Blog Cross-Post Automation Pipeline
Overview
Every time I publish a blog post, I want it to reach readers on Dev.to and Hashnode too — without spending time manually reformatting and reposting. So I built an N8N workflow that handles the entire syndication pipeline.
The workflow triggers when a new post appears on the blog, formats it for each platform’s API, publishes it with a canonical link back to the source, and tracks state so nothing gets duplicated or lost.
How It Works
- Trigger: Detects new blog posts via RSS feed or file watch
- Transform: Converts markdown to each platform’s required format
- Publish: Posts to Dev.to and Hashnode simultaneously via their APIs
- Canonical: Sets canonical URLs pointing back to derekarmstrong.dev
- Track: Records publication state to prevent duplicates and enable re-posts
Why It Matters
Content syndication is a numbers game. One article, three distributions. But the manual effort adds up fast — reformatting, managing API keys, tracking which posts went where. Automating it means the content does the work, not me.
The canonical URL setup is critical: search engines need to know the original source to avoid duplicate content penalties. Every cross-post points back to the blog.
Technologies
- N8N (workflow automation)
- Dev.to API
- Hashnode API
- Markdown transformation
- State tracking and deduplication
