Skill i18n

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

Usage

Command	Description
`/skill-i18n`	Translate files in current skill directory
`/skill-i18n <skill-name>`	Translate files for specified skill
`/skill-i18n config`	Configure default languages and file types
`/skill-i18n --lang zh-CN,ja`	Translate to specified languages (for integration)
`/skill-i18n --files SKILL.md,README.md`	Translate specified files

Supported Languages

Language	Code	Output File
简体中文	`zh-CN`	`SKILL.zh-CN.md`
日本語	`ja`	`SKILL.ja.md`
한국어	`ko`	`SKILL.ko.md`
Español	`es`	`SKILL.es.md`
Custom	User-defined	`SKILL.<code>.md`

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:

Field	Description	Default
`default_languages`	Languages to translate by default	`["zh-CN", "ja"]`
`default_files`	Files to translate by default	`["SKILL.md"]`
`skills_config`	Per-skill configuration	`{}`

Execution Steps

Command: `/skill-i18n`

Translate files in current skill directory:

Detect current directory

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

Load configuration

# 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
SKILL_CONFIG=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq -r ".skills_config[\"$SKILL_NAME\"] // null")

First-run selection (if no config)

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

{
  "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" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Save configuration

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

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:

Search skill location

# Search in common locations
SKILL_PATH=""

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

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

if [ -z "$SKILL_PATH" ]; then
  echo "Error: Skill '$SKILL_NAME' not found"
  exit 1
fi

Execute translation (same as default command)

Command: `/skill-i18n config`

Configure default settings:

Show current configuration

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

Interactive configuration via AskUserQuestion

{
  "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" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Update configuration file

Command-Line Flags

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

Flag	Description	Example
`--lang <codes>`	Comma-separated language codes	`--lang zh-CN,ja,ko`
`--files <names>`	Comma-separated file names	`--files SKILL.md,README.md`
`--skill <name>`	Target skill name	`--skill port-allocator`
`--no-prompt`	Skip TUI, use flags/config directly	For automated workflows
`--overwrite`	Overwrite existing translations	Skip confirmation

Priority order:

Command-line flags (highest priority)
Skill-specific config in skills_config
Global default_languages and default_files
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:

Language	Emoji Usage	Example
Chinese (zh-CN)	Common	✅ 正确 / ❌ 错误
Japanese (ja)	Minimal	正しい / 間違い
Korean (ko)	Moderate	✅ 올바름 / ❌ 잘못됨
Spanish (es)	Minimal	Correcto / Incorrecto

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:

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

Notes

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

skill-i18n