How We Automatically Publish Scheduled Blog Posts on nixx.dev

No CMS. Just GitHub Actions, Markdown, and a little Next.js magic.

---

At nixx.dev, we like to write ahead and publish later. But we don’t like logging in just to hit “Publish.”

So we automated it.

With GitHub Actions, Markdown, and a custom Next.js webhook, our posts now publish themselves—right on schedule.

Here’s how we set it up 👇

---

Step 1: Markdown Posts with Metadata

Every blog post lives in /content/blog as a Markdown file with front matter like this:

---
title: "How to Build a Website in 2025"
date: "2025-04-10T08:00:00Z"
status: draft # options: draft, scheduled, published
---

This lets us:

• Write and commit content ahead of time
• Use status to control visibility
• Set a publish date in the future

When a post is ready, we switch the status to scheduled.

---

Step 2: Admin UI (Optional but Nice)

We also built a small admin dashboard with login support, so we can:

• Edit posts visually
• Schedule them with a date picker
• Preview before they go live

Totally optional—but great for workflow.

---

Step 3: Daily GitHub Action

We trigger a GitHub Action every day at 7 AM UTC:

name: Publish Scheduled Posts

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 7 * * *'

jobs:
  publish:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Trigger Webhook
        uses: distributhor/workflow-webhook@v1
        with:
          url: https://nixx.dev/api/webhooks/check-scheduled-posts
          method: POST

It hits an API route that checks all posts and updates any that are due.

---

Step 4: Webhook Logic in Next.js v15

With Next.js v15 and the App Router, we use Route Handlers.

// app/api/webhooks/check-scheduled-posts/route.ts

import { promises as fs } from 'fs';
import path from 'path';
import matter from 'gray-matter';

export async function POST() {
  const POSTS_DIR = path.join(process.cwd(), 'content/blog');
  const files = await fs.readdir(POSTS_DIR);

  for (const file of files) {
    const filePath = path.join(POSTS_DIR, file);
    const content = await fs.readFile(filePath, 'utf-8');
    const { data } = matter(content);
    const now = new Date();
    const publishDate = new Date(data.date);

    if (data.status === 'scheduled' && publishDate <= now) {
      const updated = matter.stringify(content, { ...data, status: 'published' });
      await fs.writeFile(filePath, updated);
      console.log(`Published: ${data.title}`);
    }
  }

  return new Response(
    JSON.stringify({ message: 'Checked and published scheduled posts.' }),
    {
      status: 200,
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    }
  );
}

---

Step 5: Deploy and Rebuild

After a post is marked published, we rebuild the site:

• Staging is on Vercel, which auto-builds on GitHub pushes
• Production runs on a VPS, using a simple script:

cd /var/www/nixx.dev
git pull origin main
npm run build
pm2 restart next

---

✅ TL;DR

• Posts are Markdown files with status and date fields
• GitHub Action runs daily and triggers a webhook
• Webhook updates post status from scheduled to published
• The site rebuilds, and new posts appear—hands-free

---

Final Thoughts

This setup keeps our blog running without a CMS, plugins, or dashboard overhead. Just content, Git, and automation.

It’s reliable, version-controlled, and totally code-driven.

If you’re building with Next.js v15, give this approach a shot—and feel free to fork the idea to fit your stack.

---

💬 Got questions or want help setting this up? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear how you’re building your blog!