Android Strings Localized Translate

Android Strings Localized Translate

Use this skill when the repo contains Android resource files under app/src/main/res/values* and the user wants to complete the 9 non-English strings_localized.xml translations from the base English file.

This skill is specific to:

• base file: app/src/main/res/values/strings_localized.xml
• locale files:
  • app/src/main/res/values-de-rDE/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-fr/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-ja/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-ko/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-ms/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-th/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-vi/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-zh-rCN/strings_localized.xml
  • app/src/main/res/values-zh-rTW/strings_localized.xml

Requirements

• Only translate missing keys.
• Never overwrite an existing translated value.
• Rebuild each locale file using the base file as the exact line template.
• After completion, all 10 files must have:
  • identical key order
  • identical comment placement
  • identical blank-line placement
  • identical total line count
• Preserve placeholders and escapes exactly:
  • %s, %d, %1$s
  • \n
  • \", '
  • XML escapes such as "

Workflow

1. Inspect missing keys

Run:

python3 "$CODEX_HOME/skills/android-strings-localized-translate/scripts/sync_strings_localized.py" \
  --repo-root /absolute/path/to/repo \
  --report

This prints JSON containing missing keys, extra keys, and line-count facts per locale.

2. Translate only missing keys

Create a JSON file containing only the missing translations. Schema:

{
  "values-ja": {
    "some_key": "translated text"
  },
  "values-zh-rTW": {
    "some_other_key": "translated text"
  }
}

Rules for translation:

• Translate from the base English text in values/strings_localized.xml.
• Keep tone appropriate for kiosk UI text: short, direct, operational.
• Preserve placeholders and escaping exactly.
• If the base line contains English-only product or brand wording, keep proper nouns unchanged unless the locale already localizes that concept elsewhere.
• Output only the XML inner text value, not full <string> lines.

3. Rebuild locale files

Run:

python3 "$CODEX_HOME/skills/android-strings-localized-translate/scripts/sync_strings_localized.py" \
  --repo-root /absolute/path/to/repo \
  --translations-file /absolute/path/to/translations.json \
  --write

This keeps existing translations, fills only missing keys, and rewrites all 9 locale files so their structure matches the base file exactly.

4. Validate

Run:

python3 "$CODEX_HOME/skills/android-strings-localized-translate/scripts/validate_strings_localized.py" \
  --repo-root /absolute/path/to/repo

Validation must pass before the task is considered complete:

python3 "$CODEX_HOME/skills/android-strings-localized-translate/scripts/validate_strings_localized.py" \
  --repo-root /absolute/path/to/repo

If you also want to audit pre-existing placeholder issues without rewriting existing translations, run:

python3 "$CODEX_HOME/skills/android-strings-localized-translate/scripts/validate_strings_localized.py" \
  --repo-root /absolute/path/to/repo \
  --check-placeholders

Guardrails

• Do not translate the base English file.
• Do not add or remove keys.
• Do not reorder keys independently from the base file.
• Do not preserve locale-specific comment formatting; the base file's layout is the source of truth.
• If a translation JSON omits some missing keys, stop with an error instead of writing partial output.
• For newly added translations, placeholder tokens must match the base exactly.
• Pre-existing placeholder mismatches should be reported, not silently changed, because this skill does not rewrite existing translated values.