Translate to Chinese (-chn.md)
Translate one article from ai-thoughts/docs/ into Simplified Chinese and write it to a new file with the same filename plus a -chn.md suffix.
Approval gate — read before anything else
- Never translate, write, or create anything without explicit user approval. This skill converts on demand only; it does not run automatically and it does not pick candidate articles on its own.
- No action if no article is specifically chosen. The user must point out exactly one article (by filename, slug, or date). If they don't, do nothing except ask which one.
- Before writing the output, confirm the plan with the user: the source file, the exact output path, and whether an existing
-chn.mdshould be overwritten.
Inputs
source— Path to the source article, e.g.ai-thoughts/docs/260803-ollama-to-llamacpp.md. Required. If the user only names an article by slug or date, locate it inai-thoughts/docs/.
Outputs
outputPath— Path to the translated article:docs/<exact-same-filename>-chn.md(replace the.mdsuffix with-chn.md, keeping theYYMMDD-slugprefix and all characters exactly). Example:260803-ollama-to-llamacpp.md→260803-ollama-to-llamacpp-chn.md.
Procedure
- Wait for the user to point out the article to translate. Do not start until they name it explicitly.
- Confirm the plan with the user: the source file and the output path. Get their go-ahead before writing anything.
- Check for an existing
-chn.md. Ifdocs/<same>-chn.mdalready exists, stop and ask whether to overwrite it, diff against it, or skip. Never overwrite silently. - Read the source article from
source. Understand the full content before translating. - Translate the body into Simplified Chinese:
- Keep the title as an H1 with the key term followed by a Chinese
translation (match the style of existing
-chn.mdpairs). - Right after the H1, add the source link line, using the absolute GitHub URL (the
j3ffyangrepo), not a relative link:**原文:** [<source-filename>](https://github.com/j3ffyang/ai-thoughts/blob/main/docs/<source-filename>) - Translate the running text, headings, and bullets faithfully and naturally. Do not add, remove, or reorder content.
- Write Simplified Chinese by default; Traditional Chinese only when the source was originally written that way.
- Apply the bilingual-gloss style below: gloss technical terms and section titles, and add plain-language explanations for unfamiliar concepts.
- Keep the title as an H1 with the key term followed by a Chinese
translation (match the style of existing
- Do not translate specific terms — leave them verbatim:
- Product, tool, and agent names: Hermes Agent, OpenCode, OpenClaw, Astro, etc.
- Technical terms, commands, flags, config and file names (
AGENTS.md,SOUL.md,.cursorrules,hermes -c), environment variables, URLs. - Code blocks, inline code, CLI keystrokes (
Ctrl+C,Alt+Enter). - Existing proper nouns already in Latin script. Only translate the surrounding prose; never translate inside code.
- Preserve everything else exactly:
../imgs/<file>image references (keep the path verbatim — Chinese files mirror English per AGENTS.md), links, HTML, tables, frontmatter (if any), and Markdown structure. - Write the output to
docs/<same-filename>-chn.mdwith the source link line followed by the translated body. - Arch sign-off: if the source ends with
btw, i use arch, append the identical line at the bottom of the-chn.md. Keep it verbatim English — do not translate. - Report
outputPathto the user. Do not modify the source file, and do not toucharticles.yamlor the READMEs (out of scope for this skill).
Bilingual-gloss style (default)
Every -chn.md uses this style: Simplified Chinese is the primary text, and English is added as glosses so a Chinese-only reader still gets the technical vocabulary. The source article stays as-is; the glosses and explanations live only in the -chn.md.
- Gloss technical terms inline. The first meaningful time a technical term appears, follow it with the English in parentheses:
技能 (skill),无头 (headless),密钥链 (keychain),接口额度 (API quota). Don't gloss every repetition or everyday words — only technical or specialized vocabulary. - Gloss section titles. Add the gloss to headings that contain technical terms:
## 技能 (skill) 是什么,## 无头 (headless) 环境下的认证. - Add plain-language explanations. For concepts a general reader won't know (e.g. what 无头 (headless) 环境 means), add a short, simple explanation in plain Chinese at the first use. Understanding beats literal fidelity here — the explanation may be a small addition to the source, since the goal is a standalone readable article for a Chinese audience.
- Gloss inside tables too. The same rules apply to table cells — gloss technical terms on first appearance:
| 我——思维流 (thought-flow) | OpenCode + git——工作流 (workflow) |.
The verbatim exceptions from Procedure step 6 still apply: code, commands, product names, and URLs stay untouched, and glosses never go inside code blocks.
Quality rules
- Avoid hallucination. If a word, reference, or term is unclear, do not guess — ask the user or flag it in the report. Never invent translations, names, dates, or content that is not in the source.
- Ask if anything is unclear — about the article, an ambiguous phrase, an unknown acronym, or the intended output. Clarify rather than assume.
- Translate meaning faithfully and naturally in Simplified Chinese; do not perform a word-for-word substitution.
Verification
- Output is at
docs/<exact-source-filename>-chn.md; the prefix and slug match the source filename exactly (only the.md→-chn.mdsuffix changed). - The source link line is present right after the H1 and uses the absolute GitHub URL:
**原文:** [<source-filename>](https://github.com/j3ffyang/ai-thoughts/blob/main/docs/<source-filename>). - Every
../imgs/<file>reference in the output matches one in the source (verify with a glob/ls againstai-thoughts/imgs/). - Code blocks, inline code, commands, and specific terms (e.g. Hermes Agent, OpenCode) are preserved verbatim.
- The bilingual-gloss style is applied: technical terms and headings carry English glosses, table cells are glossed on first appearance, and unfamiliar concepts get a plain-language explanation at first use.
- If the source ends with the arch sign-off (
btw, i use arch), the-chn.mdcarries the identical verbatim line. - The source file is unmodified (confirm via git status/diff).
Error Handling
- No article chosen: do nothing; ask the user which article to translate.
- Source not found: list candidate files in
ai-thoughts/docs/and ask which to use. - Output already exists: stop and ask whether to overwrite, diff against it, or skip.
- Ambiguous or untranslatable content: ask the user instead of guessing.
