nanopost

Write small thoughts. Commit them to your repo.

A tiny CLI tool for capturing short posts, dev notes, and status updates as Markdown files directly inside your project. No CMS. No UI. No friction.

What It Does

nanopost makes it easy to document your development journey, capture quick thoughts, and maintain a development log without leaving the command line. Perfect for developers who want to keep notes, progress updates, or blog posts in their repository alongside their code.

Key Features

Multiple Input Methods

Inline: Fastest way to capture thoughts
Piped input: Powerful for capturing command output
Interactive: Full editor experience when needed

Flexible Post Types

Configure multiple post types (blog, devlog, notes, etc.) with their own:

Content directories
Filename formats
Frontmatter schemas
Date formats

Plugin System

Extensible plugin architecture for post-processing:

Run hooks after posts are saved
Load plugins from local .nanopost/plugins/ or npm packages
Pass custom configuration to plugins
Chain multiple plugins sequentially

Smart Frontmatter

Type-aware frontmatter generation ensures proper YAML formatting:

String, boolean, number, array, date, and object types
Schema validation
Customizable defaults per post type

Quick Start

# Install globally
npm install -g @jeroenvanwissen/nanopost

# Initialize in your project
nanopost init

# Create a post (inline)
nanopost Today we started working on a new feature

# Create a post (interactive)
nanopost new

# Pipe command output
git diff | nanopost --title "Refactor notes"

Configuration

Posts are configured in .nanopost/config.json:

{
  "defaultType": "blog",
  "editor": "code --wait",
  "postTypes": {
    "blog": {
      "contentDir": "content/blog",
      "filename": {
        "format": "{date}-{title}",
        "maxSlugLength": 60
      },
      "frontmatter": {
        "schema": {
          "title": "string",
          "date": "date",
          "tags": "array"
        },
        "defaults": {
          "draft": false
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Use Cases

Development Logs: Track daily progress and decisions
Quick Notes: Capture ideas without context switching
Blog Drafts: Write posts in your code editor
Command Output: Save command results with context
Project Documentation: Maintain an evolving project journal

Philosophy

If it ever starts feeling like a CMS, it’s doing too much. nanopost stays minimal, CLI-first, and developer-friendly.