session-to-blog

name	session-to-blog
description	Use when a Claude Code session produced interesting work worth writing about, or when the user asks to generate a blog post from the current session. Also triggers at session end to offer drafting. Generates Hugo-compatible draft posts in the user's blog repo.

Session to Blog Post

Overview

Extracts blogworthy moments from a Claude Code session and generates Hugo-compatible draft posts. Avoids topics already well covered in the existing blog.

When to Use

• User says "write a blog post about this", "draft a post", or invokes /session-to-blog
• At session end when substantial, novel work was completed
• When a session involved solving a non-trivial problem with a reusable lesson

When NOT to Use

• Trivial bug fixes or config changes
• Work that's confidential or not shareable
• Topics already thoroughly covered (check existing posts first)

Blog Configuration

• Engine: Hugo
• Repo: /home/jones/dev/blog/
• Content: content/posts/<category>/
• Categories: ai, go, laravel, docker, devops, general, cursor, psr
• Front matter: YAML
• Draft convention: draft: true

Style Rules

Element	Rule
Voice	First person, conversational, technical. Sound like a real build log, not a tutorial transcript.
Opening	Lead with the real problem or tension from the session. No throat-clearing like "In this post I want to share..."
Em dashes	Use sparingly and on purpose. Prefer periods, colons, or commas. Zero is fine. Heavy "—" usage reads AI-written.
Contrast constructions	Don't keep reaching for lines like "X is not Y, it is Z." Once may work. Repetition reads formulaic and AI-written. If the direct sentence is stronger, write the direct sentence.
Negative framing	Avoid stacking "does not," "did not," "not enough," "not just," or repeated "instead of" turns when a direct positive sentence would say the same thing faster.
Low-value opposition	Avoid casual "rather than" and "instead of" phrasing when the contrast is doing no analytical work. Save opposition for real decision points.
Sentence variety	Mix short and medium sentences so the post does not sound mechanically repetitive. Avoid sections where every sentence lands with the same cadence.
Filler and hype	Cut generic AI-sounding filler like "powerful," "robust," "seamless," "game-changing," or "this changes everything." State what happened and why it mattered.
Specificity	Use concrete decisions, failed attempts, code, or commands from the session. Do not pad with abstract reflections that could fit any project.
Length	Target 800-1500 words, but only if the session has enough substance. Shorter is better than padded.

Process

Step 1: Identify Blogworthy Topics

Review the session for:

• Problem → Solution arcs — debugging sessions, architectural decisions, clever fixes
• New patterns discovered — reusable techniques, framework patterns, tool workflows
• Migration/integration stories — porting between frameworks, wiring systems together
• Tool/workflow insights — Claude Code usage patterns, skill creation, automation

Rate each topic on two axes:

• Novelty — would this teach the reader something they can't easily Google?
• Reusability — would this help someone facing a similar situation?

Skip topics that score low on both.

Step 2: Check for Overlap

Before drafting, scan existing blog posts for overlap:

ls /home/jones/dev/blog/content/posts/*/
grep -rl "<keyword>" /home/jones/dev/blog/content/posts/

Well-covered topics to avoid unless you have a genuinely new angle:

• PSR standards (15 posts — comprehensive)
• Docker fundamentals (7 posts)
• Laravel/DDEV local dev setup (5 posts)
• Codified context basics (5-post series)
• Waaseyaa framework architecture (10-post series)

Growth areas welcome:

• Advanced Go patterns, testing strategies
• Kubernetes/orchestration
• Database optimization
• Real-world migration stories (Laravel → Waaseyaa is fresh)
• AI-assisted development workflows (practical, not hype)

Step 3: Generate Draft Post

Create the post file at the correct path:

content/posts/<category>/<slug>/index.md

Front matter template:

---
title: "<Title — specific, actionable, not clickbait>"
date: <YYYY-MM-DD>
categories: [<primary-category>]
tags: [<tag1>, <tag2>, <tag3>]
summary: "<One sentence — what the reader will learn>"
slug: "<url-slug>"
draft: true
---

Writing style:

• First person, conversational, technical
• Lead with the problem or context, not the solution
• Show real code from the session (sanitize secrets/paths)
• Include "what I tried first" when there was a wrong turn. Readers learn from the debugging journey.
• End with a takeaway or "what I'd do differently"
• Target 800-1500 words. Respect the reader's time.
• No filler paragraphs, no "in this post we'll explore..."
• Avoid repeated contrast moves and repetitive sentence cadence. If a sentence sounds like a generic AI takeaway, rewrite it with concrete details from the session.
• Prefer direct sentences over negative setup. Write "The useful angle was the draft workflow" instead of "The useful angle was not X." Write "I wrote around the decisions" instead of "I wrote around the decisions instead of the chronology" when the contrast is unnecessary.
• Avoid throwaway opposition phrases. Write "I drafted around decisions." instead of "I drafted around decisions rather than chronology." Write "The draft stayed concrete." instead of "It stayed concrete instead of sounding generic."

Structure:

## The Problem / Context
(2-3 sentences setting the scene)

## What I Tried / The Approach
(Show the work — code, decisions, trade-offs)

## The Solution
(Working code with explanation)

## What I Learned
(Key takeaway, gotchas, things to watch for)

Step 4: Offer to the User

After generating, tell the user:

• What post(s) were created
• The file path(s)
• A one-line summary of each
• Remind them to review and remove draft: true when ready to publish

Multiple Posts

If a session covers multiple distinct topics, generate separate posts. One focused post beats one rambling mega-post.

Session-End Trigger

When a session involved substantial work (3+ commits, new features, debugging victories), and the skill hasn't been invoked yet, offer:

"This session had some interesting work — [brief description]. Want me to draft a blog post about it?"

Only offer once per session. Accept "no" gracefully.

Quick Reference

Field	Value
Blog path	/home/jones/dev/blog/content/posts/<category>/
Front matter	YAML (--- delimiters)
Draft flag	draft: true
Categories	ai, go, laravel, docker, devops, general, cursor, psr
Word target	800-1500
Post structure	Problem → Approach → Solution → Takeaway