diff --git a/docs/localization.md b/docs/localization.md
index b00a16a..07a9c0e 100644
--- a/docs/localization.md
+++ b/docs/localization.md
@@ -222,20 +222,39 @@ wrong or empty key rejects the handshake (close-before-accept → HTTP 403).
 Frames are JSON-encoded tagged msgspec structs (`pagerite/translate.py`;
 `bytes` fields ride as base64):
 
-- `{"type": "hello", "langs": [...]}` — client greeting: the target
-  languages it handles (normalized to base subtags; `en`/empty dropped).
-- `{"type": "job", "lang", "items": [{key, text, path, kind}]}` — server
-  push: pending fragments (article titles and chunks), deduped by key.
-- `{"type": "result", "lang", "items": [{key, text}]}` — client reply:
-  translated fragments, matched to content by chunk key alone.
+- `{"type": "hello", "langs": [...]}` — client greeting announcing its
+  **capabilities**: the language codes its model can produce (normalized
+  to base subtags; `en`/empty dropped).
+- `{"type": "job", "lang", "key", "text", "path", "kind"}` — server push:
+  ONE fragment to translate (an article title or a chunk).
+- `{"type": "result", "lang", "key", "text"}` — client reply: the
+  translation of the connection's current job, matching it by (lang, key).
 
-The model is **push**, not polling: on `hello` the server sends everything
-pending per announced language; afterwards `_invalidate_pages()` (called by
-every content/translation write) schedules a delta push of newly pending
-items. Outstanding-item tracking is per connection, so a reconnecting client
-simply re-receives everything still pending. Results are stored into `trans`
-in one transaction and set `node.langs[lang]` on every article they touch
-(shared chunks make several pages gain a language from one fragment).
+Which languages get translated is **server-configured**:
+`Data.translate_langs` (presence-key dict, read/set via `/_api/settings`
+as `translate_langs`; no editing UI yet). The dispatcher offers a
+connection jobs only in `wanted ∩ capable`; a connection without overlap
+simply stays idle.
+
+Dispatch semantics (all in app.py):
+
+- **One job at a time per connection** — the next job is sent only after
+  the current one's result. Clients wanting parallelism open multiple
+  connections (e.g. several `scripts/translator.py` instances).
+- Pending work is derived from the `trans` store
+  (`translate.pending_items`) minus the items in flight on any connection,
+  so a **disconnect requeues** that connection's in-flight item and it is
+  offered to any free capable connection.
+- Dispatch re-runs on every relevant event: Hello, result, disconnect and
+  content change (`_invalidate_pages()` schedules it, so the pass runs
+  after the writing transaction commits).
+- A result with no job in flight, a mismatched (lang, key), a duplicate
+  hello, or any malformed frame closes the socket with a protocol error.
+
+Results are stored into `trans` in one transaction and set
+`node.langs[lang]` on every article they touch (shared chunks make several
+pages gain a language from one fragment). Unknown keys are stored anyway
+and re-storing overwrites — results are idempotent.
 
 ### Explicitly out of scope for phase 2
 
diff --git a/docs/migrate.md b/docs/migrate.md
index f55bc54..721c121 100644
--- a/docs/migrate.md
+++ b/docs/migrate.md
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ class Data(msgspec.Struct):
     #: API key gating the translator service WebSocket (/_translate/{key});
     #: generated lazily at startup (see the lifespan in app.py).
     translate_key: str = ""
+    #: Wanted target languages for the translator service (presence-keys);
+    #: jobs are offered only in these ∩ a connection's capabilities.
+    translate_langs: dict[str, True] = {}
     #: All original-language text, content-addressed: blake3(normalized)
     #: digest[:9] -> Markdown chunk. Shared by every article. Keys are
     #: bytes; kanta/msgspec base64-encode them at the JSON level.
@@ -94,11 +97,13 @@ alternate links never enumerate chunks. It is written by whoever writes
 translation data, in the same transaction:
 
 - **Translator service:** the WebSocket API at `/_translate/{key}` (see
-  docs/localization.md) pushes pending fragments (titles + translatable
-  chunks lacking an entry, deduped by hash) and receives result batches;
-  storing a batch writes `trans[h][lang]` entries, sets
-  `node.langs[lang] = True` on every article that gained one and
-  invalidates the page cache — all in one transaction.
+  docs/localization.md) offers pending fragments (titles + translatable
+  chunks lacking an entry for the language) as single-item jobs — one at
+  a time per connection, in `Data.translate_langs` ∩ the connection's
+  announced capabilities — and receives the matching result; storing it
+  writes the `trans[h][lang]` entry, sets `node.langs[lang] = True` on
+  every article that gained one and invalidates the page cache — all in
+  one transaction.
 - **Translated-view save:** appending the first patch for `f"{path}:{lang}"`
   sets `node.langs[lang] = True` (patches alone make the version exist).
 - **Removals:** deleting a patch or GC'ing translations re-derives the key: