Manage Blog - Review and Publish Drafts

Review pending draft posts, flesh them out, and publish when ready.

When to Use

• User says /blog or wants to review drafts
• User wants to publish a blog post
• User wants to expand a quick note into a full post
• End of day blog review session

Configuration

This skill requires BLOG_CONTENT_DIR to be set in your CLAUDE.md:

## Blog Configuration
BLOG_CONTENT_DIR=/path/to/your/blog/content/directory

Example: BLOG_CONTENT_DIR=/Users/you/portfolio/src/content/blog

If not configured: Ask the user where their blog markdown files are located before proceeding.

Workflow

Step 0: Check Configuration

First, check if BLOG_CONTENT_DIR is set in the project's or user's CLAUDE.md.

If NOT set, ask the user:

Where are your blog posts located?

Please provide the absolute path to your blog content directory
(e.g., /Users/you/site/content/blog)

You can also add this to your CLAUDE.md to skip this prompt:
BLOG_CONTENT_DIR=/your/path/here

Store their answer and use it for the rest of the session.

Step 1: Find Draft Posts

Scan the blog directory for posts with draft: true:

cd {BLOG_CONTENT_DIR}
grep -l "draft: true" *.md 2>/dev/null

For each draft, extract metadata:

# Get title and date from frontmatter
head -10 {file}.md

Step 2: Display Draft List

Show the user pending drafts:

Found {N} draft posts:

1. {title} ({date})
   Tags: {tags}
   File: {filename}

2. {title} ({date})
   Tags: {tags}
   File: {filename}

...

Which would you like to work on? (enter number, or 'q' to quit)

If no drafts found:

No draft posts found. Use /note from any project to create one.

Step 3: Select and Show Options

When user selects a draft, read the full content and show:

Selected: {title}

Current content:
---
{show current post content}
---

What would you like to do?
1. Expand - Add more content and detail
2. Edit - Make specific changes
3. Publish - Set draft: false and commit
4. Delete - Remove this draft
5. Back - Return to draft list

Step 4: Handle Actions

Expand

• Ask what aspects to expand on
• Add more context, examples, or explanations
• Keep the user's voice and style
• Update the file with expanded content

Edit

• Ask what specific changes to make
• Apply the requested edits
• Show diff of changes
• Update the file

Publish

1. Read the current file
2. Change draft: true to draft: false
3. Optionally update the date to today
4. Write the updated file
5. Commit and optionally push:

cd {BLOG_CONTENT_DIR}
git add {filename}
git commit -m "post: {title}"
git push

Output:

Published: {title}
Location: {BLOG_CONTENT_DIR}/{filename}

Committed and pushed to main.

Delete

• Confirm with user: "Are you sure you want to delete '{title}'?"
• If confirmed:

cd {BLOG_CONTENT_DIR}
rm {filename}
git add -A .
git commit -m "remove draft: {title}"

Step 5: Continue or Exit

After each action, ask:

Would you like to work on another draft? (y/n)

If yes, return to Step 2.

Blog Post Quality Checklist

Before publishing, ensure:

• Title is compelling and clear
• Description is filled in (for SEO/previews)
• Content has a clear intro and conclusion
• Code snippets are properly formatted
• Tags are relevant and useful
• No placeholder text remains

Example Session

/blog

Found 2 draft posts:

1. ESM vs CommonJS Dynamic Imports (2025-12-31)
   Tags: import-magic, javascript
   File: esm-commonjs-dynamic-imports.md

2. Building with Claude Max (2025-12-30)
   Tags: claude, productivity
   File: building-with-claude-max.md

Which would you like to work on? 1

Selected: ESM vs CommonJS Dynamic Imports

[shows current content]

What would you like to do?
1. Expand
2. Edit
3. Publish
4. Delete
5. Back

> 3

Updating draft status...

Published: ESM vs CommonJS Dynamic Imports
URL: https://builtby.win/ston/blog/2025-12-31/esm-commonjs-dynamic-imports

Would you like to work on another draft? n

Done! Your post is now live.

Notes

• Set BLOG_CONTENT_DIR in your CLAUDE.md for convenience
• Posts are published to the main branch immediately
• The site rebuilds automatically on push (if CI/CD is set up)
• Use tags consistently to help readers find related posts