@gurupanguji

Post Date And Snippet Validation Design

Goal

Add two repository checks that work both locally and in CI:

1. A post filename date in _posts/YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md must match the calendar day in its front matter date.
2. A future-dated post must have a matching companion snippet in _snippets/. Locally, missing or stale snippets should be generated or refreshed before commit. In CI, validation should fail instead of mutating files.

Approach

Use one shared Python validation script and one shared Python snippet generator.

• scripts/validate_posts.py
  • Parses _posts/*.md
  • Verifies filename date matches front matter date
  • Verifies future-dated posts have matching snippets
  • Verifies snippet metadata stays aligned with the post
  • Supports --staged for hook use
  • Supports --today YYYY-MM-DD for deterministic checks
• scripts/generate_social_snippets.py
  • Reads a post from _posts/
  • Derives title, slug, canonical URL, and basic metadata
  • Generates the standard snippet scaffold and distinct platform copy
  • Writes or refreshes _snippets/<same filename>.md

Local Hook Flow

• scripts/install_git_hooks.sh installs repo-managed pre-commit and pre-push hooks into .git/hooks/
• pre-commit
  • finds staged posts
  • for future-dated staged posts, generates or refreshes snippets
  • stages those snippet updates
  • runs validate_posts.py --staged
• pre-push
  • runs validate_posts.py across the repo

CI Flow

Add .github/workflows/validate_posts.yml

• run the validator in check-only mode
• fail the workflow if dates mismatch or future snippets are missing or stale

Notes

• “Future-dated” means the post date is later than the current calendar day in the site timezone.
• Date validation compares only the calendar day, not the exact publish time.
• Local hooks may mutate files. CI must not.