Crier

Cross-post your content to dev.to, Ghost, WordPress, Hashnode, Medium, Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, Telegram, Discord, and more.

Like a town crier announcing your content to the world.

Getting Started

Quick Setup

pip install crier
cd your-blog
crier init

The init command walks you through:

• Creating the SQLite registry at ~/.config/crier/crier.db
• Detecting your content directories
• Configuring platforms with API keys

How It Works

1. Your markdown posts with YAML front matter are the source of truth
2. SQLite registry at ~/.config/crier/crier.db tracks what's published where (slug-keyed)
3. crier audit shows what's missing from which platforms
4. crier publish or audit --publish publishes content

# See what needs publishing
crier audit

# Publish a file to a platform
crier publish post.md --to devto

# Publish to multiple platforms
crier publish post.md --to devto --to bluesky --to mastodon

# Bulk publish missing content (interactive)
crier audit --publish

With Claude Code

Crier is designed to work with Claude Code for AI-assisted publishing. Install the crier plugin from the queelius-plugins marketplace, which provides a skill, a /crier slash command, a cross-poster agent, and an MCP server exposing the registry to Claude. Then ask naturally:

• "Cross-post my latest article to all platforms"
• "What articles haven't been published to Bluesky?"
• "Publish this post to Mastodon with a good announcement"

The MCP server (crier mcp) gives Claude direct query access to the registry, and the cross-poster agent can handle bulk publishing autonomously with rewrites for short-form platforms.

Installation

pip install crier

Supported Platforms

Platform Notes

Blog Platforms (dev.to, Hashnode, Medium, Ghost, WordPress):

• Full markdown article publishing
• Preserves front matter (title, description, tags, canonical_url)
• Best for long-form content

Newsletter Platforms (Buttondown):

• Publishes to email subscribers
• Full markdown support
• Great for content repurposing

Social Platforms (Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads):

• Creates short posts with link to canonical URL
• Uses title + description + hashtags from tags
• Best for announcing new content

Announcement Channels (Telegram, Discord):

• Posts to channels/servers
• Good for community announcements
• Discord uses webhook embeds

Manual Mode

For platforms with restrictive API access (Medium, LinkedIn, Twitter/X), you can use manual (copy-paste) mode:

# Explicit manual mode with --manual flag
crier publish post.md --to medium --manual
crier publish post.md --to linkedin --manual

# Skip auto-opening browser
crier publish post.md --to twitter --manual --no-browser

Auto-manual mode: If you configure a platform's API key to "manual", crier automatically uses manual mode:

# Configure platform for manual mode (no API key needed)
crier config set twitter.api_key manual
crier config set linkedin.api_key manual

# Now these automatically use manual mode without --manual flag
crier publish post.md --to twitter
crier publish post.md --to linkedin

Manual mode workflow:

1. Formats content for the platform
2. Copies it to your clipboard
3. Opens the compose page in your browser
4. Asks if you successfully posted
5. Records to registry only if you confirm

This ensures the registry accurately reflects what's actually published.

Configuration

All configuration lives in a single global file: ~/.config/crier/config.yaml. The registry (publication state) is a SQLite database at ~/.config/crier/crier.db.

Example config

# Points crier at your content project (e.g., a Hugo site)
site_root: ~/github/repos/my-blog
site_base_url: https://example.com

# Directories to scan for markdown files (relative to site_root)
content_paths:
  - content/post
  - content/note

# File extensions to scan (default: .md)
file_extensions:
  - .md
  - .mdx

# Filename patterns to skip
exclude_patterns:
  - _drafts/*
  - _index.md

# Default platforms when --to / --profile not given
default_profile: everything

# Default author for AI-generated rewrites
rewrite_author: claude-code

platforms:
  devto:
    api_key: your_key_here
  bluesky:
    api_key: "handle.bsky.social:app-password"
  mastodon:
    api_key: "mastodon.social:access-token"
  twitter:
    api_key: manual    # Copy-paste mode
  medium:
    api_key: import    # URL import mode

profiles:
  blogs:
    - devto
    - hashnode
    - medium
  social:
    - bluesky
    - mastodon
  everything:
    - blogs           # Profiles can reference other profiles
    - social

Environment Variables

Environment variables override config files:

export CRIER_DEVTO_API_KEY=your_key_here
export CRIER_BLUESKY_API_KEY="handle.bsky.social:app-password"

Markdown Format

Crier reads standard markdown with YAML or TOML front matter:

---
title: "My Amazing Post"
description: "A brief description"
tags: [python, programming]
canonical_url: https://myblog.com/my-post
published: true
---

Your content here...

TOML front matter is also supported (delimited by +++):

+++
title = "My Amazing Post"
description = "A brief description"
tags = ["python", "programming"]

[extra]
canonical_url = "https://myblog.com/my-post"
+++

Your content here...

Date and tag filters support both front matter formats. When site_base_url is configured, Crier resolves relative links and images against the article's canonical URL, including an explicitly supplied canonical_url. Root-relative links use the site's origin. Markdown references and HTML href/src attributes are supported; code examples and surrounding formatting are preserved.

Commands

# Publishing
crier init                              # Interactive setup wizard
crier publish FILE --to PLATFORM        # Publish to platform(s)
crier publish FILE --to PLATFORM --manual  # Manual copy-paste mode
crier publish FILE --to bluesky --thread   # Publish as thread
crier audit                             # See what's missing/changed
crier audit --publish                   # Bulk publish interactively
crier audit --publish --yes             # Bulk publish without prompting

# Content Management
crier search                            # List all content
crier search --tag python --since 1w    # Filter by tag and date
crier status [FILE]                     # Show publication status
crier list PLATFORM                     # List your articles
crier delete FILE --from PLATFORM       # Delete from platform
crier archive FILE                      # Archive (exclude from audit)
crier unarchive FILE                    # Unarchive

# Scheduling
crier schedule list                     # List scheduled posts
crier schedule show ID                  # Show scheduled post details
crier schedule cancel ID                # Cancel scheduled post
crier schedule run                      # Publish due posts

# Analytics
crier stats                             # Show stats for all content
crier stats FILE                        # Show stats for specific file
crier stats --top 10                    # Top 10 by engagement
crier stats --refresh                   # Refresh from platforms

# Configuration
crier config show                       # Show configuration
crier config set KEY VALUE              # Set configuration
crier config llm show                   # Show LLM configuration
crier config llm test                   # Test LLM connection
crier doctor                            # Verify API keys work
crier mcp                               # Start MCP server (for Claude Code)

Automation

Batch Mode

Use --batch for fully automated, non-interactive publishing (CI/CD):

# Batch mode implies --yes --json, skips manual/import platforms
crier publish post.md --to devto --to bluesky --batch
crier audit --publish --batch --long-form

Batch mode behavior:

• Implies --yes (no confirmation prompts)
• Implies --json (structured output for parsing)
• Implies --only-api (skips manual/import platforms that require user interaction)

JSON Output

Use --json for machine-readable output:

crier publish post.md --to devto --json
crier audit --json

JSON output structure:

{
  "command": "publish",
  "file": "post.md",
  "results": [{"platform": "devto", "success": true, "url": "..."}],
  "summary": {"succeeded": 1, "failed": 0, "skipped": 0}
}

Auto-Rewrite

Use --auto-rewrite to generate short-form content using an LLM:

crier publish post.md --to bluesky --auto-rewrite

Simplest setup: If you have OPENAI_API_KEY set, it just works (defaults to gpt-4o-mini).

Or configure in ~/.config/crier/config.yaml:

# Minimal - just the API key (defaults to OpenAI + gpt-4o-mini)
llm:
  api_key: sk-...

# Or full config for Ollama/other providers
llm:
  base_url: http://localhost:11434/v1  # Ollama
  model: llama3
  # api_key: not needed for local Ollama

Environment variables (override config):

• OPENAI_API_KEY — API key (auto-defaults to OpenAI endpoint + gpt-4o-mini)
• OPENAI_BASE_URL — Custom endpoint (e.g., http://localhost:11434/v1 for Ollama)

Bulk Operations

The audit command supports powerful filtering for targeted bulk operations:

# Post to API platforms only (skip manual/import)
crier audit --publish --yes --only-api

# Long-form only (skip bluesky, mastodon, twitter, threads)
crier audit --publish --yes --long-form

# Random sample of 5 articles
crier audit --publish --yes --sample 5

# Filter by path
crier audit content/post --publish --yes --only-api

# Filter by date (relative)
crier audit --since 1w --publish --yes              # Last week
crier audit --since 1m --publish --yes              # Last month
crier audit --since 7d --until 1d --publish --yes   # 7 days ago to yesterday

# Filter by date (absolute)
crier audit --since 2025-12-01 --until 2025-12-31 --publish --yes

# Combine filters
crier audit content/post --since 1m --only-api --long-form --sample 10 --publish --yes

Filter Reference

Filters are applied in order: path → date → platform mode → content type → tag → sampling

Delete & Archive

Deleting Content

Remove published content from platforms:

# Delete from specific platform
crier delete post.md --from devto

# Delete from all platforms
crier delete post.md --all

# Preview what would be deleted
crier delete post.md --all --dry-run

Deletion records are preserved in the registry (marked as deleted) to prevent accidental re-publishing.

Archiving Content

Archive content to exclude it from audit --publish:

# Archive (exclude from bulk publishing)
crier archive post.md

# Unarchive (include again)
crier unarchive post.md

# Include archived in audit
crier audit --include-archived

Scheduling

Schedule posts for future publication:

# Schedule a post
crier publish post.md --to devto --schedule "tomorrow 9am"
crier publish post.md --to bluesky --schedule "2025-02-01 14:00"

# View scheduled posts
crier schedule list

# Show details
crier schedule show abc123

# Cancel a scheduled post
crier schedule cancel abc123

# Publish all due posts
crier schedule run

Supports natural language times ("tomorrow", "next monday 9am") and ISO format.

Analytics

Track engagement across platforms:

# Show stats for all content
crier stats

# Stats for specific file
crier stats post.md

# Top articles by engagement
crier stats --top 10

# Filter by date
crier stats --since 1m

# Refresh from platforms (ignore cache)
crier stats --refresh

# JSON output
crier stats --json

Stats are cached for 1 hour. Supported platforms: dev.to, Bluesky, Mastodon.

Threading

Split long content into threads for social platforms:

# Auto-split into thread
crier publish post.md --to bluesky --thread

# Choose thread style
crier publish post.md --to mastodon --thread --thread-style numbered  # 1/5, 2/5...
crier publish post.md --to bluesky --thread --thread-style emoji      # 🧵 1/5...
crier publish post.md --to mastodon --thread --thread-style simple    # No prefix

Thread splitting priority:

1. Manual markers: <!-- thread --> in content
2. Paragraph boundaries (double newline)
3. Sentence boundaries (if paragraph too long)

Supported platforms: Bluesky, Mastodon.

Pre-Publish Validation

Validate content before publishing with crier check:

# Check a single file
crier check post.md

# Check with platform context (validates platform-specific limits)
crier check post.md --to bluesky --to devto

# Check all content
crier check --all

# Strict mode: warnings become errors
crier check post.md --strict

# Check external links (opt-in, makes HTTP requests)
crier check post.md --check-links

# JSON output
crier check post.md --json

Checks performed:

Publish integration: Pre-publish checks run automatically before publishing. Use --no-check to skip, --strict to block on warnings.

Severity overrides in ~/.config/crier/config.yaml:

checks:
  missing-tags: disabled    # Don't care about tags
  missing-date: error       # Promote to error
  short-body: disabled      # Allow short posts

Quiet Mode

Suppress non-essential output for scripting:

crier publish post.md --to devto --quiet
crier audit --publish --yes --quiet
crier search --tag python --quiet

Quiet mode only shows errors and final results. Combine with --json for fully parseable output.

Exit Codes

# Check exit code in scripts
crier publish post.md --to devto --batch
if [ $? -eq 2 ]; then
  echo "Some platforms failed, retrying..."
fi

Getting API Keys

dev.to

1. Go to https://dev.to/settings/extensions
2. Generate API key

Hashnode

1. Go to https://hashnode.com/settings/developer
2. Generate Personal Access Token

Medium

1. Go to https://medium.com/me/settings/security
2. Generate Integration Token

Bluesky

1. Go to Settings → App Passwords
2. Create an app password
3. Use format: yourhandle.bsky.social:xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Mastodon

1. Go to Settings → Development → New Application
2. Create app with write:statuses scope
3. Use format: instance.social:your-access-token

Twitter/X

Uses copy-paste mode - generates formatted tweet text for manual posting. No API setup required. Just set any placeholder value:

crier config set twitter.api_key manual

Ghost

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Add custom integration
2. Copy the Admin API Key (format: key_id:key_secret)
3. Use format: https://yourblog.com:key_id:key_secret

WordPress

WordPress.com:

1. Go to https://developer.wordpress.com/apps/
2. Create an app and get OAuth token
3. Use format: yoursite.wordpress.com:access_token

Self-hosted WordPress:

1. Go to Users → Profile → Application Passwords
2. Create a new application password
3. Use format: https://yoursite.com:username:app_password

Buttondown

1. Go to https://buttondown.com/requests
2. Copy your API key
3. Use format: api_key

Threads

1. Create a Meta Developer account at https://developers.facebook.com/
2. Create an app with Threads API access
3. Get your user_id and access_token
4. Use format: user_id:access_token

Telegram

1. Message @BotFather to create a bot and get the bot token
2. Add your bot as admin to your channel
3. Get your channel's chat_id (e.g., @yourchannel or numeric ID)
4. Use format: bot_token:chat_id

Discord

1. Go to Server Settings → Integrations → Webhooks
2. Create a new webhook for your announcement channel
3. Copy the webhook URL
4. Use the full URL as the API key

Publishing reliability

API publishing shares preparation, execution, and registry recording across the CLI, MCP, campaigns, audit/retry, and scheduled dispatch. Articles without a canonical URL can be tracked using their source file and title-derived identity.

crier reconcile --apply backfills observed remote posts. It only marks a publication deleted when the adapter explicitly reports a complete listing; limited or legacy listings report unmatched entries as unverified. Increasing --limit alone does not establish completeness.

New schedules store absolute source paths. Legacy relative paths resolve from site_root (or the schedule's project directory), not the runner's working directory. Correct old paths if their original creation directory differed.

If a remote publish succeeds but registry recording fails, results include the remote ID/URL and remote_published: true where available. A recovery receipt beside the registry database retains the prepared article and remote result without credentials. All normal publishing entry points check for an existing receipt and repair recording instead of posting again; unreadable receipts block publication. When retrying a recorded failure, audit --retry ignores receipts older than that failure. The MCP crier_publish tool's preview reports the live post as unrecorded_publication, and confirming records it from the receipt (recovered: true) rather than publishing a duplicate. Schedules remain terminal published with an error; campaign cells become published_unrecorded and subsequent runs skip them.

MCP publish confirmation retains the prepared article in memory for the token's five-minute lifetime. Edits to the source after preview do not change the post that will be sent; request a new preview to publish those edits. Campaign tokens also retain prepared posts and reject confirmation if the manifest has changed, so newly added targets or rewrites require a new preview.

The MCP crier_sql tool runs queries on a separate read-only connection. SQLite's authorizer allows reads and ordinary query functions while rejecting writes, database attachment, extension loading, and connection-changing commands. Publication listings exclude failed attempts that have no remote post ID.

Custom Platforms

Extend crier with your own platforms by dropping a .py file in ~/.config/crier/platforms/:

# ~/.config/crier/platforms/myblog.py
from crier.platforms.base import Article, Platform, PublishResult


class MyBlog(Platform):
    name = "myblog"
    description = "Publish to my self-hosted blog API"
    max_content_length = None  # set an int (and is_short_form = True) for short-form limits
    supports_delete = False

    base_url = "https://blog.example.com/api"

    def publish(self, article: Article) -> PublishResult:
        # retry_request adds timeouts and backoff for 429/5xx responses
        resp = self.retry_request(
            "post",
            f"{self.base_url}/posts",
            headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {self.api_key}"},
            json={
                "title": article.title,
                "body": article.body,
                "canonical_url": article.canonical_url,
            },
        )
        if resp.status_code not in (200, 201):
            return PublishResult(
                success=False, platform=self.name, error=f"{resp.status_code}: {resp.text}"
            )
        data = resp.json()
        return PublishResult(
            success=True, platform=self.name, article_id=str(data["id"]), url=data["url"]
        )

    def update(self, article_id: str, article: Article) -> PublishResult:
        return PublishResult(success=False, platform=self.name, error="update not supported")

    def list_articles(self, limit: int = 10) -> list[dict]:
        return []

    def get_article(self, article_id: str) -> dict | None:
        return None

Then configure your API key:

crier config set platforms.myblog.api_key <your-key>
crier publish article.md --to myblog

Pick a name that does not collide with a built-in platform (crier platforms lists them): a user plugin with the same name as a built-in replaces it. Files starting with _ are skipped. Broken plugins emit a warning but don't crash crier.

License

MIT