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Connor Fitzgerald
Connor Fitzgerald

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I Got Tired of Gluing Together n8n, GPT Prompts, and a CMS So I Built My Own Blog Engine for Next.js

Over the past year I kept trying to automate blog content for my SaaS projects.

It always started simple.

Generate ideas with AI.

  • Write drafts.
  • Push them through n8n.
  • Store them in a CMS.
  • Render them in Next.js.
  • Update the sitemap.
  • Revalidate cache.
  • Ship.

But the system kept getting heavier.

Every time I added one more automation, I added one more thing that could break.

Eventually I realized the problem was not AI.

It was the glue.


The friction was not obvious at first

  • n8n workflows fail quietly.
  • A credential expires.
  • A node changes output shape.
  • A webhook times out.

Now your publishing pipeline is half working and you do not notice for days.

Then there was context.

Most AI blog tools generate content in isolation. They do not understand your product. They do not know your positioning. They do not know your terminology. They do not understand your internal linking structure.

So you end up editing more than you expected.

Then SEO slowly drifts.

  • Titles are slightly off.
  • Meta descriptions are too long.
  • Headings are weak.
  • Internal links are inconsistent.
  • Your sitemap logic is separate from your content logic.

It works. But it never feels solid.


What I actually wanted

I wanted something that:

  • Fully automates programmatic SEO
  • Generates content that actually sounds human
  • Handles metadata correctly every time
  • Updates sitemaps automatically
  • Renders natively inside a Next.js app
  • Does not require maintaining a CMS backend
  • Does not depend on fragile automation chains

So I built AutoBlogWriter.


It fully automates programmatic SEO

This is the core idea.

Not just generating posts.

Programmatic SEO means:

  • Structured topic clusters
  • Pillar and supporting pages
  • Consistent publishing cadence
  • Automatic title and meta optimization
  • Clean heading hierarchy
  • Internal linking support
  • Sitemap and robots updates
  • Consistent images

You define the direction and strategy. The system handles:

Idea → Draft → Polish → Schedule → Publish → Render.

No Zap chains. No CMS syncing. No duct tape.


The AI is tuned for structure and tone

One thing that bothered me with most AI blog tools was tone.

They sound like AI.

They also miss important SEO structure:

Weak headings.
Over optimized intros.
Filler paragraphs.
Poor title length control.

I spent a lot of time refining prompts so the output:

  • Feels more natural
  • Avoids obvious AI phrasing
  • Respects heading hierarchy
  • Hits proper SEO metadata lengths
  • Aligns with SaaS positioning

The goal is not mass content.

The goal is structured, believable content that actually fits your product.


Built React components and API

If you are already using Next.js, you should not need to bolt on WordPress or a separate CMS.

AutoBlogWriter includes fully built and styled React components that you can customize to match your design system.

For example:

import { BlogPost, BlogPostList } from "@autoblogwriter/sdk";

export default function Page({ params }) {
  return <BlogPost slug={params.slug} />;
}
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The SDK handles:

  • Fetching content
  • Injecting metadata
  • Structured data
  • Open Graph tags
  • Canonical URLs
  • SEO helpers

It works cleanly with fully SSR Next.js apps and App Router setups.

But it is not locked to Next.js.

If you are using regular React or another frontend setup, you can use the API directly and render however you want. The content layer is accessible through standard API calls, so it works for non Next.js apps too.

The React components are optional. The API is always there.


The docs are built for developers and LLMs

I also structured the docs intentionally.

There is a full llms.txt and llms-full.txt file that clearly explains:

  • What the platform is
  • How it works
  • Implementation details
  • Feature breakdown
  • Comparison context

It makes onboarding easier for developers.

It also makes it easier for AI systems to understand how the product fits into the ecosystem.

The goal was clarity, not marketing copy.


This is really about reducing surface area

I did not set out to build another AI writer.

I wanted fewer moving parts.

Less glue code.
Less maintenance.
Fewer silent failures.
More control inside the actual app.

Programmatic SEO only compounds if the infrastructure is stable.

Otherwise you are just generating more content on top of a fragile system.


I am still early. No customers yet.

But the foundation feels right.

If you are building a SaaS and trying to automate blog content without stitching five tools together, I would genuinely appreciate feedback.

Site:
https://autoblogwriter.app

Docs:
https://docs.autoblogwriter.app

Curious how others are handling blog automation inside their own apps.

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