youmind-devto-article

Write and publish Dev.to articles with AI — topic research via YouMind knowledge base, developer-audience adapted writing, Markdown with front matter formatting, and one-click publishing. Use when user wants to "write Dev.to article", "publish to Dev.to", "post on Dev.to".

AI Dev.to Article Writer

Write technical Dev.to articles with AI that resonate with developers. Topic research via YouMind knowledge base, developer-audience adapted writing, Markdown with front matter formatting, and one-click publishing to Dev.to through the user's Dev.to account already connected in YouMind.

Get YouMind API Key | More Skills

Onboarding

MANDATORY: When the user has just installed this skill, present this message IMMEDIATELY. Translate to the user's language:

AI Dev.to Article Writer installed!

Tell me your topic and I'll write and publish a Dev.to article for you.

Try it now: "Write a Dev.to article about building CLI tools with TypeScript"

What it does:

• Research topics from trending developer discussions and your YouMind knowledge base
• Write technical articles with proper code examples and structure
• Format with Dev.to front matter (tags, cover image, series)
• Validate content for Dev.to best practices
• Publish directly to Dev.to (as draft or public) through the Dev.to account connected in YouMind

Setup (one-time):

1. Install & configure: cd toolkit && npm install && npm run build && cd .. && mkdir -p ~/.youmind/config && cp shared/config.example.yaml ~/.youmind/config.yaml
2. Get YouMind API Key and fill youmind.api_key in ~/.youmind/config.yaml
3. Keep youmind.base_url pointed at https://youmind.com/openapi/v1 in docs. If you need local backend debugging, change ~/.youmind/config.yaml or ~/.youmind/config/youmind-devto-article.yaml.
4. Connect your Dev.to account inside YouMind before publishing. This skill no longer reads devto.api_key locally.

No Dev.to connection yet? You can still write and preview locally — just skip the publish step.

Need help? Just ask!

Usage

Provide a topic, a raw Markdown file, or describe the article you want.

Write from a topic:

Write a Dev.to article about building REST APIs with Hono and Bun

Write with specific tags:

Write a Dev.to post about React Server Components, tag it with react, webdev, javascript

Publish existing Markdown:

Publish this markdown to Dev.to as a draft

Validate before publishing:

Validate my article for Dev.to best practices

Setup

Prerequisites: Node.js >= 18, a YouMind API key, and a Dev.to account connected in YouMind if you want to publish.

Step 1 -- Install Dependencies

cd toolkit && npm install && npm run build && cd ..

Step 2 -- Create Config File

mkdir -p ~/.youmind/config
cp shared/config.example.yaml ~/.youmind/config.yaml

Canonical credentials: put your shared YouMind credentials in ~/.youmind/config.yaml — filled ONCE and read by every YouMind skill. See shared/config.example.yaml for the template and shared/YOUMIND_HOME.md. Optional skill overrides live in ~/.youmind/config/youmind-devto-article.yaml.

Step 3 -- Get YouMind API Key

YouMind API Key enables knowledge base search, web search, article archiving, and Dev.to publishing.

1. Open YouMind API Keys
2. Click Create API Key
3. Copy the sk-ym-xxxx key
4. Fill in ~/.youmind/config.yaml under youmind.api_key
5. Keep youmind.base_url as https://youmind.com/openapi/v1 in examples and documentation. Local backend testing should only override ~/.youmind/config.yaml or ~/.youmind/config/youmind-devto-article.yaml.

Step 4 -- Connect Dev.to in YouMind

1. Open YouMind and connect your Dev.to account in the product's publishing / platform settings flow
2. Save the Dev.to token there once
3. Keep only youmind.api_key in ~/.youmind/config.yaml

Verify Setup

After configuration, try:

"Write a Dev.to article about TypeScript best practices"

If something is misconfigured, the skill will report what needs fixing at the relevant step.

When a post is created as a draft, tell the user it is in the Dev.to dashboard (https://dev.to/dashboard). Do not present the public article URL as if it is already accessible, because Dev.to draft URLs can 404 until published. If the user wants immediate publishing, use published: true / --publish.

Skill Directory

This skill is a folder. Read files on demand -- do NOT load everything upfront.

Path	Purpose	When to read
references/pipeline.md	Full step-by-step execution (Steps 1-7)	When running the writing pipeline
references/platform-dna.md	Dev.to audience, format constraints, community data	Before any content work
references/content-generation-playbook.md	Idea → Dev.to-native draft workflow	When generating new content
references/content-adaptation-playbook.md	Existing article → Dev.to-native workflow	When adapting/cross-posting content
references/content-adaptation.md	Dev.to writing rules, structure, tone (legacy)	Supplementary reference
references/api-reference.md	YouMind Dev.to OpenAPI endpoint documentation	When calling Dev.to through YouMind
~/.youmind/config.yaml	Shared API credentials (YouMind only)	Step 1 (config load)
output/	Local article Markdown drafts (git-ignored)	When writing the article
toolkit/dist/*.js	Executable scripts (run from toolkit/)	Various steps

Draft Location Rule

Canonical: write local article Markdown files to ~/.youmind/articles/devto/<slug>.md. This shared home directory is available to all YouMind skills — see shared/YOUMIND_HOME.md.

Legacy fallback (if ~/.youmind/ is not writable): skills/youmind-devto-article/output/<slug>.md.

• Correct: ~/.youmind/articles/devto/my-article.md
• Correct (legacy): skills/youmind-devto-article/output/my-article.md
• Wrong: skill root directly, references/, toolkit/, or an ad-hoc drafts/ directory

Both locations are git-ignored. Create directories on demand (mkdir -p ~/.youmind/articles/devto). Kebab-case filenames (my-post.md), and prefer descriptive slugs over timestamps.

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Dispatch Integration (Optional)

This skill is self-contained and fully usable standalone. The youmind-article-dispatch hub is an optional companion; it is NOT required for anything.

• Primary mode — standalone: Invoke directly ("Write a Dev.to article about X"). Works with zero other YouMind skills installed.
• Author voice lookup: This skill reads ~/.youmind/author-profile.yaml (shared home directory — see shared/YOUMIND_HOME.md) for cross-platform voice preferences. Works whether or not dispatch is installed: the profile lives in the user's home, not in any skill. If the file doesn't exist, the skill runs onboarding or uses platform defaults.
• Optional dispatch-mode invocation: When dispatch invokes this skill with a content brief containing resolved_author, the skill uses those fields as extra context. Without such a brief, the skill runs its own pipeline normally.
• Capability manifest (opt-in): dispatch-capabilities.yaml is metadata that lets dispatch route intelligently. Deleting it reverts to defaults; it never breaks this skill.
• Optional interop protocol: shared/DISPATCH_CONTRACT.md (v1.0).

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Content Modes

Before writing any content, read references/platform-dna.md to internalize Dev.to's real product surface: TL;DR-first openings, YAML frontmatter, canonical URL discipline, Liquid embeds, and tag-driven feed discovery.

Intent routing

User's input	Operation	Playbook to load
Idea, topic, or talking points only	Generate	references/content-generation-playbook.md
Existing article from blog/other platform	Cross-post	references/content-adaptation-playbook.md
Article in another language	Translate	references/content-adaptation-playbook.md (translate mode)
Same-language article needing Dev.to-native voice	Localize	references/content-adaptation-playbook.md (localize mode)
Old Dev.to post to refresh	Revive	references/content-adaptation-playbook.md (revive mode)
Long piece to trim	Condense	references/content-adaptation-playbook.md (condense mode)
Section from larger work	Excerpt	references/content-adaptation-playbook.md (excerpt mode)

Quality gates (before publish)

1. Self-critique: Pass all checklist items in the playbook's Step 6
2. Conformance report: Generate and present to user (Step 7)
3. User approval: Do not auto-publish without confirmation

Result Links Rule

After any draft or publish action, always end with Result links.

• Prefer the direct Dev.to post URL when the post is public.
• For drafts, explicitly surface https://dev.to/dashboard.
• If no exact results page exists, return the best platform entry URL instead.
• Never leave the user with only an article ID.

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Pipeline Overview

Read references/pipeline.md for full execution details of each step.

Step	Action	Key reference
1	Load config and validate the YouMind API key and Dev.to connection in YouMind	--
2	Mine YouMind knowledge base for source material	--
3	Research topic: web search, trending discussions	--
4	Content adaptation: structure for Dev.to audience	references/content-adaptation.md
5	Write article with code examples, TL;DR, proper structure	--
6	Publish to Dev.to (draft or public)	references/api-reference.md
7	Report results: title, URL, tags, published status, result links	--

Routing shortcuts:

• User gave a specific topic -> Skip broad research, go to Step 4
• User gave raw Markdown -> Skip to Step 6 (publish)

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Critical Quality Rules

Non-negotiable for every Dev.to article:

1. TL;DR at the top. Every article must open with a concise summary.
2. Code blocks must have language tags. Never use bare triple backticks.
3. Problem-Solution-Code-Result structure. Readers come for solutions, not theory.
4. Title: 60-80 characters, keyword-front-loaded. Dev.to titles must be searchable.
5. Max 4 tags, lowercase, alphanumeric + hyphens only. Dev.to enforces this.
6. No marketing language. No "revolutionize", "game-changing", "unlock the power of". Write like a developer talking to developers.
7. Every claim needs evidence. Code example, benchmark, link to docs, or personal experience.
8. Word count: 800-2500. Enough depth without padding.
9. Description: max 170 characters. Used in SEO meta description and social previews.
10. No clickbait titles. "You won't believe..." and "X things every developer must know" are anti-patterns.

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Resilience: Never Stop on a Single-Step Failure

Every step has a fallback. If a step AND its fallback both fail, skip and note it in the final output.

Step	Fallback
2 Knowledge mining	Skip, empty knowledge_context
3 Research	YouMind web-search -> ask user
5 Writing	Ask user for manual content
6 Publishing	Save markdown locally
7 Report	Print what was completed

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Gotchas -- Common Failure Patterns

"The Tutorial Without Context": Jumping straight into code without explaining why. Always set up the problem first.

"The Marketing Fluff": Using words like "revolutionary", "game-changing", "cutting-edge". Developers will stop reading.

"The Wall of Text": Long paragraphs without code blocks, headings, or visual breaks. Dev.to readers scan first.

"The Outdated Example": Using deprecated APIs or old syntax. Always verify code examples work with current versions.

"The Tag Spam": Using unrelated popular tags to get views. This hurts credibility and may get flagged.

References

• YouMind Dev.to OpenAPI: see references/api-reference.md
• Content rules: see references/content-adaptation.md
• Pipeline: see references/pipeline.md
• YouMind Skills gallery: https://youmind.com/skills?utm_source=youmind-devto-article