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+---
+bc-version: [all]
+domain: mcp
+keywords: [al-mcp, al_writetranslation, al_searchtranslations, xliff, translation, silent-failure, wrong-path]
+technologies: [al]
+countries: [w1]
+application-area: [all]
+---
+
+# al_writetranslation/al_searchtranslations must be verified against the real Translations/ file
+
+## Description
+
+The `al` MCP server's `al_writetranslation` and `al_searchtranslations` tools
+expose no `projectPath`/`appPath` parameter — unlike `al_build`/`al_publish`,
+there is no way to tell them explicitly which project's `Translations/`
+folder to target. When called for the current project's own (non-dependency)
+strings, they can resolve to the wrong location silently: `al_writetranslation`
+may create a brand-new, wrong-path `Translations/` subfolder — populated with
+placeholder `<source>(source)</source>` entries instead of the real source
+text — rather than updating the actual `<AppFolder>/Translations/<AppName>.
+<locale>.xlf` file. `al_searchtranslations` can likewise return zero results
+for a project's own strings even when they unambiguously exist in the real
+file, while correctly returning results for a named dependency app (e.g.
+`appName: "Base Application"`).
+
+Both tools report success (`"success": true"`, `"fileCreated": ...`) in this
+failure mode — there is no error to catch. A developer trusting the response
+alone will believe a batch of translations landed when none of them did,
+while a spurious extra `Translations/` folder appears elsewhere in the app
+under source control (`git status` shows it as a new untracked path once
+tracked/added).
+
+## Why
+
+This is a more dangerous failure mode than a relative-path error on
+`al_build`/`al_publish` (see `al-mcp-build-publish-projectpath-must-be-
+absolute.md`): that one fails loudly with "Invalid URI". This one fails
+silently with a success response, and the tool gives the agent no parameter
+to fix the targeting even after the mismatch is noticed.
+
+## How to apply
+
+After any `al_writetranslation` call against the current project's own
+strings, verify the write landed in the real file before reporting the
+translation as done:
+
+1. Read (or grep) `<AppFolder>/Translations/<AppName>.<locale>.xlf` directly
+   for the exact `trans-unit id` just written.
+2. Confirm its `<target state="translated">` contains the expected text —
+   not a placeholder, and not absent.
+3. If the file was not updated, do not retry the same tool call expecting a
+   different result — fall back to editing the XLIFF file(s) directly (a
+   direct string/XML edit, verified with an XML parser afterward, is
+   reliable) rather than trusting `al_writetranslation` for the remainder of
+   the batch.
+4. If a spurious `Translations/` folder appeared anywhere else in the app
+   during this process, remove it before continuing — it is dead output,
+   not a legitimate translation source.
+
+`al_searchtranslations` is reliable for looking up **dependency** app
+translations (pass `appName`) to check established terminology — the gap is
+specific to a project's own strings.
+
+## What NOT to do
+
+- Do not trust a `"success": true` response from `al_writetranslation` for
+  a project's own translations without checking the real target file.
+- Do not repeat the same `al_writetranslation` call hoping a different
+  outcome — the tool has no path-correction parameter to supply.
+- Do not leave a spurious `Translations/` folder it created lying around
+  under source control.
+
+## Applies to
+
+All CURABIS projects using the `al` MCP server for translation work (any
+repo with the standard `al` entry, machine-global per the v24 CURABIS
+Standard) that ship XLIFF translation files.