GitHub Action Integration

Auto-publish content when you push to your repository.

How It Works

1. You push a new/updated markdown file to posts/
2. GitHub Action triggers
3. Crier checks what's missing from your configured platforms
4. Crier publishes missing content
5. The publication registry is committed back to your repo

Quick Setup (Recommended)

The easiest way to set up GitHub Actions is with the init-action command:

# In your content repository:
cd ~/repos/my-blog

# Set up workflow and secrets automatically
crier init-action

This command will: 1. Create .github/workflows/crier-publish.yml in your repo 2. Set all your configured API keys as GitHub repository secrets

Options:

# Preview what would be done
crier init-action --dry-run

# Specify a custom content path
crier init-action --content-path blog/articles

# Skip confirmation prompts
crier init-action --yes

Requirements: - GitHub CLI (gh) must be installed and authenticated - Run gh auth login if not already authenticated

Manual Setup

If you prefer to set things up manually:

1. Add Secrets to Your Repository

Go to your repository's Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions and add:

Secret Name	Value
CRIER_DEVTO_API_KEY	Your dev.to API key
CRIER_BLUESKY_API_KEY	handle.bsky.social:app-password
CRIER_MASTODON_API_KEY	instance.social:access-token
CRIER_HASHNODE_API_KEY	Your Hashnode token

Only add secrets for platforms you want to use.

2. Create the Workflow File

Create .github/workflows/crier-publish.yml in your repository:

name: Auto-Publish Content

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'posts/**/*.md'
  workflow_dispatch:

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

      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'

      - name: Install Crier
        run: pip install crier

      - name: Publish new content
        env:
          CRIER_DEVTO_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CRIER_DEVTO_API_KEY }}
          CRIER_BLUESKY_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CRIER_BLUESKY_API_KEY }}
          CRIER_MASTODON_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CRIER_MASTODON_API_KEY }}
          CRIER_HASHNODE_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CRIER_HASHNODE_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          echo "=== Configured Platforms ==="
          crier platforms

          echo "=== Audit ==="
          crier audit ./posts || true

          echo "=== Publishing ==="
          crier backfill ./posts --yes || true

      - name: Commit registry
        run: |
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"

          if [ -d ".crier" ]; then
            git add .crier/
            git diff --staged --quiet || git commit -m "Update publication registry"
            git push
          fi

3. Customize for Your Repository

Change the posts path if your content is elsewhere:

paths:
  - 'content/**/*.md'  # or wherever your posts are

Add a profile for specific platforms:

First, create a crier config file in your repo at .crier/config.yaml:

profiles:
  blogs: [devto, hashnode]
  social: [bluesky, mastodon]
  all: [blogs, social]

Then update the workflow:

- name: Publish new content
  env:
    # ... secrets ...
  run: |
    crier backfill ./posts --profile blogs --yes

Example: metafunctor Repository

For your metafunctor repo, create .github/workflows/crier-publish.yml:

name: Cross-Post Content

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'posts/**/*.md'
  workflow_dispatch:

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

      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'

      - run: pip install crier

      - name: Cross-post to platforms
        env:
          CRIER_DEVTO_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CRIER_DEVTO_API_KEY }}
          CRIER_BLUESKY_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.CRIER_BLUESKY_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          crier audit ./posts
          crier backfill ./posts --yes

      - name: Save publication state
        run: |
          git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git add .crier/ 2>/dev/null || true
          git diff --staged --quiet || git commit -m "📢 Update publication registry"
          git push

How the Registry Works

The registry (.crier/registry.yaml) tracks what's been published:

posts:
  "posts/my-article.md":
    title: "My Article"
    publications:
      devto:
        id: "12345"
        url: https://dev.to/user/my-article
        published_at: 2025-01-15T10:00:00Z
      bluesky:
        id: "abc123"
        published_at: 2025-01-15T10:05:00Z

When the action runs: - crier backfill checks the registry - Only publishes to platforms where the post is not already recorded - Updates the registry after successful publications - Commits the registry back to your repo

This means: - A new post gets published to all platforms - An existing post is skipped (already in registry) - If you add a new platform, old posts get backfilled

Manual Trigger

You can manually trigger the workflow from GitHub:

1. Go to Actions tab in your repository
2. Select the "Cross-Post Content" workflow
3. Click Run workflow

This is useful for: - Initial backfill of existing content - Retrying failed publications - Testing your setup