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Back to Ideas

How I Publish Ideas on This Site

My workflow for turning thoughts into published content using GitHub Copilot and CI/CD automation.

Building and maintaining a personal site should be effortless. Here’s my streamlined workflow for publishing ideas—from initial thought to live content.

The Workflow

My publishing process is intentionally simple, leveraging automation and AI assistance to focus on what matters: the ideas themselves.

1. Capture the Idea

When inspiration strikes, I write my thoughts on platforms like Medium or Substack. These platforms are great for drafting and initial feedback, but I want my content to live on my own domain.

2. Create a GitHub Issue

Once I’ve published a note, I create an issue in this repository. The issue description includes:

  • A link to the published article
  • A request for GitHub Copilot to create a summary or adaptation for this site

This approach keeps everything tracked and documented in my repository.

3. Let Copilot Handle the Heavy Lifting

I assign the issue to GitHub Copilot. The AI agent:

  • Reads the linked article
  • Creates a new idea page following my site’s format
  • Generates appropriate frontmatter with tags and categories
  • Crafts a summary or teaser that fits the minimal design aesthetic

4. Review and Merge

I review Copilot’s work to ensure:

  • The content accurately represents my ideas
  • The formatting matches my design system
  • The summary is concise and effective

Once satisfied, I merge the pull request.

5. CI/CD Takes Over

After merging, my continuous integration and deployment pipeline:

  • Builds the static site with Astro
  • Runs any necessary checks
  • Deploys the updated site automatically

Why This Works

This workflow strikes a balance between flexibility and automation:

  • Write Anywhere: I can draft on platforms with strong editing tools and communities
  • No Manual Formatting: Copilot handles the conversion to my site’s format
  • Version Controlled: Every change is tracked through Git
  • Fully Automated: From merge to deployment happens without intervention
  • Focus on Content: I spend time on ideas, not infrastructure

Tools Involved

  • Medium/Substack: Initial drafting and writing
  • GitHub Issues: Task tracking and content pipeline
  • GitHub Copilot: AI-assisted content transformation
  • Astro: Static site generation
  • GitHub Actions: CI/CD automation

This meta-workflow is itself a demonstration of the process. If you’re reading this on my site, it means the workflow worked perfectly.