Book Studio - Codex Plugin (Public)

Book Studio concept illustration: an open book with two pages and blue highlights. — AI-generated cover illustration for this introduction; not a product screenshot.

Book Studio is a Codex plugin for translating, editing, and checking EPUB books with AI. It bundles the book-translation skill and its matching Python engine, so a book project can start without a separate CLI installation.

From a pilot translation to an exported book

Clarify the target language, output format, and any missing preferences before translating.
Prepare a representative pilot translation and wait for your review before processing the full book.
Translate in bounded content packets with glossary and reference context.
Export target-only or bilingual EPUBs, preserving structure and original images where supported.
Check structure, navigation, and exports; editorial quality and visuals still need review.

A skill and engine in one plugin

The skill guides requirement gathering, pilot preparation, and the workflow with AI. The Python engine handles data, book structure, and validation. The engine does not call models or upload books itself; AI tools used during a session depend on your environment.

The plugin uses its bundled runner and engine, even if another CLI version is installed. Source content, editorial decisions, and exports stay in a separate project directory outside the source checkout.

Getting started with Codex

For EPUB work, you need Python 3.11 or later and a Codex version with plugin support. After installing Book Studio through the repository marketplace, open a new task, select the plugin, and provide your source file. This setup does not require pip, pipx, or a separate bookstudio CLI installation.

The public repository includes the Book Studio plugin package and installation instructions at commit e027d9617ecaf23e5f5dc1efa7d52ac16b072416. Read the repository README for installation steps and requirements for your version.

A look at the source

The book-studio-core repository page on GitHub with the plugins, skills, src and tests folders. — Public repository: plugin, skill, Python engine and test suite side by side. GitHub screenshot, 16 September 2026, commit e027d96.

Installing the plugin into Codex takes four lines; the engine is bundled, so no pip or separate CLI is needed:

git clone https://github.com/wblekhoa/book-studio-core.git
cd book-studio-core
codex plugin marketplace add .
codex plugin add book-studio@book-studio

The guided translation flow fits in six beginner commands; the rest are for advanced use:

BEGINNER_COMMANDS = ("doctor", "start", "init", "next", "apply", "finish")

COMMAND_HELP = {
    "doctor": "Check whether the local runtime can run Book Studio.",
    "start": "Start a guided translation project.",
    "next": "Emit the next bounded translation packet.",
    "apply": "Validate and apply one AI translation response.",
    "finish": "Run the strict reproducible final-book gate.",
}

Each translation turn is a small packet: the engine picks the untranslated blocks of one file, caps them at max_blocks and skips blocks whose translation already matches the current context (condensed from translation/packets.py):

for file in block_map.get("files", []):
    remaining = [
        block for block in file.get("blocks", [])
        if (source_path, block["block_index"]) in targets
        and (source_path, block["block_index"]) not in translated
    ]
    if remaining:
        selected = remaining[: config.max_blocks]
        break

The pilot must be approved before the whole book is translated; the engine never accepts on the user’s behalf:

bookstudio start PROJECT --source SOURCE.epub --json
bookstudio pilot approve PROJECT --json
bookstudio pilot accept PROJECT --confirm --json

The book-translation skill on GitHub: the boundary and workflow sections of SKILL.md. — The skill is one SKILL.md file: usage boundary, workflow and the commands the AI may run. GitHub screenshot, 16 September 2026.

PDFs and additional tools

PDF preparation requires local Poppler tools and supports suitable text-layer documents only. OCR for scanned books is not included. Rendering and image generation use tools available in the AI environment and are not bundled with the engine.

Verification and usage scope

The reported local verification passed 225/225 tests and both plugin and skill validators. A sample translation workflow ran end to end from the installed plugin, the bundle matched its source, and an audit of 129 files reported no violations. These are technical checks of the local build, not a substitute for translation review or visual inspection of each book.

The project uses a personal-use license. Generated books are for private reading, study, or research, not sale, publication, or redistribution.

Book Studio Core source code.