Skill i18n

Translate skill documentation files (SKILL.md, README.md) into multiple languages, making it easier to share skills with international users.

Usage

Supported Languages

Configuration

All settings are stored in ~/.claude/skill-i18n-config.json:

{
  "default_languages": ["zh-CN", "ja"],
  "default_files": ["SKILL.md"],
  "skills_config": {
    "port-allocator": {
      "languages": ["zh-CN", "ja", "ko"],
      "files": ["SKILL.md", "README.md"]
    }
  }
}

Configuration Fields:

Execution Steps

Command: /skill-i18n

Translate files in current skill directory:

1. Detect current directory

``bash # Check if current directory contains SKILL.md if [ ! -f SKILL.md ]; then echo "Error: SKILL.md not found in current directory" exit 1 fi ``

1. Load configuration

```bash # Read config file CONFIG=$(cat ~/.claude/skill-i18n-config.json 2>/dev/null || echo '{}')

# Get skill name from directory SKILL_NAME=$(basename "$(pwd)")

# Check for skill-specific config SKILLCONFIG=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq -r ".skillsconfig[\"$SKILL_NAME\"] // null") ```

1. First-run selection (if no config)

If no configuration exists for this skill, show TUI selection:

``json { "questions": [ { "question": "Which languages should be generated?", "header": "Languages", "multiSelect": true, "options": [ { "label": "简体中文 (zh-CN)", "description": "Simplified Chinese" }, { "label": "日本語 (ja)", "description": "Japanese" }, { "label": "한국어 (ko)", "description": "Korean" }, { "label": "Español (es)", "description": "Spanish" } ] }, { "question": "Which files should be translated?", "header": "Files", "multiSelect": true, "options": [ { "label": "SKILL.md", "description": "Skill documentation (recommended)" }, { "label": "README.md", "description": "Repository readme" } ] } ] } ``

1. Save configuration

``bash # Save selection to config for future runs jq --arg skill "$SKILLNAME" \ --argjson langs '["zh-CN", "ja"]' \ --argjson files '["SKILL.md"]' \ '.skillsconfig[$skill] = {"languages": $langs, "files": $files}' \ ~/.claude/skill-i18n-config.json > tmp.json && mv tmp.json ~/.claude/skill-i18n-config.json ``

1. Execute translation

- For each selected file and language, generate translation - See "Translation Rules" section below

Command: /skill-i18n <skill-name>

Translate files for specified skill:

1. Search skill location

```bash # Search in common locations SKILL_PATH=""

# Check ~/.claude/skills/ if [ -d ~/.claude/skills/"$SKILLNAME" ]; then SKILLPATH=~/.claude/skills/"$SKILL_NAME" fi

# Check code repository (if configured) if [ -z "$SKILLPATH" ] && [ -d ~/Codes/skills/"$SKILLNAME" ]; then SKILLPATH=~/Codes/skills/"$SKILLNAME" fi

if [ -z "$SKILLPATH" ]; then echo "Error: Skill '$SKILLNAME' not found" exit 1 fi ```

1. Execute translation (same as default command)

Command: /skill-i18n config

Configure default settings:

1. Show current configuration

``bash echo "Current configuration:" cat ~/.claude/skill-i18n-config.json | jq . ``

1. Interactive configuration via AskUserQuestion

``json { "questions": [ { "question": "Select default languages for new skills:", "header": "Defaults", "multiSelect": true, "options": [ { "label": "简体中文 (zh-CN)", "description": "Simplified Chinese" }, { "label": "日本語 (ja)", "description": "Japanese" }, { "label": "한국어 (ko)", "description": "Korean" }, { "label": "Español (es)", "description": "Spanish" } ] } ] } ``

1. Update configuration file

Command-Line Flags

For integration with other skills (e.g., share-skill):

Priority order:

1. Command-line flags (highest priority)
2. Skill-specific config in skills_config
3. Global defaultlanguages and defaultfiles
4. Interactive TUI selection (if no config exists)

Example integration:

# share-skill calls skill-i18n internally
/skill-i18n --lang zh-CN,ja --files SKILL.md --skill port-allocator --no-prompt

Translation Rules

Preserve Unchanged

These elements must NOT be translated:

• Code blocks (``bash, ``json, etc.)
• File paths (~/.claude/settings.json, ~/Codes/skills/)
• Command names (/port-allocator, /skill-i18n, git push)
• Technical identifiers (variable names, JSON keys)
• URLs and links

Translate Naturally

• Adapt sentence structure to target language
• Use appropriate formality level:

- Japanese: Polite form (です/ます) - Chinese: Standard written form - Korean: Polite form (합니다/습니다) - Spanish: Formal usted form

• Localize examples where appropriate

Frontmatter Handling

---
name: port-allocator          # Keep unchanged (identifier)
description: Translate this   # Translate to target language
---

Style Adaptation

Different languages may use different visual styles:

Follow existing translation patterns in the project if available.

Output Format

Translation Success

Translation complete

Skill: port-allocator
Source: SKILL.md

Generated:
  - SKILL.zh-CN.md (简体中文)
  - SKILL.ja.md (日本語)

Config saved for: port-allocator
Next run will auto-translate to: zh-CN, ja

Existing Files Detected

Existing translations detected:
  - SKILL.zh-CN.md (modified 2 days ago)
  - SKILL.ja.md (modified 2 days ago)

Options:
  [ ] Overwrite all
  [ ] Skip existing
  [ ] Select individually

Configuration Saved

Configuration updated

Default languages: zh-CN, ja
Default files: SKILL.md

Skill-specific config:
  port-allocator: zh-CN, ja, ko (SKILL.md, README.md)
  share-skill: zh-CN, ja (SKILL.md)

Integration with share-skill

skill-i18n integrates with share-skill for documentation generation:

# share-skill docs with i18n
/share-skill docs --i18n

# This internally calls:
/skill-i18n --lang <configured-langs> --files SKILL.md --no-prompt

When share-skill detects --i18n flag:

1. Check if skill-i18n is available
2. Load language configuration
3. Call skill-i18n to generate translations
4. Include translated files in documentation site

Notes

1. Source file safety - Never overwrite the source SKILL.md file
2. First-run prompt - First translation requires language selection
3. Per-skill config - Different skills can have different language settings
4. Incremental updates - Only translate when source file is newer than translations
5. Integration-friendly - Command-line flags allow other skills to call skill-i18n