## Why
The Import Tasks panel routinely lists issues in languages the operator
cannot read. Translation already shipped in #2128, but deliberately
**opt-in and preview-only** — its header comment read *"Translation is
opt-in (never automatic) so import provenance stays faithful until the
operator asks."*
This reverses that decision **behind a default-off setting**, so
operators who never opt in keep byte-faithful import provenance. The
superseded comment is kept and annotated rather than deleted, so the
reason the rule changed stays in the code.
### The structural gap #2128 left
`POST /github/issues/import` accepts only `{owner, repo, issueNumber}`
and **re-fetches the issue server-side**. A translation held in React
state could never reach the created task, and the in-memory cache died
with the modal. That is why the cache here is server-side rather than in
the hook — it's what makes "imported issues carry the translated
version" actually true.
## What operators get
Auto-translate is **off by default**. When enabled:
- The **50 most recent OPEN** foreign-language issues translate on panel
load — **list titles**, not just the preview, so the list reads in your
language before you click anything.
- Translations show **by default**, with a toggle back to the original
(hover a translated list title to see the original).
- Translations **persist until the issue closes**, so re-opening the
panel neither waits nor re-bills.
- **Both single and batch import** carry the translation, so the created
task reads like the preview you approved.
- A **target language** setting (unset = follow the dashboard language)
and a dedicated **model lane**, so you can pin a cheap/fast model
without dragging the summarization lane onto it.
## Notable decisions
| Decision | Why |
|---|---|
| Detect **before** the model | An issue already in the target language
is never sent. Without this, an English repo with the setting on would
bill every issue to return its input unchanged. |
| Detection moved to `@fusion/core` | The panel and the server must not
disagree about which issues are foreign; two copies of a heuristic
drift. |
| Own rate-limit budget | Translation shared a 10/hour budget with
refine/goal-draft. Fanning out per-issue would fail partway **and**
starve refine for the hour. |
| Cache keyed on a **source hash** | An edited issue misses the cache
and re-translates instead of serving stale prose. |
| Import is **cache-read only** | A miss imports the original. Import
must never block on, or fail because of, translation. |
| `project_id` leads the cache PK + full RLS contract | All projects
share one flat `project` schema. `verification_cache`'s PK predates that
discipline; this table does not copy that mistake. |
## Verification
- ✅ `pnpm lint`, `@fusion/core` + `@fusion/dashboard` typecheck
- ✅ `pnpm verify:fast` — build + scoped typecheck + real boot smoke
(`/api/health`)
- ✅ `pnpm test:gate` — 479 tests
- ✅ 19 new tests covering the billing invariants
(off/closed/same-language ⇒ **no model call**), cache hit/miss-on-edit,
the 50 cap, and per-item fail-soft
- ✅ `schema-applier` real-Postgres suite (46 tests) exercises migration
`0010` and its isolation invariant
**Pre-existing failures NOT touched** (confirmed red on `HEAD` before
this branch): `AppearanceSection`'s task-popup test, and two PG-cutover
keys (`sqliteMigrationNotice`, `postgresMigrationInboxMessageSentAt`)
missing description mappings. I left the latter rather than guess an
allowlist entry that could mask a real coverage gap.
## Reviewer notes
- Short Latin-script prose (a one-line Spanish title) rates only
*medium* confidence and won't auto-translate — the existing heuristic is
deliberately conservative so English issues are never billed. CJK
detects regardless of length. The threshold is the knob if you'd rather
bias toward translating.
- The RLS/isolation contract in migration `0010` is the part most worth
a careful look.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
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Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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