Blog Multilingual, One-Command International Publishing
Bundled paths below use host Markdown substitution of ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR};
it is not an exported shell variable. Resolve them before execution, quote
paths, and refuse nonabsolute overrides. Pass blog_reference_root resolved
from ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../blog/references, blog_template_root from
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../blog/templates, and needed sibling roots to agents.
Read the main reference orchestration-details.md before loading project
context; pass only its helper-fenced output to downstream agents.
The flagship multilingual orchestrator. Combines blog writing, translation,
cultural adaptation, and full international SEO into a single command.
Produces publication-ready blog posts in every target language with hreflang
tags, localized JSON-LD schema, and CMS-integration metadata.
Adapted from claude-blog-multilingual by Chris Mueller (AI Marketing Hub
Pro Hub Challenge submission, March 2026, scored 85/100 Proficient).
Original repository: no longer available as of 2026-10-12
This port removes the original curl | bash installer and credential
handling flagged in the audit, integrates as core skills, and uses the
shared cultural-adaptation reference under blog-translate/references/.
Dependencies
Invoked internally by this orchestrator:
| Component | Source | Required |
|---|
blog-write | claude-blog (this plugin) | Yes |
blog-translate | claude-blog (this plugin) | Yes |
blog-localize | claude-blog (this plugin) | Yes (when --localize is on, default) |
seo-hreflang | claude-seo (sibling plugin) | No, falls back to a self-contained generator |
If seo-hreflang is not installed, the orchestrator emits hreflang tags using
its own minimal generator (Phase 5 below) and notes the limitation in the
delivery summary. Hreflang validation in that case is structural only, not the
deeper validation seo-hreflang provides.
Command Syntax
/blog multilingual <topic> --languages <lang1,lang2,...> [--source <lang>] [--no-localize] [--format <md|mdx|html>]
| Argument | Required | Default | Description |
|---|
<topic> | Yes | required | Blog topic or working title |
--languages | Yes | required | Comma-separated Google-compatible hreflang tags (e.g. de,fr,es-MX,ja,pt-BR; see the code rules in Phase 1) |
--source | No | en | Source language to write the original in |
--no-localize | No | off | Skip cultural adaptation (translation only) |
--format | No | auto | Output format: md, mdx, or html |
If --languages is missing, ask the user once before running anything:
"Which languages should the blog be published in? Provide hreflang tags
separated by commas (e.g., de,fr,es-MX,ja,pt-BR). The post will be written
in <source> first, then translated."
Workflow
Phase 1: Configuration
- Parse arguments. Extract topic, target languages, source, format.
- Validate each language code with the shared multilingual locale rules used
by
blog-translate, blog-localize, and blog-locale-audit: ISO 639-1
language in lowercase, optional ISO 15924 script in title case, optional
ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 region in uppercase. Google's localized-versions
documentation (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions,
read 2026-10-12) allows a language code by itself (de is valid hreflang),
but never a region by itself. This pipeline is stricter for translation
quality: language-only codes are accepted only for unambiguous editorial
markets (de, fr, ja, and the source language). es, pt, and zh
(and any language spanning materially different markets or scripts) need a
region or script (es-ES, es-MX, pt-BR, pt-PT, zh-Hans, zh-Hant)
or an explicit neutral mode the user requests. If the user passes a bare
es, pt, or zh, ask once which market they mean. The hreflang value
emitted in Phase 5 is exactly the normalized code the user supplied.
- Detect output format from the project (frontmatter convention, file
extensions, framework hints) or use
--format.
- Resolve source language. If a target language equals
--source, drop it
from the translation list with a notice.
- Create the output directory inside the current working directory:
multilingual/
{source-lang}/
{lang-1}/
{lang-2}/
...
Keep all output inside the project root; do not write outside the cwd.
Progress: Phase 1: Configuration complete, [N] languages selected ([codes])
Phase 2: Write Original Blog
Invoke the blog-write sub-skill (route through /blog write so all
existing rules apply: template auto-selection, sourced statistics, citation
capsules, Article schema priority, FAQPage only as an entity signal when
visible FAQ content exists, internal-link zones, charts, image embedding). Pass the
topic and any blog-write parameters surfaced by the user.
Save the original to multilingual/{source-lang}/{slug}.{ext}.
Progress: Phase 2: Original written, multilingual/{source-lang}/{slug}.{ext}
Phase 3: Translate to All Target Languages
For each target language, invoke blog-translate:
- Input: the original blog post produced in Phase 2.
- Target: the specific language code.
- Mode: orchestrated. Put the literal line
Mode: orchestrated at the top of
the invocation. In orchestrated mode blog-translate skips its own delivery
contract (see its Phase 7); this orchestrator runs it once in Phase 6.
- Run targets in parallel where the runtime supports it (one Task per
language) to reduce wall-clock time.
Save translations to multilingual/{lang}/{localized-slug}.{ext}.
Progress: Phase 3: Translating to [lang] ([X]/[N]) per language, then
Phase 3: All translations complete.
Phase 4: Cultural Adaptation
If --no-localize is NOT set, invoke blog-localize for every translated
post:
- Input: the translated blog post.
- Locale: the target language or region code.
- Mode: orchestrated. Put the literal line
Mode: orchestrated at the top of
the invocation. In orchestrated mode blog-localize skips its own delivery
contract; this orchestrator runs it once in Phase 6.
- Run in parallel.
Apply the localized output only after resolving the generated path inside
multilingual/, rejecting symlinks, and creating a backup when overwriting.
The localizer swaps brand examples, adapts CTAs, substitutes legal
references, and adjusts formality. See
${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../blog-localize/SKILL.md for the full adaptation pass.
Progress: Phase 4: Cultural adaptation complete for [N] languages.
Phase 5: International SEO Generation
Generate three artifacts plus localized schema. If the seo-hreflang skill
from claude-seo is installed, delegate validation to it. Otherwise use the
self-contained generator below.
5a. Hreflang Tags (HTML)
Copy-paste ready tags for <head>:
<!-- Hreflang tags. Paste into <head> of each language version. -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="{source}" href="https://example.com/{source-url}" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-1}" href="https://example.com/{lang-1-url}" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-2}" href="https://example.com/{lang-2-url}" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/{fallback-url}" />
Rules (mirrored from seo-hreflang):
- Every page references all alternates including itself (self-referencing).
- Every
href, including x-default, is a fully qualified absolute
https://... URL.
x-default points to the unmatched-language fallback, such as a global
language selector or default market page. It does not have to be the source
language version.- All URLs use the same protocol (HTTPS) and trailing-slash convention.
- Bidirectional: every relationship is reciprocal.
Save to multilingual/hreflang-tags.html.
5b. Hreflang Sitemap Fragment
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/{source-url}</loc>
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{source}" href="https://example.com/{source-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-1}" href="https://example.com/{lang-1-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-2}" href="https://example.com/{lang-2-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/{fallback-url}" />
</url>
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/{lang-1-url}</loc>
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{source}" href="https://example.com/{source-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-1}" href="https://example.com/{lang-1-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-2}" href="https://example.com/{lang-2-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/{fallback-url}" />
</url>
<url>
<loc>https://example.com/{lang-2-url}</loc>
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{source}" href="https://example.com/{source-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-1}" href="https://example.com/{lang-1-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="{lang-2}" href="https://example.com/{lang-2-url}" />
<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/{fallback-url}" />
</url>
</urlset>
Generate one <url> block per locale. Every block must contain the identical
complete set of <xhtml:link> alternates for every locale, plus self and
optional x-default, using fully qualified https://... URLs.
Save to multilingual/hreflang-sitemap.xml.
5c. Hreflang Map (JSON)
Machine-readable mapping for CMS integration:
{
"sourceSlug": "how-to-avoid-ai-slop",
"sourceLanguage": "en",
"generatedDate": "YYYY-MM-DD",
"versions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"locale": "en",
"hreflang": "en",
"slug": "how-to-avoid-ai-slop",
"file": "en/how-to-avoid-ai-slop.md",
"url": "https://example.com/en/how-to-avoid-ai-slop/",
"canonical": "https://example.com/en/how-to-avoid-ai-slop/",
"xDefault": true,
"title": "How to Avoid AI Slop in 2026",
"description": "..."
},
{
"lang": "de",
"locale": "de-DE",
"hreflang": "de",
"slug": "wie-man-ki-slop-vermeidet",
"file": "de/wie-man-ki-slop-vermeidet.md",
"url": "https://example.com/de/wie-man-ki-slop-vermeidet/",
"canonical": "https://example.com/de/wie-man-ki-slop-vermeidet/",
"xDefault": false,
"title": "KI-Slop vermeiden in 2026",
"description": "..."
}
],
"hreflang": {
"method": "html",
"x-default": "https://example.com/"
}
}
hreflang is exactly the normalized code the user supplied (here de);
locale records the cultural profile used, which may be more specific.
Save to multilingual/hreflang-map.json.
5d. Localized Article Schema (Required)
Attach or update Article/BlogPosting JSON-LD on every language version with
inLanguage and translationOfWork fields:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BlogPosting",
"headline": "[Localized title]",
"description": "[Localized description]",
"inLanguage": "[lang-code]",
"isPartOf": { "@type": "Blog", "inLanguage": "[lang-code]" },
"translationOfWork": {
"@type": "BlogPosting",
"inLanguage": "[source-lang]",
"url": "[source-url]"
}
}
Use the existing /blog schema sub-skill for richer schema on each version.
For the internal schema heuristic, Article or BlogPosting earns 2 points,
Person earns 1, and either Organization or BreadcrumbList earns 1. This is not
a Google requirement. Include both Organization and BreadcrumbList when the
visible site data supports them. FAQPage is optional and only for visible FAQ
content as an entity signal, not a Google rich result target.
Phase 6: Final Locale Delivery Contract (exactly one run per locale)
This is the ONLY delivery-contract run for each target locale. blog-translate
and blog-localize ran in orchestrated mode and skipped theirs (each carries
the sentence "When invoked by blog-multilingual (orchestrated mode), skip the delivery contract; blog-multilingual runs it once per locale on the final text." and the line "Orchestrated mode is signaled by the literal line Mode: orchestrated at the top of the invocation."), so the full
five-gate sequence runs once, on the final localized text (or on the
translation when --no-localize is set). The source locale keeps the
successful /blog write review. Do not start this phase until the last
translation or localization change for the locale is saved.
For each target locale, run the canonical sequence independently:
- Resolve
BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR="${CLAUDE_BLOG_SCRIPTS_DIR:-${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts}"
and reject it unless absolute. Never resolve helpers from the current
project's scripts/ directory.
- Visuals: create
multilingual/{lang}/delivery/{localized-slug}/ as the
isolated artifact directory and copy the final locale source into it under
its lowercase localized slug. Resolve every draft marker ([INTERNAL-LINK,
[IMAGE, [CHART): none may remain. Reuse the source hero by copying it
as hero.<ext>; a new locale-specific hero is a paid call and needs the
blog-image cost and consent gate first.
- Render:
python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_render.py" --md <locale-file> --out-dir <locale-delivery-dir>.
- Init nonce:
python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_preflight.py" --draft <locale-delivery-dir> --init-review-nonce.
- Review: pass only the printed nonce to a fresh
blog-reviewer invocation
against the rendered locale HTML. The reviewer returns text; save it
verbatim to <locale-delivery-dir>/review.md.
- Gates:
python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_preflight.py" --draft <locale-delivery-dir> --strict --slug <localized-slug>.
- Loop: after ANY change to the locale file, hero, HTML, or PDF, re-render,
re-init the nonce, and re-review. Maximum 3 iterations per locale.
Mark the locale passed only at 90+/100, zero P0, matching nonce, final
BLOCKING: false, and all other gates. A failed locale remains
draft-blocked; keep successful locales and report the failed locale's
diagnostic without calling the whole set complete.
Phase 7: Delivery Summary
## Multilingual blog [complete / partially blocked]: [Title]
### Original
- Language: [source]
- File: multilingual/{source}/{slug}.{ext}
### Translations
| Language | File | Localized | Keywords adapted | Delivery review |
|----------|------|-----------|------------------|-----------------|
| de | multilingual/de/{slug}.md | yes | [N] | passed / draft-blocked |
| fr | multilingual/fr/{slug}.md | yes | [N] | passed / draft-blocked |
| es-MX | multilingual/es-MX/{slug}.md | yes | [N] | passed / draft-blocked |
### International SEO assets
- multilingual/hreflang-tags.html
- multilingual/hreflang-sitemap.xml
- multilingual/hreflang-map.json
- Localized Article schema embedded per version
### Total
- [N] posts in [N] languages
- [N] SEO assets generated
- [N] locale artifact sets passed 90+, zero P0, and nonce verification
### Next steps
- Replace `{source-url}`, `{lang-1-url}`, `{lang-2-url}`, and
`{fallback-url}` placeholders in hreflang tags with real absolute HTTPS
URLs.
- Merge `hreflang-sitemap.xml` into your existing sitemap.
- Run `/blog locale-audit multilingual/` to verify completeness.
- Resolve `[INTERNAL-LINK]` placeholders with locale-specific URLs.
- If claude-seo is installed, run `/seo hreflang multilingual/` for
deeper validation.
Cross-References
| When | Run |
|---|
| To regenerate or reword the source | /blog write <topic> |
| To translate one existing file only | /blog translate <file> --to <codes> |
| To deepen cultural fit on one file | /blog localize <file> --locale <code> |
| To audit a multilingual directory | /blog locale-audit <directory> |
| For deeper hreflang validation | /seo hreflang <directory> (claude-seo, optional) |
Error Handling
| Scenario | Action |
|---|
blog-write missing | Error: "This skill requires blog-write. Reinstall claude-blog." |
| One translation fails | Complete the rest, report partial results, suggest a retry command |
| Source language equals a target | Skip that target, log a notice |
Bare es, pt, or zh target | Ask which market (es-ES, es-MX, pt-BR, pt-PT, zh-Hans, zh-Hant) or require an explicit neutral mode |
| 10 or more target languages | Stop before writing. Explain scaled-content-abuse risk and require reviewed batches of at most 9 target languages |
seo-hreflang not installed | Use the self-contained generator, note it in the summary |
Commands Recap
| Command | Purpose |
|---|
/blog multilingual <topic> --languages de,fr,es-MX | Write source, translate, localize, emit hreflang assets |
/blog translate <file> --to de,fr,es | Translate one file into target languages |
/blog localize <file> --locale de-DE | Cultural deep-adaptation of one translated file |
/blog locale-audit <directory> | Multilingual QA across a directory |