Publish GitHub to Hashnode GitHub Action

A powerful GitHub Action that seamlessly publishes blog posts from your GitHub repository to Hashnode publications. This action handles markdown files with frontmatter, processes content, and manages posts through Hashnode's GraphQL API.

🌟 Key Features

• Automated Publishing: Create and update posts on Hashnode directly from your GitHub repository
• Smart Updates: Only processes changed files, minimizing API calls
• Image Handling: Automatically processes both cover images and inline images
• Post Management: Handles creation, updates, and delisting of posts
• Frontmatter Support: Rich metadata support through YAML frontmatter
• Debug Output: Comprehensive debugging information for troubleshooting

📋 Prerequisites

• A Hashnode account and publication
• A GitHub repository containing your markdown posts
• A Hashnode Personal Access Token

🔧 Installation

1. Set Up GitHub Secrets

1. Go to your repository's Settings → Secrets and Variables → Actions
2. Create a new secret HASHNODE_ACCESS_TOKEN with your Hashnode API token

   Name: HASHNODE_ACCESS_TOKEN
   Value: your_hashnode_api_token
   

2. Create Workflow File

Create .github/workflows/publish.yml:

name: Publish to Hashnode
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
    paths:
      - 'content/posts/**'

jobs:
  publish:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Get changed files
        id: changed-files
        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v44

      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.x'

      - name: Publish to Hashnode
        uses: actions/publish-github-to-hashnode@v1
        with:
          added-files: ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.added_files }}
          changed-files: ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }}
          access-token: ${{ secrets.HASHNODE_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
          publication-host: 'blog.mydomain.com'
          posts-directory: 'content/posts'

📝 Post Format

Directory Structure

your-repo/
├── content/
│   └── posts/
│       ├── my-first-post.md
│       └── images/
│           └── cover.jpg
└── .github/
    └── workflows/
        └── publish.yml

Markdown Format

---
title: My Awesome Post
subtitle: A detailed guide to awesomeness
slug: my-awesome-post
tags: javascript,webdev,tutorial
enableTableOfContents: true
coverImage: images/cover.jpg
coverImageAttribution: Photo by Author
publishedAt: 2024-03-20T10:00:00Z
disableComments: false
---

Your post content here...

Frontmatter Fields Reference

Field	Required	Type	Description
title	Yes	string	Post title
slug	Yes	string	URL slug for the post
subtitle	No	string	Post subtitle
tags	No	string	Comma-separated list of tags
enableTableOfContents	No	boolean	Enable/disable TOC
coverImage	No	string	Path to cover image
coverImageAttribution	No	string	Attribution for cover image
publishedAt	No	string	ISO 8601 datetime
disableComments	No	boolean	Disable comments

🔄 Workflow

1. Create/edit markdown files in your repository
2. Commit and push changes
3. GitHub Action automatically:
   • Detects changed files
   • Processes markdown content
   • Updates images to use absolute URLs
   • Creates/updates posts on Hashnode
   • Provides detailed output of operations

📊 Outputs

JSON Output

{
  "added": [{
    "id": "post123",
    "title": "New Post",
    "slug": "new-post"
  }],
  "modified": [{
    "id": "post456",
    "title": "Updated Post",
    "slug": "updated-post"
  }],
  "deleted": [],
  "errors": []
}

Using Outputs in Workflow

- name: Publish to Hashnode
  id: publish
  uses: actions/publish-github-to-hashnode@v1
  # ... inputs ...

- name: Process Results
  run: |
    echo "Published posts: ${{ fromJSON(steps.publish.outputs.result_json).added }}"
    echo "Summary: ${{ steps.publish.outputs.result_summary }}"

🔍 Debugging

Enable debug logs by setting repository secret:

ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG=true

View detailed logs in GitHub Actions run.

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Submit a Pull Request

Please check existing issues and create a new one before submitting PRs.

📜 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details

🆘 Support

• Create an issue for bugs/features

🔗 Resources

• Hashnode API Documentation
• GitHub Actions Documentation