Follow Builders Cron Digest

Follow Builders Cron Digest

Use this when a user wants a recurring AI/LLM industry digest based on the public zarazhangrui/follow-builders project, but you are working inside Hermes/OpenClaw-style tooling and need a practical, low-friction setup.

When to use

• User asks for a daily/weekly AI builders digest
• User references https://github.com/zarazhangrui/follow-builders
• You need a scheduled digest without installing repo dependencies locally
• You want to rely on the repo's public JSON feeds instead of reproducing its full pipeline

Core approach

Instead of cloning/installing the repo immediately, use the project's public raw JSON feeds directly in a Hermes cronjob prompt:

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zarazhangrui/follow-builders/main/feed-podcasts.json
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zarazhangrui/follow-builders/main/feed-x.json
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zarazhangrui/follow-builders/main/feed-blogs.json

This is the fastest path when the user mainly wants the resulting digest, not local ownership of the whole toolchain.

Discovery steps

Before scheduling, inspect the repo enough to confirm the current public interface.

1) Read the README

Use raw GitHub content or a terminal fetch. Confirm:

• public feeds exist
• no API keys are required for reading the feeds
• expected digest scope: podcasts, X/Twitter, blogs

Useful URL:

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zarazhangrui/follow-builders/main/README.md

2) Verify actual file names via GitHub contents API

Do not trust guessed example paths blindly. Use:

• https://api.github.com/repos/zarazhangrui/follow-builders/contents
• optionally inspect /examples, /scripts, /prompts

Important finding:

• README references examples/sample-digest.md
• a guessed path like examples/digest-sample.md returns 404

So confirm exact filenames from the contents API before hardcoding.

3) Check feed shape

Fetch the feed files and inspect fields such as:

• generatedAt
• lookbackHours
• arrays like podcasts, x, blogs

Observed behavior:

• feed-blogs.json may legitimately contain an empty blogs array
• this should be handled gracefully in the digest prompt

Recommended cron prompt pattern

Create a Hermes cron job whose prompt tells the future run to:

1. fetch the three raw JSON feeds
2. read generatedAt and lookbackHours
3. summarize only the most recent round of updates
4. write in the user's preferred language/style
5. explicitly handle empty sections without error
6. include original links for all cited items

Good output structure for chat delivery

• title with date
• one-line overview
• top 3–5 items worth attention
• podcasts
• X / Twitter
• official blogs / longform
• original sources

Selection guidance

Prefer:

• product/model launches
• agent, coding, inference, evaluation insights
• disagreements or trend signals
• high-signal, high-discussion social posts

Timezone handling

Hermes cron schedules run in the environment timezone, not automatically in the user's timezone. So always check live system time first, e.g. with date.

If the user asks for a time in another timezone:

1. detect current environment timezone using date
2. convert the requested schedule manually
3. tell the user what you configured
4. warn if DST may shift later

Example learned in practice:

• environment was CST +0800
• user timezone was Europe/London during BST
• to deliver at London 12:00, cron had to be set to 0 19 * * *

Pitfalls

• Raw GitHub pages loaded in browser tools can appear blank; use terminal/network fetch when needed
• Do not assume example filenames from memory; validate through GitHub contents API
• Do not fail the whole digest because one section is empty, especially blogs
• Do not claim strict timezone support unless the cron system actually supports timezone-aware scheduling

Verification checklist

Before finishing:

• repo/feed URLs verified live
• at least one feed inspected successfully
• cron job created successfully
• next run time checked
• user told the effective scheduled time in both environment and user terms when relevant
• mention DST caveat if schedule was manually converted

Reusable command ideas

Use terminal or equivalent network fetch to inspect:

• raw README
• raw feed JSON files
• GitHub contents API for exact filenames

Then use cronjob.create with a self-contained prompt that references the raw feed URLs directly.