Automating Blog Posts with Claude Code Skills

tags: [ai, automation, productivity, claudecode]

I built a custom Claude Code skill to automate blog post creation, reducing the process from 30 minutes to 30 seconds.

The Problem

The original workflow involved multiple tedious steps: locating screenshots, organizing assets, creating MDX files with proper frontmatter, writing content, formatting categories and tags, committing changes, and starting the development server for preview.

Claude Code Skills 101

Skills are markdown files stored in ~/.claude/skills/ that define slash commands Claude can execute. The structure includes a global instructions file and individual skill files for different commands like /blog, /rewrite, /tweet, and /commit.

Anatomy of a Skill

The blog skill follows a four-step process:

1. Determine the Subject - Parse arguments to understand the project by examining README files, package.json, and source code
2. Find Images - Search specific directories for potential cover images and copy them to the blog assets folder
3. Write Content - Create an outline addressing the problem solved, how it works, and key technical decisions, then apply personal writing style
4. Create MDX File - Generate the file with proper frontmatter including title, description, date, category, and tags

Chaining Skills Together

The blog skill calls the /rewrite skill to convert drafts into my personal style, demonstrating composable automation.

Building Your Own

You can create simple skills by defining a name, usage instructions, and step-by-step operations. Common automation candidates include PR reviews, project initialization, documentation generation, and social media posting.

The Stack

The blog runs on Next.js 14 with MDX, storing posts as markdown files in a git repository with no database or CMS required.

https://jovweb.dev/blog/automating-blog-posts-with-claude-code-skills