How to Automate Blog Posts with GitHub Actions and AI

#devops #productivity #javascript

How to Automate Blog Posts with GitHub Actions

I auto-generate one blog post per week about Japan travel. Here's the exact setup.

The System

GitHub Actions → API → Generate Article → Post to Dev.to

Step 1: Article Pool

I have 19 pre-written articles about Japan in a JSON pool:

{
  "slug": "curiosidades-japon",
  "title": "15 Curiosidades de Japón",
  "category": "Curiosidades",
  "content": "..."
}

Step 2: GitHub Action

name: Auto Blog Post
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 10 * * 1'  # Every Monday at 10am UTC
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  post:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Generate and Post
        run: |
          # Get next article from pool
          ARTICLE=$(curl -s -X POST $API_URL/v1/blog/generate)

          # Extract content
          TITLE=$(echo $ARTICLE | jq -r '.post.title')
          CONTENT=$(echo $ARTICLE | jq -r '.post.content')
          TAGS=$(echo $ARTICLE | jq -r '.post.tags | join(",")')

          # Post to Dev.to
          curl -X POST https://dev.to/api/articles \
            -H "api-key: ${{ secrets.DEVTO_API_KEY }}" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -d "{
              "article": {
                "title": "$TITLE",
                "body_markdown": "$CONTENT",
                "tags": ["webdev", "javascript"],
                "published": true
              }
            }"

Step 3: Secrets

Add your Dev.to API key as a GitHub secret:

Go to repo Settings → Secrets → Actions
Add DEVTO_API_KEY

Results

1 article/week automatically
0 manual work after setup
Cross-posted to website + Dev.to
SEO optimized with metadata

Cost

GitHub Actions: Free (2000 minutes/month)
Dev.to API: Free
Total: $0/month

Source code: github.com/storbaz/japan-travel-api

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