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

1. Parse arguments. Extract topic, target languages, source, format.
2. 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.
3. Detect output format from the project (frontmatter convention, file extensions, framework hints) or use --format.
4. Resolve source language. If a target language equals --source, drop it from the translation list with a notice.
5. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Render: python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_render.py" --md <locale-file> --out-dir <locale-delivery-dir>.
4. Init nonce: python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_preflight.py" --draft <locale-delivery-dir> --init-review-nonce.
5. 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.
6. Gates: python3 "$BLOG_SCRIPT_DIR/blog_preflight.py" --draft <locale-delivery-dir> --strict --slug <localized-slug>.
7. 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