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Translate silently does nothing when the language can't be detected, or the message is already in your language #287

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opened 2026-10-04 19:50:21 -04:00 by jared · 0 comments
jared commented 2026-10-04 19:50:21 -04:00
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Clicking Translate in the message menu can do nothing visible:

  • If the message is already in the target language, useMessageTranslation sets status skipped and switches itself off (src/app/hooks/useMessageTranslation.ts:121-125).
  • If detection fails or is low-confidence, chromeTranslationEngine.detect() returns undefined for every error and for confidence < 0.5 (src/app/utils/translation/chromeEngine.ts:52-65), giving the same silent skipped.

Reproduced in Chromium 140 (Translator + LanguageDetector present). Translate on a German message showed no chip, no "Translating…", and no error.

Introduced by ecb7b1a7 (2026-07-18).

Fix: show a short inline note in the translation chip slot: "Already in English", "Couldn't tell what language this is", or "Translation isn't available for ". Report detector failures as error, not skipped.

Found in the October 2026 client audit (Playwright against a local Synapse + LiveKit stack, plus code reading). Code refs are at cinny 30e2dbcd, cinny-desktop 8f67ec7, element-call 3b0050e8.

Clicking **Translate** in the message menu can do nothing visible: - If the message is already in the target language, `useMessageTranslation` sets status `skipped` and switches itself off (src/app/hooks/useMessageTranslation.ts:121-125). - If detection fails or is low-confidence, `chromeTranslationEngine.detect()` returns `undefined` for every error and for confidence < 0.5 (src/app/utils/translation/chromeEngine.ts:52-65), giving the same silent `skipped`. Reproduced in Chromium 140 (Translator + LanguageDetector present). Translate on a German message showed no chip, no "Translating…", and no error. **Introduced by** ecb7b1a7 (2026-07-18). **Fix:** show a short inline note in the translation chip slot: "Already in English", "Couldn't tell what language this is", or "Translation isn't available for <lang>". Report detector failures as `error`, not `skipped`. --- _Found in the October 2026 client audit (Playwright against a local Synapse + LiveKit stack, plus code reading). Code refs are at cinny `30e2dbcd`, cinny-desktop `8f67ec7`, element-call `3b0050e8`._
jared added the priority: lowuxarea: messaging labels 2026-10-04 19:50:21 -04:00
jared closed this issue 2026-10-18 08:59:31 -04:00
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Reference: LotusGuild/cinny#287