`blog.publish`

The "publish a blog post" pack. Two destinations, two body modes, two formats — picked at call time. Closes #68.

Axis	Options
Destination	`ghost` (live publish via Ghost Admin API) · `artifact` (render to a helmdeck artifact, no external network)
Body mode	`body` (the agent already wrote the post) · `prompt + model` (the pack expands the prompt into a body via the gateway LLM)
Format	`markdown` (rendered to HTML via goldmark when Ghost destination needs it) · `html` (pre-rendered, passes through)

The two body modes let an agent treat publishing as either a primitive (it composed the body upstream and just hands it off) or as a macro (it knows what it wants but lets the pack do the writing). The two destinations let the same agent publish a draft to a real Ghost blog OR generate a stand-alone artifact a downstream system can pick up.

Setup prerequisite

For the ghost destination, add the Ghost Admin API key to the Vault panel:

Field	Value
Name	`ghost-admin-key` (exact string — pack default; override with `credential` input)
Type	`api_key`
Host pattern	Your Ghost installation's hostname (e.g. `blog.example.com`)
Value	The full Admin API key in `<id>:<secret>` form (Ghost ships them this way; secret is hex-encoded)

Get the key from your Ghost admin: Settings → Advanced → Integrations → Add custom integration → Admin API Key. The key looks like 650f...:a1b2c3... — paste the whole thing, including the colon.

For the artifact destination, no vault credential is needed — the pack writes locally to the helmdeck artifact store.

Inputs

Field	Type	Required	Default	Notes
`destination`	`string`	yes	—	`"ghost"` or `"artifact"`.
`format`	`string`	yes	—	`"markdown"` or `"html"`.
`title`	`string`	yes	—	Post title. Slugified for the artifact filename.
`body`	`string`	one-of	—	The post body. Either this or `prompt`+`model`.
`prompt`	`string`	one-of	—	Generation prompt for prompt mode. Either this or `body`.
`model`	`string`	with `prompt`	—	Provider/model for prompt mode (e.g. `openrouter/openai/gpt-4o-mini`).
`max_tokens`	`number`	no	`1024`	Cap on the prompt-mode body length. Ignored in body mode.
`tags`	`array`	no	`[]`	Tag names. For Ghost, converted to `{name: ...}` objects.
`status`	`string`	no	`"draft"`	`"draft"` (default), `"published"`, or `"scheduled"`.
`published_at`	`string`	with `status="scheduled"`	—	RFC3339 timestamp in the future.
`host`	`string`	with `destination="ghost"`	—	Ghost installation hostname. Accepts `host`, `https://host`, or `http://host:port` (the last for self-hosted Ghost on a non-HTTPS port).
`credential`	`string`	no	`"ghost-admin-key"`	Vault credential name. Override only if you store the key under a non-default name.

Validation:

Exactly one of body or (prompt+model) — providing both or neither errors.
status="scheduled" requires published_at in the future.
destination="ghost" requires host and a vault credential.

Outputs

Common fields:

Field	Type	Notes
`destination`	`string`	Echo.
`format`	`string`	Echo.
`body_source`	`string`	`"input"` (body mode) or `"model"` (prompt mode).
`model_used`	`string`	Only in prompt mode — the model that generated the body.

Ghost-specific:

Field	Type	Notes
`post_id`	`string`	Ghost post id.
`url`	`string`	Public URL.
`html_url`	`string`	Same as `url`, for parity with `github.*` packs.
`status`	`string`	Ghost-confirmed status.
`published_at`	`string`	Ghost-assigned RFC3339.

Artifact-specific:

Field	Type	Notes
`artifact_key`	`string`	`blog.publish/<slug>.{md\|html}`. Resolve via `/api/v1/artifacts/<key>`.
`size`	`number`	Bytes.

Vault credentials needed

ghost-admin-key for ghost destination only. Optional for artifact destination.

Use it from your agent (OpenClaw chat-UI worked example)

OpenClaw chat capture pending.

Developer reference (`curl`)

Artifact mode (no Ghost required)

ADMIN_PW=$(grep HELMDECK_ADMIN_PASSWORD /root/helmdeck/deploy/compose/.env.local | cut -d= -f2)
JWT=$(curl -fsS -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/v1/auth/login \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d "{\"username\":\"admin\",\"password\":\"${ADMIN_PW}\"}" \
  | python3 -c 'import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin)["token"])')

curl -fsS -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/v1/packs/blog.publish \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JWT" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "destination": "artifact",
    "format":      "markdown",
    "title":       "Demo PR-D2 post",
    "body":        "# Hello\n\nThis is a test."
  }'

Response:

{
  "pack": "blog.publish",
  "version": "v1",
  "output": {
    "destination":  "artifact",
    "format":       "markdown",
    "body_source":  "input",
    "artifact_key": "blog.publish/demo-pr-d2-post.md",
    "size":         101
  }
}

Ghost mode (live API)

curl -fsS -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/v1/packs/blog.publish \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JWT" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "destination": "ghost",
    "format":      "markdown",
    "title":       "Hello from helmdeck",
    "body":        "# Welcome\n\nThis post was filed via blog.publish.",
    "host":        "blog.example.com",
    "tags":        ["demo","helmdeck"],
    "status":      "draft"
  }'

Response:

{
  "pack": "blog.publish",
  "version": "v1",
  "output": {
    "destination":  "ghost",
    "format":       "markdown",
    "body_source":  "input",
    "post_id":      "650f1234567890",
    "url":          "https://blog.example.com/p/hello-from-helmdeck/",
    "html_url":     "https://blog.example.com/p/hello-from-helmdeck/",
    "status":       "draft",
    "published_at": null
  }
}

Prompt mode + Ghost

curl -fsS -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/v1/packs/blog.publish \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JWT" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "destination": "ghost",
    "format":      "markdown",
    "title":       "Why packs beat naive function-calling",
    "prompt":      "Write a 400-word post arguing that typed packs (helmdeck) yield 10x lower per-task LLM cost than naive function-calling on Sonnet. Use a concrete example.",
    "model":       "openrouter/openai/gpt-4o-mini",
    "max_tokens":  600,
    "host":        "blog.example.com",
    "status":      "draft",
    "tags":        ["agent-architecture","cost"]
  }'

The pack calls the gateway LLM with a frozen system prompt that instructs it to emit ONLY the post body in the requested format (no preamble, no surrounding code fences, no repeated title).

Error codes

Code	Triggers	Captured response
`invalid_input`	`destination` outside `"ghost"`/`"artifact"`	`destination must be "ghost" or "artifact"`
`invalid_input`	`format` outside `"markdown"`/`"html"`	`format must be "markdown" or "html"`
`invalid_input`	`title` empty	`title is required`
`invalid_input`	Both `body` AND `prompt` supplied	`must provide either body OR prompt+model, not both`
`invalid_input`	Neither `body` nor `prompt` supplied	`must provide either body OR prompt+model`
`invalid_input`	`prompt` set but `model` missing	`prompt mode requires model (provider/model)`
`invalid_input`	`status` outside the closed set	`status must be "draft", "published", or "scheduled"`
`invalid_input`	`status="scheduled"` without `published_at`	`published_at (RFC3339) is required when status=scheduled`
`invalid_input`	`published_at` not in the future	`published_at must be in the future for status=scheduled`
`invalid_input`	`destination="ghost"` without `host`	`host is required when destination=ghost`
`invalid_input`	`ghost-admin-key` not in vault	`vault credential "ghost-admin-key" not found …`
`invalid_input`	Vault key not in `id:hex_secret` form	`ghost-admin-key vault value must be \`:` …`
`invalid_input`	Ghost host resolves to a blocked range	`egress denied: …`
`internal`	Prompt mode but pack registered without a gateway dispatcher	`blog.publish prompt mode registered without a gateway dispatcher`
`handler_failed`	Ghost API non-2xx	`ghost API POST …: 401 Authorization failed`
`handler_failed`	Markdown→HTML conversion failed	`markdown→html for Ghost: …`
`handler_failed`	Prompt expansion model returned no choices	`blog.publish prompt expansion: model returned no choices`
`artifact_failed`	Object store write failed	`artifact upload failed: …`

Session chaining

No session. Stateless. Composes naturally:

research.deep → content.ground → blog.publish — the canonical "evidence-grounded blog post" chain. Research surfaces sources; content.ground appends citations into a draft body; blog.publish ships it.
web.scrape → blog.publish (artifact mode) — re-publish a scraped page as a draft artifact for later editing.
repo.fetch + fs.read + blog.publish (prompt mode) — generate a release-notes blog post from a repo's recent changelog without the agent ever materializing the body itself.

Async behavior

Synchronous. Wall-clock = (prompt-mode LLM call, ~3–10s if used) + (markdown→html via goldmark, ~1ms) + (Ghost API round-trip, ~200–800ms) for ghost mode; or just the goldmark step + artifact upload for artifact mode (~10–50ms).

Setup prerequisite​

Inputs​

Outputs​

Vault credentials needed​

Use it from your agent (OpenClaw chat-UI worked example)​

Developer reference (curl)​

Artifact mode (no Ghost required)​

Ghost mode (live API)​

Prompt mode + Ghost​

Error codes​

Session chaining​

Async behavior​

See also​