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Gokul Nathan
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Article Automation Test Repository

Article Automation Test Repository

🚀 GitHub Actions • 📚 Hashnode • 📝 Dev.to • 📄 MIT License

🧪 Test repository demonstrating the multi-platform blog publishing system

This repository serves as a demonstration and testing ground for the article-automation GitHub Actions that automatically publish content to Hashnode and Dev.to platforms.

📑 Table of Contents

🎯 Purpose

This repository demonstrates:

  • ✅ How to structure content for automated publishing
  • ✅ Proper workflow configuration
  • ✅ Integration with multiple blogging platforms
  • ✅ Automated image URL conversion
  • ✅ Post update functionality

⚡ Quick Start

Estimated setup time: 15-20 minutes

✅ Quick Start Checklist

  1. Fork this repository (2 min)
  2. Get API keys from Hashnode and Dev.to (5-10 min)
  3. Configure secrets in repository settings (3-5 min)
  4. Test the workflow with sample content (2-3 min)

💡 First time? Follow the detailed Installation section below.

📋 Prerequisites

Before setting up the automation, ensure you have:

🔐 Account Requirements

  • GitHub account with repository admin access
  • Hashnode account with a publication (free tier supported)
  • Dev.to account with API access enabled

📝 Content Requirements

  • Articles written in Markdown format
  • Images hosted on GitHub or external CDN
  • Basic understanding of GitHub Actions

🛠️ Technical Requirements

  • No local setup required - runs entirely on GitHub Actions
  • Compatible with public and private repositories
  • Supports automated and manual triggers

📊 Platform Limits

Platform Rate Limits Notes
Hashnode 100 requests/hour GraphQL API
Dev.to 30 requests/30 seconds REST API
GitHub Actions 2,000 minutes/month (free) Ubuntu runners

📁 Repository Structure 

article-automation-test/
├── 📁 content/
│   └── 📄 README.md              # Your article content (required)
├── 📁 images/                    # Referenced images (optional)
│   ├── 🖼️ demo-screenshot.png
│   └── 🖼️ feature-diagram.jpg
├── 📁 .github/workflows/
│   ├── ⚙️ devto.yml             # Dev.to publishing workflow
│   ├── ⚙️ hashnode.yml          # Hashnode publishing workflow
│   └── ⚙️ publish.yml           # Combined workflow (recommended)
├── 📄 .gitignore                # Git ignore rules
├── 📄 LICENSE                   # MIT license
└── 📄 README.md                 # This documentation
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📋 File Descriptions

File/Folder Purpose Required
content/README.md Your article content in Markdown ✅ Required
images/ Static images referenced in articles ❌ Optional
.github/workflows/ GitHub Actions automation ✅ Required
.gitignore Excludes temporary files ✅ Recommended
LICENSE Project license ✅ Recommended

📝 Test Content

The test article in content/README.md should follow this structure:

📋 Content Format Requirements 

# Your Article Title

Your article introduction goes here. This will become the description.

## Section Headers

Use standard markdown formatting:

- **Bold text** for emphasis
- *Italic text* for subtle emphasis
- `inline code` for technical terms
- [links](https://example.com) to external resources

### Code Blocks
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javascript
// Your code examples
function example() {
return "Hello World!";
}


### Images

![Alt text](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gokulnathan66/article-automation-test/main/./images/screenshot.png)
<!-- Will be converted to: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/username/repo/main/images/screenshot.png -->

---

**Tags:** javascript, tutorial, automation, github-actions
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⚠️ Platform Compatibility Notes

Feature GitHub Hashnode Dev.to Alternative
HTML Badges ✅ Supported ✅ Supported ❌ Not supported Use text alternatives
HTML Tags ✅ Most supported ✅ Most supported ❌ Markdown only Use markdown equivalents
Custom CSS ✅ In repos ❌ Limited ❌ Not supported Use standard formatting
Tables ✅ Supported ✅ Supported ✅ Supported ✅ Safe to use
Code Blocks ✅ Supported ✅ Supported ✅ Supported ✅ Safe to use
Emojis ✅ Supported ✅ Supported ✅ Supported ✅ Safe to use

💡 Tip: When writing content for multi-platform publishing, stick to standard Markdown to ensure compatibility across GitHub, Hashnode, and Dev.to.

✅ Content Validation Checklist

  • [ ] Title starts with # (becomes post title)
  • [ ] Images use relative paths (./images/file.png)
  • [ ] Tags listed at bottom (**Tags:** tag1, tag2, tag3)
  • [ ] Proper markdown formatting throughout
  • [ ] No HTML tags (use markdown equivalents)
  • [ ] External links include https://

🔄 How It Works

When content is pushed to the main branch:

  1. GitHub Actions Trigger: The workflow in .github/workflows/publish.yml runs
  2. Content Processing: Actions read content/README.md
  3. Image URL Conversion: Relative image paths → GitHub raw URLs
  4. Multi-Platform Publishing:
    • Hashnode: Uses GraphQL API to publish/update
    • Dev.to: Uses REST API to publish/update
  5. State Management: Saves post IDs for future updates

📥 Installation

⚠️ Important: This is a test repository. To use the automation in your own projects, follow these detailed steps:

🍴 Step 1: Fork Repository (2 minutes)

  1. Click "Fork" button at the top of this repository
  2. Choose your account as the destination
  3. Keep the same name or customize it
  4. Ensure "Copy the main branch only" is checked

🔑 Step 2: Get API Keys (5-10 minutes)

Hashnode API Key

  1. Go to Hashnode Settings
  2. Click "Generate New Token"
  3. Copy the PAT (Personal Access Token)
  4. Find your Publication ID:
    • Go to your publication dashboard
    • Copy the ID from the URL or settings

Dev.to API Key

  1. Visit Dev.to API Keys
  2. Generate new API key
  3. Copy the key (starts with dto_)

GitHub Token

  1. Go to GitHub Token Settings
  2. Create fine-grained token for your repository
  3. Select permissions:
    • ✅ Contents: Read and Write
    • ✅ Actions: Write
    • ✅ Variables: Write

🔐 Step 3: Configure Secrets (3-5 minutes)

  1. Go to your forked repository
  2. Click Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
  3. Add the following secrets: 
# Required for Hashnode
HASHNODE_PAT=hn_pat_your_token_here
HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_ID=your_publication_id
HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_HOST=yourblog.hashnode.dev

# Required for Dev.to
DEV_TO_API_KEY=dto_your_api_key_here

# Required for both
VAR_EDIT_TOKEN_GIT=github_pat_your_token_here
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📝 Step 4: Test the Setup (2-3 minutes)

  1. Edit content/README.md with your test article
  2. Commit and push to main branch
  3. Go to Actions tab to watch the workflow
  4. Check your platforms for published articles

💡 Pro tip: Start with a simple test article to verify everything works before publishing your main content.

⚙️ Workflow Configuration

📋 Available Workflow Options

Choose the configuration that best fits your needs:

🚀 Option 1: Combined Workflow (Recommended)

Create .github/workflows/publish.yml:

name: Multi-Platform Publishing

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths: ['content/**'] # Only trigger on content changes
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      platform:
        description: 'Platform to publish to'
        required: false
        default: 'both'
        type: choice
        options:
          - both
          - hashnode
          - devto

jobs:
  validate-content:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      has-content: ${{ steps.check.outputs.has-content }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Check if content exists
        id: check
        run: |
          if [ -f "content/README.md" ] && [ -s "content/README.md" ]; then
            echo "has-content=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          else
            echo "has-content=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            echo "❌ No content found in content/README.md"
            exit 1
          fi

  publish-hashnode:
    needs: validate-content
    if: needs.validate-content.outputs.has-content == 'true' && (github.event.inputs.platform == 'hashnode' || github.event.inputs.platform == 'both' || github.event.inputs.platform == '')
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Validate Hashnode secrets
        run: |
          if [ -z "${{ secrets.HASHNODE_PAT }}" ]; then
            echo "❌ HASHNODE_PAT secret is missing"
            exit 1
          fi
          if [ -z "${{ secrets.HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_ID }}" ]; then
            echo "❌ HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_ID secret is missing"
            exit 1
          fi

      - name: Publish to Hashnode
        uses: gokulnathan66/article-automation/hashnode-publish@main
        with:
          hashnode-pat: ${{ secrets.HASHNODE_PAT }}
          hashnode-publication-id: ${{ secrets.HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_ID }}
          hashnode-publication-host: ${{ secrets.HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_HOST }}
          github-token: ${{ secrets.VAR_EDIT_TOKEN_GIT }}
          # State management variables
          saved-post-id: ${{ vars.HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_ID }}
          saved-post-slug: ${{ vars.HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_SLUG }}
          saved-post-title: ${{ vars.HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_TITLE }}
          saved-post-url: ${{ vars.HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_URL }}
          saved-post-published-at: ${{ vars.HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_PUBLISHED_AT }}
          saved-post-updated-at: ${{ vars.HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_UPDATED_AT }}

  publish-devto:
    needs: validate-content
    if: needs.validate-content.outputs.has-content == 'true' && (github.event.inputs.platform == 'devto' || github.event.inputs.platform == 'both' || github.event.inputs.platform == '')
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Validate Dev.to secrets
        run: |
          if [ -z "${{ secrets.DEV_TO_API_KEY }}" ]; then
            echo "❌ DEV_TO_API_KEY secret is missing"
            exit 1
          fi

      - name: Publish to Dev.to
        uses: gokulnathan66/article-automation/devto-publish@main
        with:
          devto-api-key: ${{ secrets.DEV_TO_API_KEY }}
          github-token: ${{ secrets.VAR_EDIT_TOKEN_GIT }}
          # State management variables
          saved-post-id: ${{ vars.DEV_TO_SAVED_POST_ID }}
          saved-post-title: ${{ vars.DEV_TO_SAVED_POST_TITLE }}
          saved-post-url: ${{ vars.DEV_TO_SAVED_POST_URL }}
          saved-post-published-at: ${{ vars.DEV_TO_SAVED_POST_PUBLISHED_AT }}
          saved-post-updated-at: ${{ vars.DEV_TO_SAVED_POST_UPDATED_AT }}
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🔧 Option 2: Separate Workflows

For more granular control, create separate workflow files:

.github/workflows/hashnode.yml and .github/workflows/devto.yml

⚙️ Workflow Features

Feature Description Benefit
Content Validation Checks if content exists before publishing Prevents empty posts
Secret Validation Verifies all required secrets are configured Early error detection
Manual Triggers Allows publishing to specific platforms Testing flexibility
Path Filtering Only runs when content changes Saves CI minutes
State Management Tracks published posts for updates Smart update logic

🔐 Required Secrets

⚠️ Important: Configure these secrets in your repository before running the automation.

Navigate to Repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions and add:

🌐 Hashnode Integration

Secret Name Description How to Get
HASHNODE_PAT Personal Access Token Hashnode Settings → API
HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_ID Your publication ID Found in publication settings
HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_HOST Publication domain e.g., mysite.hashnode.dev

📝 Dev.to Integration

Secret Name Description How to Get
DEV_TO_API_KEY API key from Dev.to Dev.to Settings

🔧 GitHub Integration

Secret Name Description Scopes Required
VAR_EDIT_TOKEN_GIT GitHub Personal Access Token repo, actions:write

💡 Tip: Create a fine-grained personal access token for better security.

🎮 Testing the System

Option 1: Manual Trigger

  1. Go to Actions tab in this repository
  2. Select "Multi-Platform Publishing" workflow
  3. Click "Run workflow"
  4. Watch the execution in real-time

Option 2: Content Update

  1. Edit content/README.md
  2. Commit and push to main branch
  3. Workflow triggers automatically
  4. Check the Actions tab for execution logs

Option 3: Fork and Test

  1. Fork this repository
  2. Configure your own secrets
  3. Update content/README.md with your content
  4. Push changes to see it published to your platforms

📊 Execution Process 

graph TD
    A[Push to Main Branch] --> B[GitHub Actions Trigger]
    B --> C[Setup Environment]
    C --> D[Read Content File]
    D --> E[Process Images & Tags]
    E --> F{Platform Publishing}
    F --> G[Hashnode API]
    F --> H[Dev.to API]
    G --> I[Save Metadata]
    H --> I
    I --> J[Complete ✅]
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🔄 Phase 1: Setup

  • ✅ Checkout action repository
  • ✅ Setup Node.js environment
  • ✅ Install dependencies

📝 Phase 2: Content Processing

  • 🔍 Locate content/README.md file
  • 📝 Extract title from first # heading
  • 🖼️ Convert relative image URLs to GitHub raw URLs
  • 🏷️ Parse tags from Tags: line at the end

🚀 Phase 3: Platform Publishing

  • Hashnode: GraphQL API calls for publish/update
  • Dev.to: REST API calls for publish/update
  • 🔍 Check for existing posts by title
  • ✅ Create new or update existing post

💾 Phase 4: State Management

  • 💾 Save post IDs to repository variables
  • 📊 Store metadata for future updates
  • ✅ Enable smart update functionality

🔧 Debugging & Troubleshooting

🔍 Common Issues & Solutions

❌ Workflow Fails to Start

Problem: Workflow doesn't trigger on push

# Check these common causes:
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Issue Solution Prevention
No workflow file Create .github/workflows/publish.yml Use provided templates
Wrong branch Push to main branch Check workflow branches: setting
Missing content Add content to content/README.md Validate content exists
Disabled Actions Enable Actions in repository settings Check Settings → Actions

🔑 Authentication Errors

Problem: 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden

# Common secret validation errors
Error: Request failed with status code 401
Error: Invalid API key format
Error: Token expired or revoked
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Solutions:

  1. Verify secret names match exactly: 
   # Required secrets (case-sensitive):
   HASHNODE_PAT
   HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_ID
   HASHNODE_PUBLICATION_HOST
   DEV_TO_API_KEY
   VAR_EDIT_TOKEN_GIT
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  1. Check token permissions:

    • Hashnode: Ensure PAT has publication access
    • Dev.to: Verify API key is not expired
    • GitHub: Token needs Contents: Write, Actions: Write, Variables: Write

  2. Test tokens manually:

   # Test Hashnode token
   curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_PAT" \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        -d '{"query":"{ me { id username } }"}' \
        https://gql.hashnode.com/

   # Test Dev.to token
   curl -H "api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
        https://dev.to/api/articles/me
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📝 Content Processing Errors

Problem: Article not parsed correctly

Error Type Common Cause Fix
No title found Missing # Title at start Add # Your Title as first line
Images not converted Wrong image path format Use ./images/file.png format
Tags not detected Wrong tag format Use **Tags:** tag1, tag2, tag3
Content too long Article exceeds platform limits Check platform limits below

📊 Platform-Specific Limits

Platform Title Limit Content Limit Tags Limit Image Size
Hashnode 255 chars ~65,000 chars 5 tags max 10MB
Dev.to 128 chars ~64,000 chars 4 tags max 25MB

🔄 State Management Issues

Problem: Posts duplicated instead of updated

# Check repository variables
Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → Variables tab

# Required variables (auto-created):
HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_ID
HASHNODE_SAVED_POST_SLUG
DEV_TO_SAVED_POST_ID
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Solution: Variables are created automatically after first successful publish. If missing:

  1. Delete and recreate the post manually
  2. Or run workflow again (it will create new post and set variables)

📋 Debugging Checklist

When workflow fails, check in this order:

  1. ✅ Repository Setup

    • [ ] Workflow file exists in .github/workflows/
    • [ ] Content file exists at content/README.md
    • [ ] Content is not empty
    • [ ] Pushing to main branch

  2. ✅ Secrets Configuration

    • [ ] All required secrets are added
    • [ ] Secret names match exactly (case-sensitive)
    • [ ] No extra spaces in secret values
    • [ ] Tokens are not expired

  3. ✅ Content Format

    • [ ] Title starts with #
    • [ ] Images use relative paths (./images/)
    • [ ] Tags format: **Tags:** tag1, tag2
    • [ ] No HTML tags used

  4. ✅ Platform Accounts

    • [ ] Hashnode publication exists and is accessible
    • [ ] Dev.to account has API access enabled
    • [ ] GitHub token has correct repository permissions

🔍 How to Read Logs

  1. Go to Actions tab in your repository
  2. Click the failed workflow run
  3. Click the failed job (e.g., "publish-hashnode")
  4. Expand each step to see detailed output
  5. Look for red ❌ errors and yellow ⚠️ warnings

📞 Getting Help

If you're still stuck:

  1. Check existing issues: Article Automation Issues
  2. Create new issue with:
    • Error message (from Actions logs)
    • Workflow file content
    • Steps to reproduce
    • Platform (Hashnode/Dev.to/both)

💡 Pro tip: Enable debug logging by adding ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG: true to your repository secrets for more detailed logs.

📈 Expected Results

After successful execution:

  1. Hashnode: Article published/updated at your publication
  2. Dev.to: Article published/updated on your Dev.to profile
  3. Repository Variables: Post metadata saved for future updates
  4. Images: All relative paths converted to accessible GitHub URLs

🎯 Use Cases

🎓 Learning & Education

  • ✅ Understand automation workflows: Study GitHub Actions implementation
  • ✅ Learn API integration: See real examples of Hashnode and Dev.to APIs
  • ✅ Study best practices: Discover proper secret management and error handling
  • ✅ Explore CI/CD concepts: Understand continuous publishing workflows

🧪 Testing & Validation

  • ✅ Verify setup: Test configuration before production use
  • ✅ Debug issues: Troubleshoot problems in isolated environment
  • ✅ Validate content: Ensure articles render correctly on both platforms
  • ✅ Performance testing: Check automation speed and reliability

🚀 Production Use

  • ✅ Multi-platform publishing: Automatically publish to Hashnode and Dev.to
  • ✅ Content synchronization: Keep articles updated across platforms
  • ✅ Workflow automation: Reduce manual publishing effort
  • ✅ Brand consistency: Maintain uniform content across platforms

🔧 Development & Customization

  • ✅ Fork and customize: Create your own publishing automation
  • ✅ Add new platforms: Extend to support additional blogging platforms
  • ✅ Integrate with CMS: Connect with headless CMS or blog generators
  • ✅ Advanced workflows: Build complex publishing pipelines

📊 Version Compatibility

Component Minimum Version Recommended Notes
GitHub Actions actions/checkout@v3 actions/checkout@v4 Latest stable
Node.js 16.x 20.x LTS versions
Article Automation @main @main Always use latest
Hashnode API GraphQL v1 GraphQL v1 Stable API
Dev.to API REST API v1 REST API v1 No versioning

🔄 Update Strategy 

# Recommended: Pin to specific versions for stability
uses: gokulnathan66/article-automation/hashnode-publish@v1.2.0

# Alternative: Use latest (auto-updates, but may break)
uses: gokulnathan66/article-automation/hashnode-publish@main
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⚠️ Important: For production use, pin to specific versions to avoid breaking changes.

🔗 Related Links

📚 Documentation

🌐 Platform APIs

🛠️ Platform Setup

🎓 Learning Resources

⚡ Technical Specifications

Feature Specification Details
Supported Formats Markdown (.md) CommonMark compliant
Image Formats PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP Auto-converted to GitHub raw URLs
Content Length Up to 64KB Combined limit for both platforms
Execution Time ~2-5 minutes Depends on content size and platform response
Rate Limits Platform dependent See Platform Limits
Concurrent Jobs 2 (Hashnode + Dev.to) Runs in parallel for faster publishing

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions to improve this test repository! Here's how you can help:

🐛 Found a Bug?

  1. Check if it's already reported in Issues
  2. Create a detailed bug report with steps to reproduce
  3. Include relevant logs from the Actions tab

💡 Have an Improvement?

  1. Fork this repository
  2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
  3. Make your changes and test thoroughly
  4. Submit a pull request with a clear description

📝 Improve Documentation?

  • Fix typos or unclear instructions
  • Add examples or clarifications
  • Translate content to other languages

🧪 Share Testing Results

  • Test with different content types
  • Report platform-specific behaviors
  • Share performance insights

Note: For issues with the core automation actions, please use the main repository.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2024 Article Automation Test

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
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🙏 Acknowledgments

  • Thanks to @gokulnathan66 for creating the automation system
  • Hashnode and Dev.to for their excellent APIs
  • The GitHub Actions community for inspiration and best practices

This is a test repository for the article automation system. For the actual actions, see article-automation.

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