fix(dub): skip empty cues in translation readiness

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ metadata and the backend fallback mirror it.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Let empty spoken cues coexist with complete cached dubbing translations, matching translation progress — thanks @rudycelekli! (#2662)
+
 - MCP speech tools wait through model loading and progress-extended CPU renders instead of timing out before the backend (#2609)
 
 ## [0.5.7] — 2026-10-05

docs/dubbing/export.md

@@ -23,3 +23,5 @@ filters; POSIX filenames keep literal backslashes. Two caption styles are availa
 Smart Fit exports burn captions after the video retime, so both styles follow
 the fitted timeline. The karaoke script can also be downloaded on its own from
 `GET /dub/ass/{job_id}` as an `.ass` sidecar.
+
+A cached multi-language translation is complete when every nonempty spoken cue has text for that language. Empty cues do not block a fully translated target or cause its cache to be translated again; a job with no spoken cues is not considered ready. This uses the same cue set as the translation progress indicator.

electron/src/shared/utils/multiLang.js

@@ -1,12 +1,8 @@
 export function hasCompleteTranslation(segments, languageCode) {
-  return (
-    !!languageCode &&
-    segments.length > 0 &&
-    segments.every((segment) => {
-      const text = segment.translations?.[languageCode];
-      return typeof text === 'string' && text.trim().length > 0;
-    })
-  );
+  if (!languageCode) return false;
+  // Match the progress indicator: empty spoken cues need no translation.
+  const { ready, total } = translationProgressByCode(segments, [{ code: languageCode }])[languageCode];
+  return total > 0 && ready === total;
 }
 
 export function multiLangTargets(activeLanguage, activeCode, selected) {

electron/src/shared/utils/multiLang.test.js

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
-import { translationProgressByCode } from './multiLang';
+import { hasCompleteTranslation, translationProgressByCode } from './multiLang';
 
 describe('translationProgressByCode', () => {
   it('never credits stale visible text to a different language', () => {
@@ -17,3 +17,28 @@ describe('translationProgressByCode', () => {
     });
   });
 });
+
+
+describe('hasCompleteTranslation', () => {
+  it('accepts a fully translated target with an empty spoken cue', () => {
+    const segments = [
+      { text_original: 'Hello', text: 'Hola', translations: { es: 'Hola' } },
+      { text_original: ' ', text: '' },
+    ];
+    expect(translationProgressByCode(segments, [{ code: 'es' }])).toEqual({ es: { ready: 1, total: 1 } });
+    expect(hasCompleteTranslation(segments, 'es')).toBe(true);
+  });
+  it('still requires each nonempty cue to have the requested language', () => {
+    const segments = [
+      { text_original: 'Hello', text: 'Hola', translations: { es: 'Hola' } },
+      { text_original: 'Goodbye', text: 'Goodbye' },
+    ];
+    expect(hasCompleteTranslation(segments, 'es')).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasCompleteTranslation(segments, 'ja')).toBe(false);
+  });
+  it('does not mark an empty job or an empty language complete', () => {
+    expect(hasCompleteTranslation([], 'es')).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasCompleteTranslation([{ text_original: '', text: '' }], 'es')).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasCompleteTranslation([{ text_original: 'Hello', translations: { es: 'Hola' } }], '')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});