WordPress Remote News Publisher

Automates news article creation and publishing to remote WordPress via SSH and WP-CLI, including image handling and SEO metadata integration.

Emilio Petrozzi@promoweb

Install

openclaw skills install @promoweb/wordpress-remote-news-publisher

Skill: WordPress Remote News Publisher

Automated news article generation and publishing to WordPress via SSH and WP-CLI.

Folder Structure

text

WordPress-Remote-News-Publisher/
  SKILL.md
  config.json
  scripts/
    download_cover.py
    optimize_image.sh
    upload_media_remote.sh
    publish_wp_remote.sh

Metadata

yaml

---
name: wordpress-remote-news-publisher
description: |
  Automatically generates and publishes news articles to a remote WordPress 
  installation via SSH using public key authentication. Downloads and optimizes 
  cover images from Unsplash, transfers them via SCP, and publishes articles 
  with SEO metadata (Yoast).
user-invocable: true
triggers:
  - cron: "0 10 * * 1-5"  # Weekdays at 10:00
  - cron: "0 16 * * 1-5"  # Weekdays at 16:00
  - manual: "/wordpress-remote-news-publisher [topic]"
metadata:
  emoji: "📰"
  version: "1.0.0"
  author: "ClawHub Community"
  license: "MIT"
  openclaw:
    requires:
      bins:
        - ssh
        - scp
        - python3
        - curl
        - convert
      env:
        - WP_SSH_HOST
        - WP_SSH_USER
        - WP_SSH_KEY
        - WP_SSH_PORT
        - WP_REMOTE_PATH
        - WP_REMOTE_TMP
        - WP_AUTHOR_ID
        - UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY
---

Overview

This skill enables automated news content creation and publication to WordPress websites hosted on remote servers. It leverages SSH with public key authentication for secure, passwordless connections, and WP-CLI for all WordPress operations on the server side.

Key Features

Remote Execution: All WP-CLI operations run on the remote server via SSH
Automated Topic Selection: Round-robin rotation through configured topics
Journalistic Writing Style: Senior journalist quality content with lede, body, and attribution
Image Pipeline: Unsplash download → local optimization → SCP transfer → WordPress import
SEO Integration: Yoast SEO meta description and focus keyword support
Cron Scheduling: Automated execution on weekdays

Required Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Required	Example
`WP_SSH_HOST`	Remote server hostname or IP	Yes	`203.0.113.10` or `example.com`
`WP_SSH_USER`	SSH username on remote server	Yes	`deploy`, `www-data`, `wpcli`
`WP_SSH_KEY`	Absolute path to SSH private key	Yes	`/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519_wp`
`WP_SSH_PORT`	SSH port (default: 22)	No	`22`
`WP_REMOTE_PATH`	Absolute path to WordPress installation	Yes	`/var/www/html/wordpress`
`WP_REMOTE_TMP`	Writable temp directory on remote	No	`/tmp`
`WP_AUTHOR_ID`	WordPress author ID for posts	Yes	`1`
`UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY`	Unsplash API access key	Yes	`AbC123...`

Editorial Philosophy

Every article MUST adhere to these rules:

Write like a senior journalist, not an AI assistant
Use variable sentence length: Alternate short periods with complex constructions
Lead with a clear thesis in the first paragraph (lede)
Include attributed quotes from real sources when available
Avoid AI-sounding phrases: Never use "it's important to note," "in the digital age," "in today's world," "in conclusion," "obviously," "clearly," or similar formulas
Specific titles: No clickbait. The title must contain the main fact

Complete Procedure

Phase 1: Topic Selection

If no topic is provided as argument:

Read config.json for the configured topic list
Select the topic with the oldest publication date (round-robin)
Use that topic for content generation

Phase 2: SSH Connection Verification

Before any operation, verify SSH connectivity:

bash

ssh -i "$WP_SSH_KEY" -p "${WP_SSH_PORT:-22}" \
    -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no \
    -o BatchMode=yes \
    -o ConnectTimeout=10 \
    "$WP_SSH_USER@$WP_SSH_HOST" \
    "wp --info --path=$WP_REMOTE_PATH"

If this fails, abort and notify via Telegram with error details.

Phase 3: Research and Fact Gathering

Web Search: Query "[topic] latest news [current month]" and English equivalents for international sources
Fact Collection (only verifiable facts):
- Numerical data with source attribution
- Statements from real people with name and role
- Specific dates and events
- Avoid unattributed speculation
Store Facts: Save to /tmp/wp_facts.json

Phase 4: Article Generation

Mandatory Editorial Structure

TITLE (max 65 characters)

Specific, not generic. Contains the main fact.
✅ Good: "Meta cuts 3,600 jobs: farewell to Base AI teams"
❌ Bad: "Meta takes important step for the future"

LEDE (first paragraph, 40-60 words)

Answers: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
The most important news in dense, precise form
Never starts with "In the world of..." or "In recent years..."

BODY (600-900 total words)

Paragraph 2: Context and background
Paragraphs 3-4: Main development with data and citations
Paragraph 5: Reactions and positions from key players
Paragraph 6: Implications and prospects (attributed to experts)
Final paragraph: Narrative closing element

META DESCRIPTION (max 155 characters) SEO TAGS (3-5 tags, without #) PRIMARY KEYWORD (1 keyword)

Output Format

Save to /tmp/wp_article.json:

json

{
  "title": "...",
  "content": "...",
  "excerpt": "...",
  "tags": ["..."],
  "meta_desc": "...",
  "keyword": "...",
  "topic": "..."
}

Phase 5: Cover Image

Determine Visual Keyword: Derive from article topic (e.g., "server room technology")

Download from Unsplash (local machine):

bash

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/download_cover.py '[keyword]' /tmp/cover.jpg

Optimize Locally:

bash

bash {baseDir}/scripts/optimize_image.sh /tmp/cover.jpg /tmp/cover_opt.jpg

Transfer and Import:

bash

bash {baseDir}/scripts/upload_media_remote.sh /tmp/cover_opt.jpg

→ Media ID saved to /tmp/wp_media_id.txt

Phase 6: Publishing to Remote WordPress

Create Draft Post:

bash

bash {baseDir}/scripts/publish_wp_remote.sh

Verify Status: Wait 30 seconds, check via SSH

Publish:

bash

ssh -i "$WP_SSH_KEY" -p "${WP_SSH_PORT:-22}" "$WP_SSH_USER@$WP_SSH_HOST" \
  "wp post update $(cat /tmp/wp_post_id.txt) \
   --post_status=publish --path=$WP_REMOTE_PATH"

Retrieve Published URL:

bash

ssh -i "$WP_SSH_KEY" -p "${WP_SSH_PORT:-22}" "$WP_SSH_USER@$WP_SSH_HOST" \
  "wp post get $(cat /tmp/wp_post_id.txt) --field=url --path=$WP_REMOTE_PATH"

Send Telegram Confirmation: Title, URL, word count, keyword

Phase 7: Update Registry

Update config.json with the current timestamp for the published topic to ensure proper rotation.

SSH Key Setup (One-Time)

Before using this skill, configure public key authentication:

bash

# 1. Generate a dedicated key pair (ed25519 recommended)
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_wp \
    -C "openclaw-wp-publisher" -N ""

# 2. Copy public key to remote server
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_wp.pub -p 22 deploy@203.0.113.10

# 3. Verify passwordless connection
ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_wp -o BatchMode=yes \
    deploy@203.0.113.10 "wp --info"

# 4. (Optional) Restrict key in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
command="wp --allow-root",no-port-forwarding,no-X11-forwarding \
    ssh-ed25519 AAAA... openclaw-wp-publisher

Security Tip: Use a dedicated SSH user (deploy or wpcli) with minimal server permissions. Never use root. If WP-CLI needs write access to /var/www, add the user to the www-data group.

Remote Server Requirements

Component	Requirement	Verification
WP-CLI	Installed and in PATH	`wp --info`
PHP	≥ 7.4 (8.x recommended)	`php --version`
Python 3	For JSON parsing	`python3 --version`
Permissions	SSH user writes to `WP_REMOTE_PATH`	`ls -la /var/www/html/wordpress`
SSH Port	Open in firewall	`ufw status`

Local Machine Requirements (OpenClaw)

Component	Requirement	Installation
ssh, scp	In PATH	Pre-installed on Linux/macOS
ImageMagick	`convert` command	`apt install imagemagick`
Python 3	With `requests` library	`pip install requests`

Configuration Example

OpenClaw Configuration

Add to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

json

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "wordpress-remote-news-publisher": {
        "env": {
          "WP_SSH_HOST": "203.0.113.10",
          "WP_SSH_USER": "deploy",
          "WP_SSH_KEY": "/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519_wp",
          "WP_SSH_PORT": "22",
          "WP_REMOTE_PATH": "/var/www/html/wordpress",
          "WP_REMOTE_TMP": "/tmp",
          "WP_AUTHOR_ID": "1",
          "UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY": "your-unsplash-access-key"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "cron": {
    "jobs": [
      {
        "id": "wp-morning-news",
        "schedule": "0 10 * * 1-5",
        "prompt": "Execute wordpress-remote-news-publisher. Select topic from rotation.",
        "channel": "telegram"
      },
      {
        "id": "wp-afternoon-news",
        "schedule": "0 16 * * 1-5",
        "prompt": "Execute wordpress-remote-news-publisher for afternoon edition.",
        "channel": "telegram"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Summary

This skill enables fully automated WordPress publishing without requiring WP-CLI on the local machine. All WordPress operations execute remotely via SSH, images process locally and transfer via SCP, and the connection uses public key authentication for security and automation.

WordPress Remote News Publisher

Install

Skill: WordPress Remote News Publisher

Folder Structure

Metadata

Overview

Key Features

Required Environment Variables

Editorial Philosophy

Complete Procedure

Phase 1: Topic Selection

Phase 2: SSH Connection Verification

Phase 3: Research and Fact Gathering

Phase 4: Article Generation

Mandatory Editorial Structure

Output Format

Phase 5: Cover Image

Phase 6: Publishing to Remote WordPress

Phase 7: Update Registry

SSH Key Setup (One-Time)

Remote Server Requirements

Local Machine Requirements (OpenClaw)

Configuration Example

OpenClaw Configuration

Summary

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