Files dated before the cutoff are the grandfathered backlog by
definition (including cutoff-eve creations); backdating is a
review-visible RFC-convention violation, not a loophole.
New docs must not enlarge the translation backlog: any date-named
document (yyyy-mm-dd-*.md, i.e. an RFC) dated on/after the manifest's
requiredSince cutoff must merge with its complete pair, independent of
the required back-catalog list. Cutoff ships at 2026-07-05, so the
existing 2026-07-04 RFC wave is grandfathered into the batch backlog
and everything after is bilingual from birth.
The date comes from the filename, deliberately: it is deterministic
from tree content alone — no git history (shallow CI checkouts hold),
no PR base ref — matching the gate's pure-content design. A proposal
dated before the cutoff that merges later escapes the rule; that is
the graceful grandfathering of in-flight work, not a hole.
--list marks such files (required by date); contract and RFC updated
in both languages and the pairs re-recorded.
Redesign per review: neither language is canonical. A pair is three
sibling files — foo.md, foo.zh.md, foo.i18n.yaml — and either language
may be authored first (a Chinese-first RFC is as legitimate as an
English-first one). The sidecar record holds the FULL git blob hash of
both sides as of the last confirmed-consistent state, replacing the
in-file one-directional fingerprint; editing either side without
re-confirming the pair goes red. New --write mode re-records a pair
after both sides are brought in line, making the confirmation a
reviewable yaml diff. Pairs merge whole (completeness enforced).
- gate rewritten around pair anchors (union of .zh.md and .i18n.yaml
remnants) so half-deleted pairs are caught from either side; red/green
proven for en-only edit, zh-only edit, missing record, and a record
for an excluded file
- verify-rfc-classification now skips .zh.md counterparts (same RFC,
indexed via its English filename; the pairing gate owns consistency)
- docs/i18n/README.md + translation-rules.md reframed bidirectionally
(terminology table binds both directions; typography section governs
the Chinese side); zh counterparts updated; skill workflow updated
- RFC amended to the shipped design, records the English-canonical
in-file-fingerprint model as considered-and-revised; RFC translated
(docs/rfc/.../2026-07-02-bilingual-docs-and-pairing-gate.zh.md) and
added to the required frontier
- generated docs stay excluded with the follow-up recorded: teach the
generators to emit Chinese, then de-list
Ziya