antigravity-skills-reference/docs_zh-CN/superpowers/specs/2026-03-27-chinese-docs-translation-design.md

Chinese Documentation Translation Design

Date: 2026-03-27 Status: Approved Author: Design generated through brainstorming process Type: Documentation infrastructure

Overview

Update docs_zh-CN/ to achieve full parity with English docs/ by translating ~50 missing files using a sequential glossary-building approach that ensures terminology consistency across all documentation.

Problem Statement

The Chinese documentation (docs_zh-CN/) is missing approximately 50+ files that exist in the English version (docs/), including:

• Critical user-facing guides (tool-specific skills, troubleshooting)
• Contributor documentation (quality standards, security guidelines)
• Maintainer documentation (update guides, release processes)
• Root-level documentation files

This gap prevents Chinese users from accessing complete documentation and creates an inconsistent experience between English and Chinese audiences.

Goals

1. Achieve documentation parity: Translate all 50+ missing files
2. Ensure terminology consistency: Build and maintain a glossary of technical terms
3. Maintain quality standards: Validate links, formatting, and content
4. Create maintainable process: Establish workflow for future translations

Architecture

Workflow Phases

1. Glossary Foundation - Translate high-priority user docs, extract consistent terminology
2. Sequential Translation - Process remaining files using established glossary
3. Validation - Link checking, markdown linting, terminology consistency verification
4. Integration - Commit structure, generate translation status report

File Processing Order

Files are processed in dependency order to ensure the most important documentation sets the terminology foundation:

Priority 1: Core User Docs (sets terminology foundation)
  → README.md, getting-started.md, usage.md, faq.md

Priority 2: Tool-Specific Guides (uses established terminology)
  → claude-code-skills.md, cursor-skills.md, gemini-cli-skills.md, codex-cli-skills.md

Priority 3: Advanced User Docs
  → bundles.md, workflows.md, skills-vs-mcp-tools.md, agent-overload-recovery.md

Priority 4: Contributor Guides
  → contributors/quality-bar.md, contributors/security-guardrails.md

Priority 5: Maintainer Docs
  → maintainers/skills-update-guide.md, maintainers/repo-growth-seo.md

Key Design Decisions

• Sequential processing: Files translated in dependency order (user-facing first)
• English preservation: Technical terms in English stay in English (e.g., "Claude Code", not "克劳德代码")
• Glossary evolution: Starts with ~20 core terms, grows to ~100+ terms through translation process
• Incremental validation: Each batch validated before proceeding to next

Components

1. Glossary Manager

Purpose: Central terminology database for consistent translations

Structure: JSON file at docs_zh-CN/.glossary.json

{
  "skills": {
    "translation": "技能",
    "context": "Core concept - AI assistant capabilities",
    "examples": ["use skills", "skill library"]
  },
  "bundles": {
    "translation": "捆绑包",
    "context": "Curated skill collections",
    "examples": ["starter bundles", "bundle recommendations"]
  },
  "workflows": {
    "translation": "工作流",
    "context": "Step-by-step execution guides",
    "examples": ["workflow automation", "execution workflows"]
  }
}

Evolution:

• Foundation: ~20 core terms
• After Priority 1: ~60 terms
• After Priority 2-3: ~100 terms
• Final: ~100-150 terms covering all domains

2. Translation Engine

Input: English markdown file + current glossary

Process:

1. Parse markdown structure (preserve headers, code blocks, links)
2. Extract translatable content
3. Apply glossary substitutions
4. Translate content sections
5. Reassemble with original formatting

Output: Chinese markdown file with consistent terminology

3. Link Validator

Checks:

• Internal links (.md)
• External links (http/https)

Rules:

• Internal English links → Chinese equivalents (e.g., ../usage.md → ../usage.md)
• Keep external links unchanged
• Flag broken internal links for manual review

4. Quality Validator

Checks:

• Markdown linting: Format consistency
• Terminology consistency: Verify glossary terms used uniformly
• Placeholder verification: Ensure no [TRANSLATE ME] or similar placeholders remain

Data Flow:

English File → Glossary Lookup → Translation → Glossary Update → Validation → Chinese File
                        ↓
                  Extract new terms
                  Add to glossary

Glossary Building Process

Phase 1: Foundation Glossary (Priority 1 Files)

1. Pre-translation Analysis

• Scan README.md, getting-started.md, usage.md, faq.md
• Extract recurring technical terms (frequency analysis)
• Identify brand names that stay in English (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub, etc.)
• Create initial glossary with ~30-40 core terms

2. First Translation Pass

• Translate the 4 Priority 1 files using initial glossary
• Track new terms encountered during translation
• Document ambiguous terms (e.g., "skills" = 技能 vs 技巧)
• Expand glossary to ~60 terms

3. Glossary Refinement

• Review terminology consistency across the 4 files
• Resolve conflicts (choose one translation per term)
• Add context notes for ambiguous terms
• Lock foundation glossary

Example Glossary Evolution:

Initial: {skills, installation, repository}
→ After translation: {skills, installation, repository, bundles, workflows,
                     contributors, maintainers, cli, agent, mcp, ...}
→ Refined: Add context notes for ambiguous terms

Phase 2: Sequential Expansion

• Each new translation adds 5-10 terms to glossary
• Weekly glossary checkpoints ensure consistency
• Final glossary: ~100-150 terms covering all domains

Translation Process

Per-File Translation Pipeline

1. File Analysis (~1-2 minutes per file)

• Extract headings, code blocks, links, tables
• Identify translatable vs. non-translatable sections
• Check file dependencies (links to other docs)
• Estimate glossary term usage

2. Translation Execution (~3-5 minutes per file)

• Preserve markdown structure exactly
• Apply glossary substitutions first
• Translate content section by section
• Keep code blocks, commands, file paths in English
• Handle special cases:
  • Image alt text: translate
  • Code comments: translate if explanatory
  • Inline code: keep in English
  • URLs: keep unchanged

3. Link Processing

• Internal English links → Chinese equivalents
• Links to non-translated files → flag for later
• External links → unchanged
• Update table of contents if present

4. Glossary Update

• Extract new technical terms
• Check for terminology conflicts
• Add new terms with context
• Version the glossary update

Translation Rules

Translate:

• ✅ Explanatory text, headers, lists, prose
• ✅ User-facing comments in code examples
• ✅ Image alt text

Don't translate:

• ❌ Code blocks and inline code
• ❌ Commands and file paths
• ❌ URLs and links
• ❌ Proper nouns (Claude, GitHub, npm)

Context-dependent:

• 🔧 UI elements (keep quotes if original has them)
• 🔧 Technical comments in code

Batch Processing

• Process files in priority order
• After each batch, run validation
• Commit batch before starting next (checkpoint system)
• Track progress in translation-status.md

Validation & Quality Assurance

Standard Validation Checklist (Per File)

1. Link Verification

• ✅ All internal links point to existing files
• ✅ External links are valid (HTTP 200)
• ✅ Anchor links (#heading) work correctly
• ⚠️ Flag links to non-translated files

2. Markdown Structure

• ✅ Valid markdown syntax
• ✅ Proper heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3)
• ✅ Code blocks properly fenced
• ✅ Tables formatted correctly
• ✅ No broken list formatting

3. Content Quality

• ✅ No placeholder text ([TODO], [TRANSLATE ME])
• ✅ Consistent terminology (matches glossary)
• ✅ Proper Chinese punctuation (full-width for Chinese text)
• ✅ No mixed English/Chinese sentences unless necessary

4. Formatting Consistency

• ✅ Code blocks use correct language tags
• ✅ Spacing around Chinese/English boundaries
• ✅ Bullet/numbered list formatting matches source
• ✅ Quote blocks properly formatted

Validation Tools

• markdownlint for markdown structure
• Custom script for link checking
• Custom script for glossary consistency
• Manual review for ambiguous cases

Error Handling

Broken links → Log to docs_zh-CN/translation-issues.md Glossary conflicts → Manual review, update glossary Translation ambiguities → Add inline comments for review

Error Handling & Edge Cases

Common Edge Cases

1. Ambiguous Technical Terms

• Example: "agent" = 代理 vs 智能体 vs 代理程序
• Solution: Context notes in glossary, choose based on domain
• Documentation: Add usage_context field to .glossary.json

2. Code Comments in Examples

• Translatable if explanatory (# Set up the client)
• Not translatable if technical (// Initialize SDK)
• Rule: Translate user-facing comments, keep technical comments

3. Brand Names and Product Names

• Always keep in English: Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub, npm
• Only translate if official Chinese name exists
• Check: Official docs for preferred translations

4. Links to Non-Translated Files

• During transition: Some Chinese docs link to English
• Add indicator: (English) after link
• Track: In translation-status.md for future translation

5. Tables with Mixed Content

• Translate column headers
• Translate cell content unless technical
• Preserve code blocks within cells

6. Screenshots and Diagrams

• Keep as-is (no image editing)
• Add descriptive alt text in Chinese
• Note if screenshot contains translatable UI text

Recovery Strategy

• Glossary conflicts → Stop, resolve, continue
• Broken links → Log, flag in file, continue
• Translation errors → Revert file, fix, re-validate

Deliverables

Primary Deliverables

1. Translated Documentation (~50 new files in docs_zh-CN/)

• All missing user-facing docs
• All missing contributor docs
• All missing maintainer docs
• Proper directory structure matching docs/

2. Glossary Artifact

• docs_zh-CN/.glossary.json - Complete terminology database
• 100-150 terms with context notes
• Usage examples for ambiguous terms

3. Validation Reports

• docs_zh-CN/translation-status.md - Completion tracking
• docs_zh-CN/translation-issues.md - Known issues and edge cases
• Link validation results
• Terminology consistency report

4. Integration Artifacts

• Git commits organized by priority batch
• Commit messages following project conventions
• Pull request ready for review

Estimated Timeline

• Glossary Foundation: 45-60 minutes
• Translation Batches: 2-3 hours (50 files ÷ ~3-4 min/file)
• Validation & Fixes: 30-45 minutes
• Final Review & Integration: 30 minutes
• Total: ~4-5 hours

Success Criteria

• ✅ All 50+ missing files translated
• ✅ Zero broken internal links
• ✅ Terminology consistency ≥95%
• ✅ Markdown linting passes
• ✅ Ready for Chinese user review

Future Considerations

Maintenance:

• Glossary should be updated as new English docs are added
• Consider automated translation suggestions for future updates
• Periodic review of glossary for terminology updates

Automation:

• Potential for CI integration to check translation completeness
• Automated glossary consistency checks
• Link validation in CI pipeline

Community:

• Consider process for community-contributed translations
• Review workflow for suggested glossary improvements
• Translation memory database for reusable segments