docs agent's localization pass pushed untranslated strings live

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Diff localized pages against the translation catalog to find source-language leakage. Gate publishing on a completeness threshold per locale, and mark untranslated strings visibly (or hide the page) rather than shipping source text silently.

The exact error

localized docs show untranslated source strings

Steps

1. Find the leakage Sample localized pages and compare their strings against the translation catalog; flag source-language text. Success check: You know which pages and strings leaked.

2. Fix the catalog sync Ensure the agent's localization step runs after the catalog is complete, not against a stale or partial catalog. Success check: The pipeline uses the current complete catalog.

3. Gate on completeness Require a per-locale completeness threshold before publishing; below it, keep the previous localized build. Success check: Incomplete locales do not ship silently.

4. Mark fallbacks visibly Where fallback to source text is acceptable, mark it clearly so readers know it is untranslated. Success check: Readers can distinguish translated from fallback content.

When to use

• Use when localized docs contain untranslated source strings.
• Use when an agent runs the docs localization pipeline.

When not to use

• Not for poor translation quality (different problem).
• Not for missing locales entirely (coverage problem).

Why it happens

Localization pipelines often fall back to the source string when a translation is missing, which is reasonable for UI but wrong for published docs: readers get a page that claims to be in their language but is not. Agents running the pipeline do not notice the fallback.

Edge cases

The completeness gate is the fix that scales: it turns silent leakage into a visible pipeline decision. Translation management systems expose completeness per locale, so the gate can read it directly.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_6IX3uqrckNXbXwxs8m6ksg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_6IX3uqrckNXbXwxs8m6ksg

Thread query: docs agent's localization pass pushed untranslated strings live

TL;DR: Diff localized pages against the translation catalog to find source-language leakage. Gate publishing on a completeness threshold per locale, and mark untranslated strings visibly (or hide the page) rather than shipping source text silently.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Honor the API's Retry-After response, back off exponentially with jitter, and checkpoint after every file so a rerun resumes instead of restarting. The pass died because it retried immediately at full speed, which just burns quota faster. Backoff plus checkpoints turns a rate limit into a slowdown instead of a failure.

docs agent failed after hitting translation api rate limit mid localization pass

Steps

1. Confirm it is a rate limit: check the translation step logs for 429 status codes or quota-exceeded messages. Expected: the errors cluster at high request rates, not on specific content.
2. Add retry with backoff: on a 429, wait the number of seconds from the Retry-After header (or double the wait each attempt, with jitter) before retrying, up to a sane max. Expected: a throttled run completes slowly instead of aborting.
3. Lower the request rate: batch multiple strings per API call and reduce concurrency until the 429s stop. Expected: steady throughput with no 429s in the log.
4. Checkpoint progress: record each completed file and locale (a small JSON state file works) and skip completed ones on rerun. Expected: killing and restarting the pass resumes where it stopped.
5. Rerun the localization pass and verify every locale has every file translated. Expected: no missing translations and no 429s in the final log.

Use this when

• the translation step fails with 429 or quota errors mid-pass
• some locales are translated and others are missing after a run
• rerunning the pass restarts from zero and hits the limit again

Not for this skill when

• translations are wrong but complete (quality problem, not a limit problem)
• the API rejects the content itself (validation error, not 429)
• you hit a hard monthly quota cap (backoff cannot help; you need a higher quota or fewer strings)

Variant phrasings

• translation API 429 during docs localization
• docs agent throttled mid translation pass
• localization pass died on rate limit

Why it happens

Translation APIs price by throughput: bursts of parallel requests trip per-minute quotas, and naive retry loops re-fire immediately, which the API counts as more load. Without backoff the agent effectively hammers its own quota, and without checkpoints every retry restarts the burn from zero.

Edge cases

• Retry-After can be minutes long: cap total wait time and surface a clear "paused for quota" status instead of hanging silently.
• Batching too aggressively can hit per-request size limits: find the sweet spot between batch size and request count.
• Machine-translated output still needs a quality spot-check: rate limits do not excuse shipping bad translations.
• Some APIs count characters, not requests: monitor both dimensions.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstxRaA8Xs7actGG19VqJiIA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstxRaA8Xs7actGG19VqJiIA

Thread query: docs agent failed after hitting translation api rate limit mid localization pass

TL;DR: Honor the API's Retry-After response, back off exponentially with jitter, and checkpoint after every file so a rerun resumes instead of restarting. The pass died because it retried immediately at full speed, which just burns quota faster. Backoff plus checkpoints turns a rate limit into a slowdown instead of a failure.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in Help Scout Docs by acting on the exact symptom first: search draft collections from the agent preview instead of the public index, and if readers need those articles, publish the collection and request a reindex rather than expecting public search to surface drafts. Do not repeat the same edit, search or run unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one article, collection or query first, then apply it across the affected scope and confirm as a reader.

Help Scout Docs search ignores articles inside draft collections

Use this when

• Work in Help Scout Docs shows this exact symptom: Help Scout Docs search ignores articles inside draft collections.
• The same symptom repeats after a retry with unchanged inputs.
• Readers or support agents are blocked until this item is corrected.

Not for this skill when

• The help center platform itself is down or returning outage notices. Resolve that first, then return here if this symptom remains.
• The content is correct and you only want a style or tone rewrite. That is an editorial pass, not this fix.

Steps

1. Reproduce the symptom with the smallest scope that still shows it in Help Scout Docs, and record the article, collection or query involved plus the exact wording from the code block above. Verify: the symptom is reproduced on demand with a named scope, not only reported second hand.
2. Apply the specific fix for this symptom: search draft collections from the agent preview instead of the public index, and if readers need those articles, publish the collection and request a reindex rather than expecting public search to surface drafts. Verify: the smallest failing scope now behaves as the fix predicts, checked in the published view rather than only in the editor.
3. Check neighbouring articles, collections or locales that share the same template, category or workflow, because this class of problem rarely affects only one item. Verify: the neighbouring items are listed and each is marked affected or clear.
4. Repeat the original reader or agent action in Help Scout Docs that exposed the symptom, using the same query, link or workflow as the first attempt. Verify: the action completes and the original symptom does not appear.
5. Compare the result against the source of truth for this item, the current product behaviour, price list, release notes or ticket evidence named in the fix. Verify: the published result matches the source or every difference is named and explained.
6. Record the fix, the scope it covered and the verification result where the content team works, so the next occurrence is recognised immediately. Verify: the record names the symptom, the fix applied and the evidence of success.

Variant phrasings

Help Scout Docs search ignores articles inside draft collections

The verbatim form readers and agents paste from the help center or console. Treat it identically: same fix, same single scope proof, then the wider rollout.

How to fix - Help Scout Docs search ignores articles inside draft collections

The how to phrasing for the same problem in Help Scout Docs. The steps above apply unchanged; start at the reproduction step rather than skipping to the final check.

Help Scout Docs troubleshooting for this symptom

The symptom first phrasing used when the full message is hidden. Surface the full symptom first, confirm it matches the code block above, then follow the steps.

Why it happens

Public Docs search indexes published collections only, so articles in a draft collection are invisible to readers by design and only appear in the editor preview.

Edge cases

• The symptom appears in one locale, collection or audience view only. Fix that scope, then check the same item in the other views before closing.
• A cached or indexed copy keeps showing the old state after the fix. Allow for the platform reindex or cache window, recheck in a fresh reader session, and only then escalate.
• Two items have near identical titles. Confirm the identifier of the item you edited, not just its title, before declaring the fix verified.

Compatibility: Help Scout Docs at current versions, plus the help center admin, search or API surface the query names; no extra tooling beyond reader level access to verify the published result.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_cWReNwYpCRpZJTvjf5ojpQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_cWReNwYpCRpZJTvjf5ojpQ

Thread query: Help Scout Docs search ignores articles inside draft collections

TL;DR: Fix this in Help Scout Docs by acting on the exact symptom first: search draft collections from the agent preview instead of the public index, and if readers need those articles, publish the collection and request a reindex rather than expecting public search to surface drafts. Do not repeat the same edit, search or run unchanged, because the same inputs produce the same failure. Prove the fix on one article, collection or query first, then apply it across the affected scope and confirm as a reader.