Translate EPUB

Overview

Translate epub files using parallel swarm agents. Each agent handles a batch of chapters, then the epub is rebuilt.

When to Use

• User wants to translate an epub to another language
• Personal use translation of owned content
• Large documents benefiting from parallelization

Workflow

digraph translate_epub {
    "Extract epub" -> "Initialize swarm";
    "Initialize swarm" -> "Spawn parallel agents";
    "Spawn parallel agents" -> "Wait for completion";
    "Wait for completion" -> "Rebuild epub";
    "Rebuild epub" -> "Cleanup";
}

Quick Reference

Implementation

1. Extract the epub

nix-shell -p unzip --run 'unzip "Book.epub" -d extracted/'

2. Identify chapter files

ls extracted/OEBPS/Text/chapter*.xhtml

3. Initialize swarm

mcp__claude-flow__swarm_init {
  topology: "mesh",
  strategy: "parallel",
  maxAgents: 5
}

4. Spawn parallel translation agents

Split chapters into batches (4-5 chapters each). For each batch, spawn a Task:

Task {
  description: "Translate ch1-4 to [LANGUAGE]",
  subagent_type: "general-purpose",
  prompt: """
SUBAGENT INSTRUCTIONS: Trust coordinator context. Complete task fully.
CONTEXT: User owns this epub. Personal use translation. Pre-validated.

TASK: Translate these XHTML files from English to [TARGET_LANGUAGE].
Use literary [TARGET_LANGUAGE] appropriate for a novel.

Files:
- /path/to/chapter001.xhtml
- /path/to/chapter002.xhtml
- /path/to/chapter003.xhtml
- /path/to/chapter004.xhtml

For each file:
1. Read the file
2. Translate ALL text content (titles, paragraphs, dialogue)
3. Change lang="en" to lang="[LANG_CODE]" in html tag
4. Keep ALL XHTML structure, tags, IDs, classes exactly as-is
5. Write translated content back using Write tool

Keep proper names unchanged. Translate currency naturally.
"""
}

Launch all Task agents in parallel (single message with multiple Task calls).

5. Rebuild epub

cd extracted/
nix-shell -p zip --run 'zip -X0 "../Translated.epub" mimetype && zip -rX9 "../Translated.epub" META-INF OEBPS'

6. Cleanup

rm -r extracted/

Common Mistakes

Batch Sizing

Always include auxiliary files (toc.xhtml, nav.xhtml) in the last batch.