# Mph Substack Publish > End-to-end Substack pipeline. Take a subject, produce a draft (or publish it) at mphinance.substack.com. Chains mph-substack-writer (voice) + mph-figure (images) + the local create_draft_from_md.py pusher. Triggers on "write a Substack about X", "draft a post on Y", "publish to Substack", "/dispatch a Substack" or similar. - Skill: `mphinance/mph-substack-publish` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add mphinance/mph-substack-publish` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/mphinance/mph-substack-publish/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra - Author: mphinance (https://skillmd.com/u/mphinance) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/mphinance/mph-substack-publish --- # MPH Substack Publish End-to-end pipeline. Subject in → draft in mphinance.substack.com out (or published post if asked explicitly). ## Inputs - **Subject** (required) — what the post is about. One line is fine; longer briefs are better. - **Mode** (default: `draft`) — `draft` creates a draft only. `publish` calls `/api/v1/drafts/{id}/publish` after the draft lands. **Always confirm explicitly with Michael before `publish` mode** — that triggers the subscriber email blast and is not reversible. - **Post category** (inferred from subject, or asked once if ambiguous): - `builder` — build-in-public, tool launches, code drops. No NFA needed. **Default.** - `trade` — specific positions / picks / "I bought X". NFA disclaimer required. - `paid_tease` — free post with a paywalled follow-up; include the "what's behind the paywall" section. - `recovery` — personal / sappy / non-finance reflection. No NFA. ## Pipeline 1. **Read the voice corpus.** Read `~/.claude/skills/mph-substack-writer/SKILL.md` and `~/.claude/skills/mph-voice-refresh/VOICE.md`. The hard rules and RETIRED phrases there supersede anything else. 2. **Pick a slug + workspace.** - Slug: `YYYY-MM-DD_kebab-case-title` - Workspace: `~/.mph-substack-cache//` (create if missing). All intermediate files live here, not in the project repo. NEVER write Substack drafts to `docs/substack/drafts/` anymore — Michael does not want post markdown checked into git. 3. **Draft the post** following the mph-substack-writer skeleton: - H1 title (Title Case, terse) - One-line italic subtitle (the "dek") - Optional `![hero](hero.png)` reference - Bold opener (1-2 short paragraphs) - Context section - The meat (data + figures + voice) - "Here's the truth..." pivot - Optional paywall tease (for `paid_tease` category) - **Standardized footer** (see template below — do NOT improvise this) 4. **Render any figures.** For tables, comparison cards, stat blocks — write HTML in the workspace folder, render via mph-figure: ``` node ~/.claude/skills/mph-figure/scripts/render.mjs --in /foo.html --out /foo.png --html ``` Reference in markdown as `![alt](foo.png)`. Substack will receive these as uploaded S3 images. 5. **Push to Substack** via the script (handles image upload + ProseMirror conversion + cover image). The pusher lives in the mphinance repo, but the repo path differs per machine, so resolve it for wherever you're running: - Windows workstation: `C:/Users/mphan/OneDrive/Documents/GitHub/mphinance/substack_social/create_draft_from_md.py` - Coolify/Linux box (user `mph`): `~/mphinance/substack_social/create_draft_from_md.py` - Otherwise: find it with `git rev-parse --show-toplevel` from inside the mphinance checkout, or `find ~ -path '*substack_social/create_draft_from_md.py'`. ``` python /post.md ``` It prints the edit URL. Surface that URL to Michael. 6. **If mode is `publish`** (only with Michael's explicit confirmation): - Run `python /post.md --publish` (same `` resolved in step 5) - Surface the live post URL. ## Standardized footer template Use one of these three at the end of EVERY post. Replace the `---` separator with markdown horizontal rule (Substack handles it). Do not improvise alternative sign-offs or CTAs; consistency matters more than novelty here. ### `builder` (default) — no NFA ``` — Michael --- *If this helped, subscribe so the next one lands in your inbox.* ``` ### `trade` — with NFA ``` — Michael --- *Not financial advice. Do your own research. Don't trade on someone else's conviction.* *If this helped, subscribe so the next one lands in your inbox.* ``` ### `paid_tease` — with paywall section above the footer ``` ## What's behind the paywall [one-paragraph tease of the paid follow-up — what it covers, when it drops, why it's worth paying for] — Michael --- *If this helped, subscribe so the next one lands in your inbox. Paid subs get the deep version on [day].* ``` ## Path note (works from any CWD) The pusher script `create_draft_from_md.py` lives in the mphinance repo. The absolute path above means this skill works whether Claude is invoked from the mphinance repo, a different repo, or anywhere else. If Michael moves the repo, update the path in this SKILL.md. The script reads `secrets.env` from the mphinance repo automatically (resolved relative to the script's parent dir), so SUBSTACK_SID lookup works regardless of CWD. ## Hard rules (enforced) - **Sign-off is exactly `— Michael`.** No last name. No `MPH` initials. No title. No "Managing Partner." No "The Phund." Just the em-dash + first name. (Yes, this is the one place an em-dash is allowed — it's the conventional dash for a signature, not narrative prose.) The `MPH` handle is fine as a brand/handle in body text ("@mphinance", "the mphinance newsletter") but never as a sign-off — that's the same as using the last name. - **No NFA in `builder` posts.** Adding "not financial advice" to a post about building a Python tool reads like a lawyer wrote it. The top-engagement posts in Michael's network (Stephane Derosiaux, Pawel Jozefiak, Jenny Ouyang, even Compounding Quality who literally posts his trades) have ZERO NFA in the body. - **Subscribe CTA goes at the bottom, after the signature.** Not at the top. Not mid-post (Substack auto-inserts those). One CTA, end of post, italicized. - **The Substack-published draft is the source of truth.** The local markdown in `~/.mph-substack-cache/` is ephemeral. Don't commit it to git. Don't write to `docs/substack/drafts/`. ## Examples ### Example invocation: "write a Substack about why I dropped the institutional brokerage flow" - Category: `builder` (it's a build-in-public post about a stack change) - Mode: `draft` - Footer: builder variant - Expected output: draft URL like `https://mphinance.substack.com/publish/post/199012345` ### Example invocation: "draft a post on my new options.wheel position in GOLD" - Category: `trade` (specific position) - Mode: `draft` - Footer: trade variant (NFA included) - Expected output: draft URL, with NFA in footer ### Example invocation: "publish the pulse-style network analysis post" - This is two questions: which post, and is `publish` mode confirmed? Ask: "Confirm you want this published live, not drafted? That'll send the email blast to all subscribers." - Only proceed with `--publish` flag after explicit yes. ## Failure modes to watch for - **Image upload returns 400** — usually means the image is too large or the format is unsupported. PNGs under 2MB are reliable. - **Draft created but editor crashes opening it** — body included an unsupported ProseMirror node type. See the memory entry [[reference-substack-prosemirror-schema]] for valid types. The current pipeline avoids this by routing markdown through proper PM nodes, never `rawHtml`. - **SUBSTACK_SID expired** — sign out + back in at substack.com to rotate, then update `secrets.env`.