diff --git a/.github/workflows/translate-zh-cn.yml b/.github/workflows/translate-zh-cn.yml
index 394998316..668f04637 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/translate-zh-cn.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/translate-zh-cn.yml
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
 name: Translate zh-CN
 
 on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - main
-    paths-ignore:
-      - docs/zh-CN/**
-      - docs/.i18n/zh-CN.tm.jsonl
+  repository_dispatch:
+    types:
+      - translate-zh-cn-release
   schedule:
-    - cron: "17 * * * *"
+    - cron: "17 3 * * *"
   workflow_dispatch:
 
 permissions:
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 82756ce7b..1376105c6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,17 @@ Source of truth lives in [`openclaw/openclaw`](https://github.com/openclaw/openc
 1. English docs are authored in `openclaw/openclaw`.
 2. `openclaw/openclaw/.github/workflows/docs-sync-publish.yml` mirrors the docs tree into this repo.
 3. This repo stores the published docs tree plus generated zh-CN output.
-4. `openclaw/docs/.github/workflows/translate-zh-cn.yml` runs on push and hourly to refresh `docs/zh-CN/**`.
+4. `openclaw/docs/.github/workflows/translate-zh-cn.yml` runs once a day, on manual dispatch, and after release dispatches from `openclaw/openclaw` to refresh `docs/zh-CN/**`.
+
+## Translation behavior
+
+- zh-CN pages are generated output.
+- Each translated page stores `x-i18n.source_hash`.
+- The translate workflow computes a pending file list before calling the model.
+- If no English source hashes changed, the workflow skips the expensive translation step entirely.
+- If files changed, only the pending files are translated.
+- The workflow retries transient model-format failures.
+- Published releases in `openclaw/openclaw` dispatch an extra zh-CN refresh so release-adjacent docs updates do not wait for the daily cron.
 
 ## Editing rules