Building content-automation — 2026-06-21

My Never-Ending Quest for Automated Content Generation

As I sat in front of my computer, sipping my morning coffee and staring at the lines of code in front of me, I couldn't help but think about the tedious task of generating content for my weekly newsletter. Every week, I found myself manually writing the same updates, changing only the dates and the progress I've made on my projects. It was a time-consuming process that took away from the time I could spend on actual development. That's when I decided to take on the challenge of automating my content generation.

The Problem: Manual Content Generation

I was spending too much time writing and rewriting the same content every week. My newsletter was becoming a chore, and I was starting to dread the process of creating it. I knew I needed to find a way to automate this task, but I wasn't sure where to start. I began by looking into existing solutions, but none of them seemed to fit my specific needs. I wanted a system that could generate content based on my project updates, and that could also handle multiple languages.

The Context: My Content Automation Project

My project, content-automation, was designed to automate the process of generating content for my newsletter and other social media platforms. I had already set up a system that could generate content based on my project updates, but it was still a manual process. I would update the project files, and then use those updates to generate the content. But I wanted to take it a step further and automate the entire process. I started by looking into ways to automatically generate the project updates, and then use those updates to generate the content.

The Exploration: My First Attempts at Automation

My first attempt at automation was to use a simple script that would generate the content based on the project updates. I wrote a Python script that would read the project files and generate the content based on the updates. But I quickly realized that this approach was too simplistic and wouldn't work for my needs. The script was cumbersome and difficult to maintain, and it didn't handle multiple languages well. I decided to take a different approach and use a more robust system that could handle the complexity of my content generation needs.

The Solution: Using a More Robust Automation System

I decided to use a more robust automation system that could handle the complexity of my content generation needs. I started by setting up a new repository, content-automation, and creating a new branch for the automation system. I then created a series of scripts that would automatically generate the content based on the project updates. I used a combination of Python and JSON to create a system that could handle multiple languages and generate content based on the project updates. I also set up a system that would automatically send the generated content to my newsletter and social media platforms.

Here is an example of the JSON file that I used to generate the content:

[
  {
    "type": "progress",
    "text": "Released v1.5.0! Bumped version in VS Code repository. Fixed e2e tests for Neon prod infrastructure.",
    "thread_index": 0
  },
  {
    "type": "avance",
    "text": "Acabo de subir la versión 1.5.0 de mi proyecto a producción con nuevos tests E2E contra Neon. La infraestructura está funcionando como esperaba.",
    "thread_index": 0
  }
]

And here is an example of the Python script that I used to generate the content:

import json

with open('content.json') as f:
    data = json.load(f)

for item in data:
    if item['type'] == 'progress':
        print(item['text'])
    elif item['type'] == 'avance':
        print(item['text'])

Lessons Learned: The Importance of Automation

I learned a lot from this experience, and one of the most important lessons was the importance of automation. Automating my content generation process has saved me a significant amount of time and has allowed me to focus on more important tasks. I also learned the importance of using a robust system that can handle the complexity of my content generation needs. My previous attempts at automation were too simplistic and didn't work well, but using a more robust system has made a big difference.

What's Next: Continuing to Improve My Automation System

I'm continuing to improve my automation system, and I'm exploring new ways to generate content based on my project updates. I'm also looking into ways to use AI and machine learning to improve the accuracy and quality of the generated content. I'm excited to see where this journey takes me, and I'm looking forward to sharing my progress with you.

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Part of my Build in Public series — sharing the real process of building SaaS projects from Playa del Carmen, México.

Repo: zaerohell/content-automation · 2026-06-21

#playadev #buildinpublic