapted | Status |
|----------|------|------------------|--------|
| de | translations/de/{slug}.md | [N] | passed / draft-blocked / pending (orchestrated) |
| fr | translations/fr/{slug}.md | [N] | passed / draft-blocked / pending (orchestrated) |

### Quality checks
- Structural integrity: pass / fail per language
- Meta tags localized: pass / fail per language
- Numbers, dates, currencies formatted per locale: pass / fail
- Keywords localized: [N] keywords adapted
- Machine-translation artifacts flagged: [N] (see notes above)
- Delivery contract: score, P0 status, nonce verification, and preflight report per locale (standalone only; deferred to blog-multilingual in orchestrated mode)

### Next steps
- Run `/blog localize <file> --locale <code>` for cultural deep-adaptation.
- Run `/blog locale-audit translations/` to verify completeness.
- Use `/blog multilingual` to combine write, translate, localize, hreflang
  in one command.
```

## Error Handling

| Scenario | Action |
|----------|--------|
| Unsupported language code | Suggest the correct Google-compatible hreflang code |
| Source equals a target | Skip with "Source is already in [lang]" |
| File not found | Report error with suggested path |
| Translator agent timeout | Retry once, then report partial results |
| Binary or non-text file | Report error, suggest correct file |

## Cross-References

- Next step (cultural depth): `/blog localize <file> --locale <code>`
- QA sweep across all language versions: `/blog locale-audit <directory>`
- One-command pipeline: `/blog multilingual <topic> --languages <codes>`