PageTranslate Book Translator

Use this skill whenever the user wants a whole book translated: an EPUB ebook, a novel or manuscript in DOCX, or a book-length PDF. One upload returns one translated file in the same format, so an EPUB stays an EPUB. Shows the exact price for the full word count before anything is charged.

Translate a whole book with PageTranslate: an EPUB, a DOCX manuscript or a PDF. One upload, one translated file in the same format.

PageTranslate translates the file itself, not pasted text. For a sentence or a paragraph, translate it yourself.

When to use

• The user wants a novel, ebook, manuscript or textbook translated.
• The file is an .epub, or a book-length .docx or .pdf.
• The book is too long to translate in the conversation.

Before you start

• Target language: a code such as es, fr, de, it, ja, ko, ar, hi, ru. Use pt-BR for Brazilian Portuguese, zh for Simplified and zh-TW for Traditional Chinese. The source language is detected. If the user did not name a target language, ask.
• API key: the user creates one at https://pagetranslate.ai/dashboard/api-keys (free account, verified email) and sets it as PAGETRANSLATE_API_KEY.
• Price: uploading is free and returns the exact price. Nothing is charged until the user pays.
• Limits: PDF, DOCX, EPUB, PNG, JPG, WEBP, TIFF, BMP, GIF. Up to 100 MB and 1,000 PDF pages.

Steps

Use the pagetranslate MCP tools when they are available. Otherwise use curl (next section).

1. Upload: upload_document with the file's absolute path and the target language. It returns job_id, word_count, price and next_step.
2. Tell the user the price and get a yes. Then:
   • If the response has a payment_url, give the user that link. They pay by card in the browser, and the translation starts by itself.
   • If the price is 0.00 (covered by the account's word balance), call start_translation.
3. Wait: call get_translation about every 30 seconds until status is completed. If status is failed, tell the user the reason given.
4. Download: download_translation with output_dir set to the source file's folder. It never overwrites a file. Tell the user the saved path.

list_translations shows earlier jobs, for example to download one again.

Without the MCP server

Same steps over HTTPS. Every request carries Authorization: Bearer $PAGETRANSLATE_API_KEY.

bash

API=https://api.pagetranslate.ai/api/v1

# 1. Upload (free). The response has job_id and quote.total_cents.
curl -sS -X POST "$API/upload/" -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAGETRANSLATE_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/file" -F "requested_language=es"

# 2. Start from the account's word balance. A 400 "Insufficient credits" means the user
#    pays by card at https://pagetranslate.ai/dashboard?resume=JOB_ID#upload instead.
curl -sS -X POST "$API/jobs/JOB_ID/translate" -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAGETRANSLATE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}'

# 3. Poll until "status" is "completed" ("payment_status" shows whether it was paid).
curl -sS "$API/jobs/JOB_ID" -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAGETRANSLATE_API_KEY"

# 4. Download. -OJ keeps the server's file name; run it in the folder to save into.
curl -sS -OJ "$API/jobs/JOB_ID/download" -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAGETRANSLATE_API_KEY"

Book notes

• The price follows the word count: about 8¢ per 1,000 words, so an 80,000-word novel is about $6.40. The upload returns the exact price; quote that, not this estimate.
• A book takes much longer than a short document. Poll every 30 to 60 seconds and do not upload it again.
• An EPUB comes back as an EPUB with its chapters and table of contents. To read it on a Kindle, see the guide below.
• Ask which variety of the language the user wants when it matters: pt or pt-BR, zh or zh-TW.

Problems

• 401: the key is missing or revoked. Ask the user to create a new one.
• 429 on upload: uploads are rate limited per account. Wait, do not retry in a loop.
• "Unsupported language code": use one of the codes above.
• Stuck at pending: the job is unpaid. Give the user the payment link again.

Links

• Online version: translate a book with PageTranslate
• Ebooks: EPUB translator
• Fiction: AI novel translator
• Spanish editions: translate my book to Spanish
• Pricing: how much does it cost to translate a book
• Estimates: translation cost calculator
• Reading: how to open EPUB on Kindle
• Source and docs: GitHub · npm · PageTranslate

Safety

• Uploading sends the file to PageTranslate. Upload only the file the user asked to translate.
• Never print the API key or write it to a file.
• Do not say a translation is running until payment_status is paid.
• Never pay, or enter card details, for the user. Payment is theirs to make in the browser.