# Translate Blog Post > Translate one English blog post into multiple target languages via parallel sub-agents, preserving frontmatter conventions, hero image, and brand voice. Use when the user shares a published English post URL or markdown path and says 'translate it', 'add other languages', 'publish in DE/ES/RU/UK', 'translate to 5 languages', or asks for localized versions of a specific post. - Skill: `razbakov/translate-blog-post` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add razbakov/translate-blog-post` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/razbakov/translate-blog-post/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Docs & Writing - Author: razbakov (https://skillmd.com/u/razbakov) - Updated: 2026-09-10 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/razbakov/translate-blog-post --- # Translate Blog Post ## When to use Trigger this skill when: - The user points at a single English blog post (URL, markdown filepath, or slug) and asks to translate it. - They say "translate to 5 languages", "add German/Spanish/Russian/Ukrainian", "publish in other languages", "make multilingual versions". - They want translations as a follow-up to publishing the original. Do NOT use this for translating arbitrary text snippets, UI strings, or untouched non-blog content. This is specifically for blog posts that follow the repo's blog conventions. ## Inputs the skill needs Confirm or read from the project's CLAUDE.md / repo conventions: | Input | Where it usually lives | |---|---| | Source post path | User-provided URL or filepath | | Target languages | User request, or default set in repo's CLAUDE.md (e.g. `de, es, ru, uk`) | | Filename convention | An existing 5-lang post in the same repo | | Frontmatter shape | An existing translation in the same repo | | Per-language overrides | Repo's CLAUDE.md (e.g. RU/UK Telegram channel differs from EN) | | Hero image policy | Repo's CLAUDE.md (usually shared across translations — same `image:` path) | Read one existing 5-language post in the same repo before dispatching agents. Filename + frontmatter conventions are always per-repo and never inferred from training data. ## Workflow ### 1. Read the source Read the full English markdown — frontmatter and body. Note: - Title, description, hero image path - Category and tags (tags are usually slugs; do NOT translate them) - Telegram / messaging links - Voice register (formal? conversational? second person? umlaut on the author's name?) ### 2. Dispatch one sub-agent per target language (parallel) For each target language, dispatch one sub-agent (in Claude Code: the `Agent` tool with `subagent_type: general-purpose` and `run_in_background: true`). Each prompt must include: - The exact filepath to write (matching repo convention) - The full source markdown (so the agent translates from the canonical version, not a paraphrase) - The frontmatter template with that language's overrides (`language: `, telegram channel if it differs, etc.) - Translation rules (see below) - Explicit instruction: **NO git commits** All agent dispatches go in a single message (parallel). One agent per language, not one per paragraph. ### 3. Translation rules to include in every agent prompt Tailor per language but always cover: - **Voice & register** — match the source. First-person if source is. Conversational if source is. Don't make it more formal than the English. - **Author's name** — preserve umlauts and accents (e.g. "Alösha" stays "Alösha"; in Cyrillic-script languages use the native form like "Алёша" / "Альоша"). - **Reserved nouns** — Newton, Einstein, brand names, the Matrix → keep as proper nouns (translate to local scripts only when conventional, e.g. Cyrillic). - **Headings** — translate H2/H3 too. Don't leave English headings. - **Cultural references** — use the localized version where it exists (e.g. "the spoon doesn't exist" → "ложки не существует" in RU, "la cuchara no existe" in ES). - **Tags** — keep as English slugs (they're URL paths, not display text). - **Form of address** — informal ("ты" / "tú" / "du") unless the source repo's voice guide says otherwise. - **Native vocabulary** — for Ukrainian especially: write proper Ukrainian, not Russian-sounding Ukrainian. Same caution applies to any closely-related language pair. ### 4. Verify, commit, deploy When all language agents report back: - Confirm each file exists with correct frontmatter (`language:`, hero image path, title in the target language, etc.). - Stage all translation files and commit in one commit. Push. - Wait for the deploy. - Verify each language URL returns 200 (the canonical i18n URL is usually `//blog/-` — check an existing 5-lang post to confirm the pattern). - Verify the localized title shows in the rendered HTML (curl + grep ``). Report back with the 5 URLs grouped by language. ## Common gotchas - **i18n routing prefix.** Most Nuxt/Next sites with i18n route non-default-locale pages under `/<locale>/...`. Direct URLs without the prefix may also work (because the file is prerendered) but the canonical URL is the prefixed one — use that for sharing. - **Translation state inheritance.** If the source post has `hidden: true` or `draft: true`, translations should usually inherit that. Confirm with the user before publishing translations of an unpublished essay. - **Hero image is usually shared, not duplicated.** The same `/images/blog/<slug>/hero.png` works for all languages by default. Generate per-language images only when the hero embeds text or a culturally-specific symbol that wouldn't read in the target language. - **Tags are slugs, not display text.** Translating tags breaks tag-based filtering and routing. Always keep the English slug. - **Per-language messaging channels.** Some repos route RU + UK posts to a different Telegram/social channel than EN/DE/ES. Check the repo's CLAUDE.md for the mapping; don't hardcode. - **Don't translate the date.** Date stays in ISO format. - **Don't have agents do git work in parallel.** Same rule as essay-cluster-from-transcript — orchestrator commits, agents only write files. ## Optional: review pass After translation, the user may want a native-speaker review pass. Note in the final report which languages would benefit (typically RU/UK if the user is more confident in those, ES if not). Don't auto-trigger reviews — leave that as a follow-up.