N8N Autonomous Publishing - Setup Guide

Quick Overview

System: N8N → Azure (No GitHub needed!)

N8N Workflow
  ↓
AI Generates Content
  ↓
Creates Markdown File Locally  
  ↓
Builds Jekyll Site
  ↓
Deploys to Azure
  ↓
Live Site!

Requirements

N8N (self-hosted or cloud)
Azure Static Web App
OpenAI/Gemini API key

Setup Steps

1. Install N8N

Docker (Recommended):

docker run -d \
  --name n8n \
  -p 5678:5678 \
  -v ~/.n8n:/home/node/.n8n \
  -v /path/to/jekyll/site:/tmp/blog-site \
  -e TZ=Asia/Kolkata \
  docker.n8n.io/n8nio/n8n

Key: Mount your Jekyll site to /tmp/blog-site

2. Install Dependencies (in N8N container)

# Enter N8N container
docker exec -it n8n /bin/sh

# Install Ruby + Jekyll
apk add ruby ruby-dev build-base
gem install jekyll bundler

# Install Azure CLI
npm install -g @azure/static-web-apps-cli

# Exit container
exit

3. Prepare Jekyll Site

Copy your entire Jekyll site to /tmp/blog-site:

cp -r /path/to/bhaskar-daily-ai-news /tmp/blog-site

4. Get Azure Deployment Token

Azure Portal → Your Static Web App
Click “Manage deployment token”
Copy the token

5. Import N8N Workflow

Download: .github/n8n-workflow-direct-azure.json
N8N UI → Import from File
Configure credentials (OpenAI or Gemini)

Set environment variables:

AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_TOKEN=your_token
AZURE_APP_NAME=kb-tech-news
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-... (or GOOGLE_API_KEY)

Activate workflow

6. Test

Click “Execute Workflow” in N8N and watch:

AI generates article ✅
File saved to /tmp/blog-site/_posts/ ✅
Jekyll builds site ✅
Azure deployment succeeds ✅
Visit https://kbhaskar.tech ✅

Workflow Details

Node 1: Schedule

Runs every 4 hours: 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00 IST

Node 2: AI Content

OpenAI/Gemini generates article JSON with title, content, Hindi translation

Node 3: Build File

JavaScript creates markdown with frontmatter

Node 4: Save File

Saves to /tmp/blog-site/_posts/YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md

Node 5: Jekyll Build

Runs bundle exec jekyll build → creates _site/

Node 6: Azure Deploy

Runs swa deploy _site → pushes to Azure

Monitoring

N8N Executions Tab:

Green ✅ = Success
Red ❌ = Failed (check logs)

Check Live Site:

https://kbhaskar.tech
https://kbhaskar.tech/news-sitemap.xml

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Jekyll build fails	Run `bundle install` in `/tmp/blog-site`
Azure deploy fails	Check AZURE_DEPLOYMENT_TOKEN is correct
AI returns invalid JSON	Check API key, verify prompt
File not created	Check `/tmp/blog-site` is mounted correctly

File Structure

/tmp/blog-site/          ← Your Jekyll site
├── _config.yml
├── _posts/              ← New articles go here
├── _site/               ← Built site (auto-generated)
├── Gemfile
└── ...other Jekyll files

Cost

N8N (self-hosted): $5-10/month (VPS)
AI API (Gemini free tier): $0
Azure Static Web Apps: $0
Total: $5-10/month

Backup

Files are only stored locally in /tmp/blog-site. To backup:

# Backup entire site
tar -czf blog-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /tmp/blog-site

# Or use rsync to remote server
rsync -av /tmp/blog-site/ user@server:/backups/blog/

Consider setting up automated backups via cron or another N8N workflow.

Support

Full Documentation: N8N-INTEGRATION.md
N8N Docs: https://docs.n8n.io
Azure Docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/static-web-apps