diff --git a/configs/quantecon/programming-zh-cn.yml b/configs/quantecon/programming-zh-cn.yml
index f665ab7..0af6122 100644
--- a/configs/quantecon/programming-zh-cn.yml
+++ b/configs/quantecon/programming-zh-cn.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ baseline:
     lectures/_admonition/gpu.md: e002d4f
 machine:
   bots: ['\[bot\]', 'dependabot', 'github-actions']
-  sync: ['\[translation-sync\]', '\[action-translation\]', 'resync']
+  # '^Update translation: ' is the engine's 2026-03/04 per-file commit subject
+  # (41 commits, all under the maintainer identity the engine commits as);
+  # caught by the 2026-08-28 tier adjudication, where the wave read as ai-assisted
+  sync: ['\[translation-sync\]', '\[action-translation\]', 'resync', '^Update translation: ']
   state_dir: .translate/state
 disclosure: {trailers: [AI-Assisted], authors: ['copilot-swe-agent']}
 people: