Auto Blog Scripts
Solo design, build, and open-source release
Auto Blog is a Python automation suite born from mapping my own blog-publishing workflow and ruthlessly automating the repetitive parts: content formatting, image processing, metadata generation, and scheduling. It's the kind of operations-minded tooling I build at work, applied to content.
The pipeline converts Markdown to HTML with configurable templates and front-matter generation, runs images through an optimisation pass (resizing, compression, WebP conversion, alt-text from filenames), auto-publishes on a schedule with draft management, and generates SEO metadata — descriptions, slugs, and internal-linking suggestions — from a lightweight keyword analysis pass. Reliability engineering got real attention: retry logic on API calls, structured logging so failed runs are debuggable in minutes, unit tests on every transformation function, and validation that rejects malformed Markdown before it can poison the pipeline. A security audit pass moved all credentials to environment variables before the project was open-sourced with full documentation.
Built With
Highlights
- End-to-end publishing pipeline: Markdown-to-HTML with templating, front-matter generation, scheduled publishing, and draft management.
- Automated image pipeline — resizing, compression, WebP conversion, and alt-text generation via Pillow.
- SEO automation: meta descriptions, slugs, and internal-linking suggestions generated from keyword analysis.
- Production-grade reliability: retry logic, structured logging, unit tests on every transformation, and input validation for malformed Markdown.
- Open-sourced with usage guide, contribution guidelines, and architecture overview.
Security Considerations
- Dedicated security audit pass: removed hardcoded API keys, migrated all secrets to environment variables, shipped a .env.example for clean onboarding.
Project Timeline
Workflow Analysis
Mar 2024Mapped the manual blog publishing workflow and pinpointed the repetitive tasks: content formatting, image resizing, metadata generation, and scheduling.
Core Scripting
May 2024Built the foundational Python scripts for content parsing, Markdown-to-HTML conversion, and front-matter generation with configurable templates.
Image Processing Pipeline
Jun 2024Added automated image optimisation — resizing, compression, WebP conversion, and alt-text generation from filenames.
Content Scheduling
Aug 2024Implemented a scheduler that auto-publishes posts at optimal times, with draft management and preview generation.
SEO Automation
Sep 2024Generated meta descriptions, slugs, and internal-linking suggestions from a lightweight keyword analysis pass.
Error Handling & Logging
Nov 2024Added retry logic for API calls and structured logging to make failed automation runs debuggable in minutes, not hours.
Testing & Validation
Dec 2024Wrote unit tests for every transformation function and added validation checks for malformed Markdown or missing required fields.
Security Audit
Jan 2025Removed hardcoded API keys, migrated to environment variables, and added a `.env.example` for clean onboarding.
Documentation & Open Source
Feb 2025Wrote a usage guide, contribution guidelines, and architecture overview. Published to GitHub with a clear setup path.