baoyu-translate
by JimLiubaoyu-translate is a translation workflow for long-form articles and Markdown documents, with quick, normal, and refined modes, glossary support, and chunking via bun or npx for consistent output.
This skill scores 82/100, which means it is a solid directory listing candidate for users who want a structured translation workflow rather than a generic 'translate this' prompt. The repository gives agents clear triggers, mode selection, file/output conventions, glossary support, and a real markdown chunking script, though installation and end-to-end execution instructions are still somewhat implicit.
- Strong triggerability: the description lists concrete translation intents, language directions, refined/quick modes, and URL/file-based use cases.
- Good operational leverage: SKILL.md is backed by detailed workflow references for analysis, draft, review, polish, glossary handling, and subagent parallelization.
- Includes real executable support files: Bun-based chunking CLI (`scripts/main.ts`, `scripts/chunk.ts`) with usage/help and markdown-aware splitting for large documents.
- Setup is not fully turnkey in SKILL.md: it declares Bun/`npx` requirements and script resolution, but provides no simple install command or concise quick-start example.
- The workflow is documentation-heavy, so agents may still need to infer some end-to-end orchestration steps beyond chunking and file conventions.
Overview of baoyu-translate skill
What baoyu-translate does well
The baoyu-translate skill is a translation workflow for long-form articles and documents, especially Markdown-based content that needs more than a one-shot prompt. It supports three modes: quick for direct translation, normal for analysis plus translation, and refined for a fuller editorial pass with review and polish. That makes it a good fit for people translating blog posts, essays, technical writing, and bilingual publishing material.
Who should install baoyu-translate
The best users for the baoyu-translate skill are writers, editors, AI operators, and agent builders who care about terminology consistency, preserved tone, and repeatable output. If you only need a short rough translation, ordinary prompting may be enough. If you need translation that can survive review, glossary control, and chunked processing of long Markdown files, baoyu-translate is much more practical.
Why it stands out for Translation
What differentiates baoyu-translate for Translation is not just “translate this text.” It adds a workflow around analysis, glossary loading, chunking, output folders, and upgrade paths from normal to refined mode. The repository also includes a real chunking script and reference docs for glossary, workflow mechanics, and subagent prompting, which lowers guesswork compared with many skills that only describe a process abstractly.
How to Use baoyu-translate skill
Install context and prerequisites
There is no one-line installer documented inside SKILL.md, so use your normal skill installation flow for the JimLiu/baoyu-skills repository, then open skills/baoyu-translate/. For local script support, the skill expects either bun or npx to be available. The chunking CLI can run with bun directly or via npx -y bun.
Read these files first:
SKILL.mdreferences/refined-workflow.mdreferences/workflow-mechanics.mdreferences/glossary-en-zh.mdreferences/subagent-prompt-template.mdreferences/config/first-time-setup.md
How baoyu-translate usage works in practice
In real baoyu-translate usage, start by deciding mode:
- Quick: short, low-risk, speed-first
- Normal: most articles and technical posts
- Refined: publishable output, nuanced voice, stricter QA
Then provide:
- source content, file, or URL
- source and target language
- target audience
- desired style
- domain terms or glossary rules
- whether you want quick, normal, or refined mode
For long Markdown, use the chunker:
npx -y bun scripts/main.ts <file> --max-words 5000 --output-dir <dir>
This is especially useful when a model loses formatting or terminology consistency on long inputs.
Turn a rough request into a strong prompt
A weak request is: “Translate this to Chinese.”
A stronger baoyu-translate guide prompt is:
- “Translate this Markdown article from English to Simplified Chinese in normal mode.”
- “Audience: AI engineers and product builders.”
- “Keep headings, lists, links, and code blocks unchanged.”
- “Use consistent translations for key terms; first occurrence may include the English in parentheses.”
- “Prefer natural Chinese over literal sentence structure.”
- “If metaphors do not transfer cleanly, preserve meaning rather than wording.”
Why this helps: the skill’s references are built around analysis, terminology, style, and translation challenges. If you supply audience and style up front, the output improves materially.
Workflow tips that affect output quality
Use the repository’s intended file flow rather than improvising:
- Save or materialize the source
- Create a language-specific output directory such as
article-zh/ - In normal/refined mode, generate analysis first
- Build a shared prompt/context file before chunk translation
- Review and polish after initial draft
Important implementation details:
- Existing output folders should be backed up rather than overwritten
- The glossary is especially helpful for AI, startup, and technical content
- The normal-to-refined upgrade path is efficient if the first pass is already good enough structurally but weak stylistically
baoyu-translate skill FAQ
Is baoyu-translate better than a normal translation prompt?
Usually yes for longer or more important work. The value of baoyu-translate is process control: analysis, glossary use, chunking, and staged refinement. For a paragraph or email, that overhead may not be worth it. For article translation, it usually is.
Is baoyu-translate install worth it for beginners?
Yes, if you can follow a file-based workflow. The concept is simple, but the skill is more useful to people comfortable reading SKILL.md and the references/ docs. Beginners can still use quick mode first, then adopt normal/refined mode once they understand the output structure.
When is baoyu-translate a poor fit?
Skip the baoyu-translate skill if you need certified human translation, heavy cultural transcreation, or live app localization with full i18n tooling. It is also not ideal if your content is tiny and disposable, because the workflow overhead can exceed the value.
Does it only work for English to Chinese?
No. The included glossary is strongest for English→Chinese, but the workflow itself is broader. The key limitation is that output quality depends on the model plus the glossary and style instructions you provide. If your language pair has specialized terminology, you should extend the glossary context.
How to Improve baoyu-translate skill
Give baoyu-translate better source context
The fastest way to improve baoyu-translate results is better inputs. Include:
- content type: essay, tutorial, announcement, docs
- audience and reading level
- tone: formal, conversational, editorial, technical
- non-negotiable term translations
- formatting constraints for Markdown
This reduces the most common failure mode: technically correct but tonally wrong translation.
Prevent common output failures
Typical weak outputs are:
- literal phrasing that sounds translated
- inconsistent term choices across sections
- broken Markdown formatting
- over-translation of brand names or code-adjacent text
- loss of author voice in polished mode
To avoid this, explicitly say what must stay unchanged, what terms must stay in English, and whether the translation should prioritize readability, fidelity, or publication polish.
Use the chunking and review stages intentionally
Do not chunk everything automatically. Chunk when the source is long enough that context windows or consistency become a risk. After the first draft, review across chunks for:
- repeated terminology
- heading consistency
- transitions between chunk boundaries
- duplicate or omitted paragraphs
That review step is where the baoyu-translate usage workflow becomes meaningfully better than generic prompting.
Iterate after the first pass
A good second prompt is not “improve this.” Instead ask for a targeted revision:
- “Make it less literal and more native to Chinese tech writing.”
- “Unify all AI terminology with the glossary.”
- “Keep the author’s sharp, opinionated tone.”
- “Shorten long sentences but preserve argument structure.”
That kind of constrained iteration helps baoyu-translate skill outputs converge faster and with less drift than broad rewrite requests.