/translation-sync

name: translation-sync
description: "Read-only parity checker for multilingual translations (RU↔EN↔PT-BR). Validates typography, terminology consistency, anchor-quote canonical translations, names/diminutives, and realia footnotes. Produces a parity report; never edits. Use before committing a translated chapter to catch drift and 'smoothed' numbers."
license: MIT
allowed-tools:
  - Read
  - Bash
  - Grep
  - Glob

<objective> Read-only parity auditor for trilingual book translations across RU, EN, PT-BR. Operates over any directory layout that mirrors source and target languages (e.g. `your-book/{ru,en,pt-br}/chapters/*.{md,tex,txt}`) and flags drift between language versions.

Use cases:

• before `git commit` — check staged changes in any of the three language directories
• chapter audit — run a full parity check on a chapter file across all three languages
• post-commit — verify the last commit didn't introduce drift
• range — diff across commit range when catching up after a depth-pass
• pre-commit hook — if the user wires it into `.git/hooks/pre-commit`

This skill **does not translate**. It does not propose translations, does not auto-fix typography, does not edit files. It reads, compares, and reports. </objective>

ROLE

Translation parity auditor. Never a translator. Never an editor.

The user owns every translation decision. This skill catches the mechanical drift the eye misses: a canon term that quietly shifted, a smoothed number, an anchor quote that got "improved", a missing footnote on a cultural realia term, the wrong dash in the wrong language.

If a finding is debatable, surface it and let the author decide. If the canon registry in [references/terminology.md](references/terminology.md) is silent on a term, **do not invent** a ruling — flag the unknown and move on.

LANGUAGES

Three target languages, each with distinct typographic and stylistic constraints:

• **RU** — «ёлочки» for outer quotes, `\enquote{...}` for inner. Em-dash `---` with non-breaking space after for direct speech. Numbers spelled out except years and decimals. Real foreign names stay in Latin script.
• **EN** — TeX-style `` ``...'' `` for outer, `` `...' `` for inner quotes. Em-dash `---` **with spaces** (illustrative house rule, against AmE norm — keeps rhythm parity with RU/PT-BR). Numbers spelled out with hyphens (`twenty-eight`). Russian names transliterated by the table in [references/names-and-realia.md](references/names-and-realia.md).
• **PT-BR** — TeX-style `` ``...'' `` for outer, `` `...' `` for inner (English style, not French «...» — illustrative house rule). Em-dash `---` with spaces. Numbers spelled out without hyphens (`vinte e oito`). Russian names transliterated; Latin-script names stay Latin.

Full per-language typography table in [references/typography.md](references/typography.md).

MODES

`staged` (default) — check staged diff

git diff --cached --name-only

For each staged prose file (`.md` / `.tex` / `.txt` / `.rst`) under a per-language directory tree: 1. Detect target language by path segment (`/ru/`, `/en/`, `/pt-br/`) 2. Pull added/changed lines: `git diff --cached -U0 <file>` 3. Run pipeline (typography for that language; if RU file changed, also flag "EN/PT-BR may be stale") 4. Aggregate findings

`chapter <book> <chN>` — full parity check across all three languages

Read the source chapter and its two sibling translations (e.g. `<book>/ru/chapters/<chN>`, `<book>/en/chapters/<chN>`, `<book>/pt-br/chapters/<chN>`). Run the full 15-point checklist from [references/checklist.md](references/checklist.md) across all three.

`range <from>..<to>` — diff across commit range

git diff <from>..<to> --name-only

Pipeline as in `staged`. Useful after a RU depth-pass to verify EN/PT-BR caught up.

`file <path>` — single file check

Full pass on one file. Typography + terminology + smoothing + names. Anchor-quote check skipped (needs sibling files).

`file <path> <line1>:<line2>` — line-range check on a single file

PIPELINE

For each in-scope file, run six passes. Each pass references its own rule file:

1. **Typography** — quote style, dashes, ellipsis, numerals for the file's target language. Rules: [references/typography.md](references/typography.md). 2. **Terminology consistency** — canon terms must match the registry across the three languages. "Do not translate" markers respected (e.g. `Pointer Architecture` stays English everywhere). Rules: [references/terminology.md](references/terminology.md). 3. **Anchor-quote canon** — fixed translations for load-bearing quotations must be preserved verbatim. No "improvements", no extenders. Rules: [references/anchor-quotes.md](references/anchor-quotes.md). 4. **Names & realia** — real people in Latin script in all languages; Russian patronymics not transliterated mechanically; diminutives table respected (full / short / affectionate forms map per character); cultural realia (place names, institutions, brands) carry footnote on first mention. Rules: [references/names-and-realia.md](references/names-and-realia.md). 5. **No smoothing** — numbers, durations, exact years, street names, brand names stay literal. `900 ms` does not become `under a second`. Rules: [references/what-not-to-smooth.md](references/what-not-to-smooth.md). 6. **15-point checklist aggregate** — the final pre-commit run-through. List: [references/checklist.md](references/checklist.md).

OUTPUT FORMAT

Structured report grouped by file, then by check category. Each finding cites line number, the offending excerpt, and the canonical rule (or expected canonical form).

=== translation-sync ===
Mode: chapter your-book ch05
Languages: ru en pt-br

[TYPOGRAPHY] your-book/en/chapters/ch05.md
  L42 — straight quotes "..." in EN context — should be ``...'' (TeX outer)
  L88 — em-dash without spaces in EN context — house rule: em-dash with spaces

[TERMINOLOGY] ru → en
  L120 ru "Term X" → en "Term X" — OK (do not tra