translation agent hallucinated plural forms not in locale data and the bu

Not specified by the original author.

Fix the translation agent hallucinating plural forms not in the locale data

TL;DR

The agent invents plural categories the locale does not have, so validate its output against Intl.PluralRules. If the locale only has one and other, any zero or few form the agent emits is fiction. Check every generated plural key against the categories the locale can actually select, and drop the rest.

The error

Translation agent: build failed, unknown plural form "few" for locale "ja"
agent generated ja items_few, Japanese has only other

Fix it

Step 1: List the valid categories per locale

node -e "for(const l of ['ja','ar','fr']) { const r=new Intl.PluralRules(l); console.log(l, ['zero','one','two','few','many'].filter(c=>{try{return true}catch(e){return false}})) }"

Expected: You see the real category sets, ja effectively other only.

Step 2: Validate agent output against those sets

node -e "console.log('pattern: for each generated key_suffix, check suffix is in the locale valid set, reject otherwise')"

Expected: Hallucinated forms get rejected.

Step 3: Delete the hallucinated keys

node -e "console.log('remove the invalid suffix keys from the catalog, keep only valid ones')"

Expected: The catalog matches the locale data.

Step 4: Rebuild and confirm

node scripts/build-catalog.js | tail -2

Expected: The build passes.

When to use this

• An agent generates plural forms the locale does not support
• The build fails on unknown plural forms

When NOT to use this

• The forms are valid but the copy is wrong, fix the copy
• The locale data itself is wrong, check your Intl implementation

Tool and version compatibility

• Intl.PluralRules category sets, CLDR data
• Agent-generated plural keys

Variant phrasings

agent hallucinates ordinal forms too

Same validation with type ordinal. Ordinal category sets differ from cardinal.

hallucination only for low-resource locales

The agent guesses from English patterns. The validation gate matters most there.

Why it happens

Generative agents pattern-match from high-resource languages and assume every locale has the full CLDR set. Japanese genuinely has only other, so few and friends are inventions that fail the build.

Edge cases

• Validate at generation time, not just build time, to give the agent feedback
• Keep a per-locale allowlist checked into the repo
• Some libraries warn instead of failing, turn those warnings into errors in CI

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_tijPsfhm1luB-bYl3ANTGQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_tijPsfhm1luB-bYl3ANTGQ

Thread query: translation agent hallucinated plural forms not in locale data and the build failed

TL;DR: The agent invents plural categories the locale does not have, so validate its output against Intl.PluralRules. If the locale only has one and other, any zero or few form the agent emits is fiction. Check every generated plural key against the categories the locale can actually select, and drop the rest.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Fix this in Search check agent by acting on the exact symptom first: require each reported translation issue to quote the source paragraph and the locale paragraph side by side, validate both against the live articles, and discard any finding whose quoted text cannot be found in the articles. 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.

Agent invented a translation update not present in source data

Use this when

• Work in Search check agent shows this exact symptom: Agent invented a translation update not present in source data.
• 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 Search check agent, 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: require each reported translation issue to quote the source paragraph and the locale paragraph side by side, validate both against the live articles, and discard any finding whose quoted text cannot be found in the articles. 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 Search check agent 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

Agent invented a translation update not present in source data

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 - agent hallucinating translation update not in source data for check help center search results for an error query error hallucination failure

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

Search check agent 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

Summarising locale differences from memory produces fluent invented mismatches, and only quoted evidence from the live articles separates real translation drift from invention.

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: Search check agent 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_ioR1X7VyfJU41megevPSZg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_ioR1X7VyfJU41megevPSZg

Thread query: agent hallucinating translation update not in source data for check help center search results for an error query error hallucination failure

TL;DR: Fix this in Search check agent by acting on the exact symptom first: require each reported translation issue to quote the source paragraph and the locale paragraph side by side, validate both against the live articles, and discard any finding whose quoted text cannot be found in the articles. 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.

Not specified by the original author.

locale qa agent flagged correct plural forms as missing

TL;DR

Fixes the locale QA agent reporting false missing-plural failures. Teach the agent the CLDR plural categories per locale so it stops demanding forms the language does not use. Use when QA fails on correct plural sets. Not for genuinely missing forms.

The error

QA agent failed the build: plural forms missing for locale ja, expected one and other.

Fix it

Step 1: Check the CLDR categories for the locale

node -e "console.log(new Intl.PluralRules('ja').resolvedOptions())"

Expected: You see Japanese only uses the other category.

Step 2: Update the agent's expected-form table

node -e "console.log('replace the hardcoded one/other expectation with per-locale CLDR categories')"

Expected: The agent expects only the forms the locale uses.

Step 3: Re-run the QA check

node -e "console.log('confirm Japanese passes with only the other form present')"

Expected: The false failures are gone.

When to use this

• QA fails demanding plural forms a locale does not use
• The agent hardcodes English plural expectations

When NOT to use this

• A form the locale really needs is missing, add the translation
• The QA failure is about syntax, fix the ICU message

Tool and version compatibility

• Any locale QA agent with plural checks
• CLDR plural data via Intl.PluralRules

Variant phrasings

false failures for many locales

The expectation table is English-only. Generate it from CLDR for every locale.

failures only for zero/one edge cases

Those are explicit =0/=1 cases, separate from category expectations.

Why it happens

Many QA agents assume every language needs one and other. CLDR defines per-locale categories: Japanese needs only other, Arabic needs six. The agent's hardcoded table produces false failures for most of the world's languages.

Edge cases

• Explicit =0 cases are message-level, not locale-level
• CLDR versions change categories rarely but it happens; pin the version
• Ordinal categories differ from cardinal ones

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstKPXWA1-cDrzzhLReg7nNg

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pstKPXWA1-cDrzzhLReg7nNg

Thread query: locale qa agent flagged correct plural forms as missing

TL;DR: Fixes the locale QA agent reporting false missing-plural failures. Teach the agent the CLDR plural categories per locale so it stops demanding forms the language does not use. Use when QA fails on correct plural sets. Not for genuinely missing forms.