AI Dev.to Article Writer#

Write technical Dev.to articles with AI that resonate with developers. Topic research via YouMind knowledge base, developer-audience adapted writing, Markdown with front matter formatting, and one-click publishing to Dev.to through the user's Dev.to account already connected in YouMind.

Get YouMind API Key | More Skills

Onboarding#

MANDATORY: When the user has just installed this skill, present this message IMMEDIATELY. Translate to the user's language:

AI Dev.to Article Writer installed!

Tell me your topic and I'll write and publish a Dev.to article for you.

Try it now: "Write a Dev.to article about building CLI tools with TypeScript"

What it does:

• Research topics from trending developer discussions and your YouMind knowledge base
• Write technical articles with proper code examples and structure
• Format with Dev.to front matter (tags, cover image, series)
• Validate content for Dev.to best practices
• Publish directly to Dev.to (as draft or public) through the Dev.to account connected in YouMind

Setup (one-time):

1. Install & configure: cd toolkit && npm install && npm run build && cd .. && mkdir -p ~/.youmind/config && cp shared/config.example.yaml ~/.youmind/config.yaml
2. Get YouMind API Key and fill youmind.api_key in ~/.youmind/config.yaml
3. Keep youmind.base_url pointed at https://youmind.com/openapi/v1 in docs. If you need local backend debugging, change ~/.youmind/config.yaml or ~/.youmind/config/youmind-devto-article.yaml.
4. Connect your Dev.to account inside YouMind before publishing. This skill no longer reads devto.api_key locally.

No Dev.to connection yet? You can still write and preview locally — just skip the publish step.

Need help? Just ask!

Usage#

Provide a topic, a raw Markdown file, or describe the article you want.

Write from a topic:

Write a Dev.to article about building REST APIs with Hono and Bun

Write with specific tags:

Write a Dev.to post about React Server Components, tag it with react, webdev, javascript

Publish existing Markdown:

Publish this markdown to Dev.to as a draft

Validate before publishing:

Validate my article for Dev.to best practices

Setup#

Prerequisites: Node.js >= 18, a YouMind API key, and a Dev.to account connected in YouMind if you want to publish.

Step 1 -- Install Dependencies#

bash

cd toolkit && npm install && npm run build && cd ..

Step 2 -- Create Config File#

bash

mkdir -p ~/.youmind/config
cp shared/config.example.yaml ~/.youmind/config.yaml

Canonical credentials: put your shared YouMind credentials in ~/.youmind/config.yaml — filled ONCE and read by every YouMind skill. See shared/config.example.yaml for the template and shared/YOUMIND_HOME.md. Optional skill overrides live in ~/.youmind/config/youmind-devto-article.yaml.

Step 3 -- Get YouMind API Key#

YouMind API Key enables knowledge base search, web search, article archiving, and Dev.to publishing.

1. Open YouMind API Keys
2. Click Create API Key
3. Copy the sk-ym-xxxx key
4. Fill in ~/.youmind/config.yaml under youmind.api_key
5. Keep youmind.base_url as https://youmind.com/openapi/v1 in examples and documentation. Local backend testing should only override ~/.youmind/config.yaml or ~/.youmind/config/youmind-devto-article.yaml.

Step 4 -- Connect Dev.to in YouMind#

1. Open YouMind and connect your Dev.to account in the product's publishing / platform settings flow
2. Save the Dev.to token there once
3. Keep only youmind.api_key in ~/.youmind/config.yaml

Verify Setup#

After configuration, try:

"Write a Dev.to article about TypeScript best practices"

If something is misconfigured, the skill will report what needs fixing at the relevant step.

When a post is created as a draft, tell the user it is in the Dev.to dashboard ( https://dev.to/dashboard). Do not present the public article URL as if it is already accessible, because Dev.to draft URLs can 404 until published. If the user wants immediate publishing, use published: true / --publish.

Skill Directory#

This skill is a folder. Read files on demand -- do NOT load everything upfront.

PathPurposeWhen to readreferences/pipeline.mdFull step-by-step execution (Steps 1-7)When running the writing pipelinereferences/platform-dna.mdDev.to audience, format constraints, community dataBefore any content workreferences/content-generation-playbook.mdIdea → Dev.to-native draft workflowWhen generating new contentreferences/content-adaptation-playbook.mdExisting article → Dev.to-native workflowWhen adapting/cross-posting contentreferences/content-adaptation.mdDev.to writing rules, structure, tone (legacy)Supplementary referencereferences/api-reference.mdYouMind Dev.to OpenAPI endpoint documentationWhen calling Dev.to through YouMind~/.youmind/config.yamlShared API credentials (YouMind only)Step 1 (config load)output/**Local article Markdown drafts (git-ignored)**When writing the articletoolkit/dist/*.jsExecutable scripts (run from toolkit/)Various steps

Draft Location Rule#

Canonical: write local article Markdown files to ~/.youmind/articles/devto/<slug>.md. This shared home directory is available to all YouMind skills — see shared/YOUMIND_HOME.md.

Legacy fallback (if ~/.youmind/ is not writable): skills/youmind-devto-article/output/<slug>.md.

• Correct: ~/.youmind/articles/devto/my-article.md
• Correct (legacy): skills/youmind-devto-article/output/my-article.md
• Wrong: skill root directly, references/, toolkit/, or an ad-hoc drafts/ directory

Both locations are git-ignored. Create directories on demand ( mkdir -p ~/.youmind/articles/devto). Kebab-case filenames ( my-post.md), and prefer descriptive slugs over timestamps.

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Dispatch Integration (Optional)#

This skill is self-contained and fully usable standalone. The youmind-article-dispatch hub is an optional companion; it is NOT required for anything.

• Primary mode — standalone: Invoke directly ("Write a Dev.to article about X"). Works with zero other YouMind skills installed.
• Author voice lookup: This skill reads ~/.youmind/author-profile.yaml (shared home directory — see shared/YOUMIND_HOME.md) for cross-platform voice preferences. Works whether or not dispatch is installed: the profile lives in the user's home, not in any skill. If the file doesn't exist, the skill runs onboarding or uses platform defaults.
• Optional dispatch-mode invocation: When dispatch invokes this skill with a content brief containing resolved_author, the skill uses those fields as extra context. Without such a brief, the skill runs its own pipeline normally.
• Capability manifest (opt-in): dispatch-capabilities.yaml is metadata that lets dispatch route intelligently. Deleting it reverts to defaults; it never breaks this skill.
• Optional interop protocol: shared/DISPATCH_CONTRACT.md (v1.0).

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Content Modes#

Before writing any content, read references/platform-dna.md to internalize Dev.to's real product surface: TL;DR-first openings, YAML frontmatter, canonical URL discipline, Liquid embeds, and tag-driven feed discovery.

Intent routing#

User's inputOperationPlaybook to loadIdea, topic, or talking points onlyGeneratereferences/content-generation-playbook.mdExisting article from blog/other platformCross-postreferences/content-adaptation-playbook.mdArticle in another languageTranslatereferences/content-adaptation-playbook.md (translate mode)Same-language article needing Dev.to-native voiceLocalizereferences/content-adaptation-playbook.md (localize mode)Old Dev.to post to refreshRevivereferences/content-adaptation-playbook.md (revive mode)Long piece to trimCondensereferences/content-adaptation-playbook.md (condense mode)Section from larger workExcerptreferences/content-adaptation-playbook.md (excerpt mode)

Quality gates (before publish)#

1. Self-critique: Pass all checklist items in the playbook's Step 6
2. Conformance report: Generate and present to user (Step 7)
3. User approval: Do not auto-publish without confirmation

Result Links Rule#

After any draft or publish action, always end with Result links.

• Prefer the direct Dev.to post URL when the post is public.
• For drafts, explicitly surface https://dev.to/dashboard.
• If no exact results page exists, return the best platform entry URL instead.
• Never leave the user with only an article ID.

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Pipeline Overview#

Read references/pipeline.md for full execution details of each step.

StepActionKey reference1Load config and validate the YouMind API key and Dev.to connection in YouMind--2Mine YouMind knowledge base for source material--3Research topic: web search, trending discussions--4Content adaptation: structure for Dev.to audiencereferences/content-adaptation.md5Write article with code examples, TL;DR, proper structure--6Publish to Dev.to (draft or public)references/api-reference.md7Report results: title, URL, tags, published status, result links--

Routing shortcuts:

• User gave a specific topic -> Skip broad research, go to Step 4
• User gave raw Markdown -> Skip to Step 6 (publish)

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Critical Quality Rules#

Non-negotiable for every Dev.to article:

1. TL;DR at the top. Every article must open with a concise summary.
2. Code blocks must have language tags. Never use bare triple backticks.
3. Problem-Solution-Code-Result structure. Readers come for solutions, not theory.
4. Title: 60-80 characters, keyword-front-loaded. Dev.to titles must be searchable.
5. Max 4 tags, lowercase, alphanumeric + hyphens only. Dev.to enforces this.
6. No marketing language. No "revolutionize", "game-changing", "unlock the power of". Write like a developer talking to developers.
7. Every claim needs evidence. Code example, benchmark, link to docs, or personal experience.
8. Word count: 800-2500. Enough depth without padding.
9. Description: max 170 characters. Used in SEO meta description and social previews.
10. No clickbait titles. "You won't believe..." and "X things every developer must know" are anti-patterns.

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Resilience: Never Stop on a Single-Step Failure#

Every step has a fallback. If a step AND its fallback both fail, skip and note it in the final output.

StepFallback2 Knowledge miningSkip, empty knowledge_context3 ResearchYouMind web-search -> ask user5 WritingAsk user for manual content6 PublishingSave markdown locally7 ReportPrint what was completed

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Gotchas -- Common Failure Patterns#

"The Tutorial Without Context": Jumping straight into code without explaining why. Always set up the problem first.

"The Marketing Fluff": Using words like "revolutionary", "game-changing", "cutting-edge". Developers will stop reading.

"The Wall of Text": Long paragraphs without code blocks, headings, or visual breaks. Dev.to readers scan first.

"The Outdated Example": Using deprecated APIs or old syntax. Always verify code examples work with current versions.

"The Tag Spam": Using unrelated popular tags to get views. This hurts credibility and may get flagged.

References#

• YouMind Dev.to OpenAPI: see references/api-reference.md
• Content rules: see references/content-adaptation.md
• Pipeline: see references/pipeline.md
• YouMind Skills gallery: https://youmind.com/skills?utm_source=youmind-devto-article