GitHub + WordPress: draft tutorials ready to publish
Your blog doesn’t go quiet because you “ran out of ideas.” It goes quiet because finding good topics, outlining, writing, formatting, and publishing takes a full afternoon you don’t have. And when you finally do ship something, it’s often not tied to what people are actually searching for right now.
This GitHub WordPress automation hits content marketers first, honestly. But founders trying to build organic traffic and agency teams managing multiple client blogs feel the same drag. The outcome is simple: weekly WordPress draft tutorials built from trending GitHub repos, ready for you to review and publish.
Below you’ll see how the workflow pulls trending projects, has Gemini generate the tutorial, formats it cleanly, and drops it into WordPress as a draft (then emails you so nothing gets missed).
How This Automation Works
The full n8n workflow, from trigger to final output:
n8n Workflow Template: GitHub + WordPress: draft tutorials ready to publish
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direction LR
n0@{ icon: "mdi:play-circle", form: "rounded", label: "Scheduled Weekly Trigger", pos: "b", h: 48 }
n1["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/httprequest.dark.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Fetch Trending Projects"]
n2@{ icon: "mdi:swap-vertical", form: "rounded", label: "Separate Repo Entries", pos: "b", h: 48 }
n3@{ icon: "mdi:robot", form: "rounded", label: "Generate Tutorial Content", pos: "b", h: 48 }
n4@{ icon: "mdi:brain", form: "rounded", label: "Gemini Chat Engine", pos: "b", h: 48 }
n5["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/code.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Interpret AI Output"]
n6["<div style='background:#f5f5f5;padding:10px;border-radius:8px;display:inline-block;border:1px solid #e0e0e0'><img src='https://flowpast.com/wp-content/uploads/n8n-workflow-icons/wordpress.svg' width='40' height='40' /></div><br/>Draft Tutorial Post"]
n7@{ icon: "mdi:message-outline", form: "rounded", label: "Email Admin Notice", pos: "b", h: 48 }
n1 --> n2
n0 --> n1
n6 --> n7
n3 --> n5
n2 --> n3
n4 -.-> n3
n5 --> n6
end
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The Problem: Consistent tutorials take too much manual work
Keeping a technical blog consistent sounds easy until you’re the one doing it. You need topics that are timely, you need enough detail to be credible, and you need clean formatting in WordPress so the post doesn’t look like a pasted doc. Then there’s the worst part: you do all that work and only later realize the topic wasn’t trending, or it’s already been covered to death. After a few cycles, you start delaying posts, then skipping weeks, and eventually the blog becomes “something we’ll get back to.”
It adds up fast. Here’s where it usually breaks down.
- Topic research turns into a weekly scavenger hunt across GitHub, Reddit, and newsletters.
- Drafting tutorials from scratch can easily eat up about 2–4 hours per post once you include structure, examples, and editing.
- Copy-pasting into WordPress tends to wreck headings, code blocks, and links, so you end up “fixing formatting” for another 30 minutes.
- You miss a week, then the content calendar snowballs and the backlog becomes stressful instead of helpful.
The Solution: Turn trending repos into WordPress drafts automatically
This workflow runs on a weekly schedule (every Monday at 10 AM) and does the “blank page” work for you. First, it calls the GitHub API to pull a list of currently popular repositories. It then processes each repo as its own item, so you can generate more than one tutorial in a single run. For each repo, Gemini creates a comprehensive tutorial using a structured prompt that includes an intro, prerequisites, code examples, best practices, and a clear flow. After that, a formatting step extracts a clean title and post body (because AI output can vary), and n8n creates a WordPress post saved as a draft. Finally, you receive an email letting you know new drafts are waiting.
The workflow starts with a scheduled trigger, then moves through GitHub discovery and AI writing. Next, it standardizes the output so WordPress gets reliable fields. The last step is simple: drafts are created, and you get notified.
What You Get: Automation vs. Results
| What This Workflow Automates | Results You’ll Get |
|---|---|
|
|
Example: What This Looks Like
Let’s say you publish 2 tutorials a week. Manually, topic selection (about 30 minutes), outlining and drafting (about 3 hours), and WordPress formatting (about 30 minutes) puts you at roughly 4 hours per post, so around 8 hours a week. With this workflow, you spend maybe 15 minutes total skimming the drafted posts, adding your own screenshots or tweaks, and hitting publish later. The “writing day” becomes a quick review window.
What You’ll Need
- n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
- Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
- WordPress for creating draft tutorial posts.
- Google Gemini to generate the tutorial content.
- GitHub API access (optional token from GitHub settings).
Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll connect accounts, paste an API key if you use one, and edit an AI prompt safely.
Don’t want to set this up yourself? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).
How It Works
A weekly schedule starts the run. Every Monday at 10 AM, n8n kicks off automatically, so content generation is not tied to anyone’s calendar invite.
GitHub is queried for trending repositories. An HTTP request pulls popular projects from the GitHub API, giving the workflow fresh raw material that reflects what developers are paying attention to right now.
Each repository becomes its own tutorial draft. The workflow splits the GitHub response into individual repo entries, then sends each one into a Gemini-powered tutorial generator with a detailed prompt (intro, prerequisites, examples, best practices, and structure).
WordPress drafts are created and you’re notified. A formatting step extracts a reliable title and content, WordPress saves the post as a draft, and an email is sent so you know there’s something ready to review.
You can easily modify how many repositories you process, what sections the tutorial includes, and where notifications go based on your needs. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
Step 1: Configure the Scheduled Trigger
Set the weekly schedule that kicks off the automation.
- Add and open Scheduled Weekly Trigger.
- Set the cron expression in Rule to
0 10 * * 1(runs every Monday at 10:00). - Confirm Scheduled Weekly Trigger connects to Fetch Trending Projects.
Step 2: Connect GitHub Data Retrieval
Pull the trending repositories that will seed tutorial creation.
- Open Fetch Trending Projects and set URL to
https://api.github.com/search/repositories. - Verify Fetch Trending Projects outputs to Separate Repo Entries.
- Open Separate Repo Entries and keep default settings to split each repository into individual items.
Step 3: Set Up the AI Tutorial Generation
Configure the AI agent and language model to draft tutorial content for each repository.
- Open Generate Tutorial Content and set System Message to:
You are a technical tutorial writer. Based on the provided GitHub repository information, create a comprehensive tutorial that teaches developers how to build something similar or use this technology. Include: 1) Introduction and overview, 2) Prerequisites, 3) Step-by-step implementation guide with code examples, 4) Best practices, 5) Common pitfalls to avoid, 6) Next steps and resources. Make it beginner-friendly but technically accurate. Format with proper markdown including code blocks. - Confirm Separate Repo Entries connects to Generate Tutorial Content.
- Ensure Gemini Chat Engine is connected as the language model for Generate Tutorial Content.
- Credential Required: Connect your googlePalmApi credentials in Gemini Chat Engine (credentials are applied to the AI model, not the agent).
Step 4: Parse AI Output and Draft the WordPress Post
Normalize AI output into structured fields and create a WordPress draft post.
- Open Interpret AI Output and keep the JavaScript Code as provided to parse and normalize the AI response.
- Open Draft Tutorial Post and set Title to
=Tutorial: Building with {{$json.name}} - {{$json.language}} Guide. - In Draft Tutorial Post → Additional Fields, set Status to
draft. - In Draft Tutorial Post → Additional Fields, set Tags to
tutorial,{{$json.language}},development,guide,{{$json.name}}. - In Draft Tutorial Post → Additional Fields, set Categories to
Tutorials,Programming,{{$json.language}}.
Credential Required: Connect your WordPress credentials in Draft Tutorial Post. This node needs credentials but none are configured.
⚠️ Common Pitfall: Draft Tutorial Post has an empty Content field. If you want the AI tutorial text in the post body, map the incoming field from Interpret AI Output (for example, set Content to {{$json.content}}).
Step 5: Configure Admin Notification Email
Send an email alert once the draft post is created.
- Open Email Admin Notice and set Subject to
=New Tutorial Draft Created: {{$json.name}}. - Credential Required: Connect your smtp credentials in Email Admin Notice.
- Confirm Draft Tutorial Post connects to Email Admin Notice.
Step 6: Test and Activate Your Workflow
Run a manual test to ensure the weekly automation generates content and posts drafts correctly.
- Click Execute Workflow and verify Scheduled Weekly Trigger starts the run.
- Check that Fetch Trending Projects returns repository data and Separate Repo Entries outputs individual items.
- Confirm Generate Tutorial Content produces AI output and Interpret AI Output returns structured fields like
titleandcontent. - Verify a draft appears in WordPress from Draft Tutorial Post and that Email Admin Notice sends a notification email.
- When satisfied, toggle the workflow to Active to run on schedule.
Common Gotchas
- WordPress application passwords and user permissions matter. If drafts aren’t being created, check the credentials inside the “Draft Tutorial Post” node and confirm the user can create posts.
- If you’re processing a longer list of trending repos, GitHub can rate-limit requests. Add a GitHub Personal Access Token in the HTTP request node if you see intermittent 403 errors.
- Gemini output can drift if your prompt is too general. Tighten the “Generate Tutorial Content” instructions with your preferred tone, heading format, and code block conventions so you’re not fixing the same issues every week.
Frequently Asked Questions
About 30–60 minutes if your WordPress credentials and email are ready.
No. You will mostly connect accounts and adjust a prompt. The only “code-like” piece is optional formatting logic that’s already included in the workflow.
Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in Gemini API usage costs, which depend on how long your tutorials are.
Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.
Yes, and it’s a practical customization. Update the “Draft Tutorial Post” WordPress node to set categories and tags based on repository language, topic keywords, or your own rules. Many teams also tweak the “Generate Tutorial Content” prompt to enforce a consistent structure (like always including “Installation,” “Example project,” and “Troubleshooting”). If you want stricter formatting, adjust the “Interpret AI Output” code node so headings and code blocks are always normalized.
Usually it’s the application password or the site URL. Regenerate your WordPress application password, then update the credentials used by the “Draft Tutorial Post” node. Also confirm the user role can create posts, because some locked-down roles can authenticate but still fail on post creation. If it only fails sometimes, check for security plugins or WAF rules that block REST requests.
A lot. The practical limit is your n8n execution quota (on Cloud) and how many GitHub items you choose to split and process each week.
Often, yes, if you care about control. n8n handles multi-step logic (splitting a GitHub list into many items, formatting AI output, and reliably creating drafts) without turning it into a fragile chain of zaps. You also get self-hosting, which is handy when you want more runs without paying per tiny step. Zapier and Make can still be fine if you only plan to generate one draft occasionally and don’t need much processing in the middle. If you’re unsure, Talk to an automation expert and you’ll get a clear recommendation based on volume and workflow complexity.
Set it up once, then let Mondays do the work. You keep control of quality, but the workflow takes the repetitive drafting off your plate.
Need Help Setting This Up?
Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.
