DevLog 250407 — Finally Debugged Astro Blog

> Log Date: 2025-04-07

Today’s log is dedicated to cleaning up and debugging my Astro-based blog system. After a week of Markdown rendering bugs and deployment issues, I now have a streamlined, phone-friendly system that works consistently.

Problems Solved

• Astro markdown rendering failed due to import + routing errors
• src/pages/blog/[slug].astro was not resolving .md files
• Netlify builds broke from missing static/blog-html folder
• Pandoc templates were too heavy for mobile workflows
• Blog index lacked sorting, consistency, and polish
• Markdown devlogs weren’t triggering site updates
• Everyone in my house was sick and I was struggling

Fixes & Solutions

Folder System

• All .md files converted to .html using Pandoc
• Output moved to: rainkeep/static/blog-html/
• Fallback uses static .html instead of dynamic Markdown

Markdown → HTML Script

File: convert_blog_md.sh

• Converts .md logs from rainkeep/src/content/blog2/
• Applies custom Pandoc template
• Copies output into static/blog-html/ for build

Custom Pandoc Template

File: plain-template.html

• Minimal terminal-inspired HTML
• Lavender CSS accents, optimized for mobile readability

GitHub Action

Workflow: .github/workflows/build-devlogs.yml

• Triggers on .md push
• Installs Pandoc
• Converts logs to .html
• Pushes to static/blog-html/ for Netlify to render

Terminal UI Polishing

File: index.astro

• Hardcoded list of .html logs, sorted by date
• Styled with lavender terminal aesthetic
• Responsive layout, hover effects, clear spacing

Next Steps

• [ ] Auto-generate post list from static/blog-html/
• [ ] Add post excerpts from frontmatter
• [ ] Create iOS Shortcut or GitHub CLI to push from phone
• [ ] Build /DevLog terminal home with ASCII nav and category filter

> System Status: Operational
> Terminal aesthetic: Clean
> Markdown pipeline: Restored
> Logs now publishable from any device