Site Publish Workflow

July 12, 2026

Implemented the first end-to-end production publishing workflow for BradCooke.com.

Tags: Abbey Root • BradCooke.com • Astro • GitHub Pages • Automation

Site Publish Workflow

Summary

Implemented the first complete production publishing workflow for BradCooke.com.

Publishing the website previously required manually switching between the Abbey Root source repository and the separate GitHub Pages production repository. Those manual steps have now been encapsulated in a new abbey site publish command.

The workflow validates both repositories, builds the Astro site, previews the production changes, preserves the custom domain configuration, copies the generated site into the production repository, and guides the user through committing and publishing the changes.

A safe --dry-run mode was also introduced, allowing the entire workflow to be previewed without modifying production.

The workflow was immediately validated by publishing the new Museum of Dumb Ideas section and the first OmeletYouFinish.com exhibit.

Accomplishments

• Implemented abbey site publish.
• Added abbey site publish --dry-run.
• Automated publication from the Astro source repository to the GitHub Pages repository.
• Automatically preserved the production CNAME file.
• Added validation to ensure both repositories are clean before publishing.
• Added an rsync preview before production changes are made.
• Added confirmation before modifying the production repository.
• Added confirmation before committing and pushing.
• Updated the CLI metadata and regenerated the CLI reference documentation.
• Successfully published the Museum of Dumb Ideas using the new workflow.
• Configured OmeletYouFinish.com to permanently redirect to its exhibit on BradCooke.com.

Lessons Learned

• Publishing is a distinct workflow from building and deserves its own Abbey command.
• Keeping the Astro source repository separate from the generated GitHub Pages repository provides a clean separation between source and production artifacts.
• A --dry-run mode greatly increases confidence before publishing.
• Interactive confirmation steps strike a good balance between automation and protecting production.
• The publishing workflow reinforced one of Abbey Root’s core principles: once a manual process has been repeated enough times, it should become an Abbey command.

Next Steps

• Reduce the verbosity of the publish preview so it highlights only meaningful changes.
• Add automatic verification of the live site after publication.
• Implement abbey site deploy-check as a reusable pre-publication validation command.
• Continue refining the BradCooke.com publishing workflow as additional site sections are added.
• Use the new publishing workflow for all future BradCooke.com updates.