baoyu-skills/skills/baoyu-post-to-x/references/articles.md

X Articles - Detailed Guide

Publish Markdown articles to X Articles editor with rich text formatting and images.

Mode Selection

In Codex, choose the browser-control mode from the user's wording:

1. If the user says "Codex Chrome plugin", "Codex 自带的 Chrome 插件", @chrome, or Chrome Extension, use Codex Chrome Plugin Workflow. Do not try Computer Use first.
2. If the user explicitly asks for Chrome Computer Use, use Computer Use Workflow.
3. If the user explicitly asks for CDP/script mode, use CDP Script Workflow.
4. Otherwise, use Computer Use when available; if unavailable or blocked, use CDP Script Workflow.

Never use the in-app Browser for X Article publishing. Never switch away from an explicitly requested mode without explaining the blocker and getting approval.

Prerequisites

• X Premium subscription (required for Articles)
• Google Chrome installed
• bun installed

Usage

Codex Chrome Plugin (When Requested)

Use the chrome:Chrome skill and its Node REPL browser client. Verify the connection with a lightweight call such as browser.user.openTabs(). If it fails, wait 2 seconds and retry once, then follow the Chrome skill's health checks.

Prepare the article HTML and image map:

${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/md-to-html.ts article.md --save-html /tmp/x-article-body.html > /tmp/x-article.json

Copy generated HTML as rich text:

${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/copy-to-clipboard.ts html --file /tmp/x-article-body.html

Use the Chrome plugin's tab, Playwright-wrapper, CUA, clipboard, and file chooser APIs for all X UI operations. If upload fails with Not allowed, stop and tell the user to enable file URL access for the Codex Chrome Extension in chrome://extensions → Details.

Chrome Computer Use

Prepare the article HTML and image map:

${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/md-to-html.ts article.md --save-html /tmp/x-article-body.html > /tmp/x-article.json

Copy the generated HTML as rich text:

${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/copy-to-clipboard.ts html --file /tmp/x-article-body.html

Then use Codex Computer Use against Google Chrome for all X UI operations.

CDP Script Fallback

# Publish markdown article (preview mode)
${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/x-article.ts article.md

# With custom cover image
${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/x-article.ts article.md --cover ./cover.jpg

# Actually publish
${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/x-article.ts article.md --submit

Do not use --submit unless the user has explicitly confirmed the final public publish action.

Markdown Format

---
title: My Article Title
cover_image: /path/to/cover.jpg
---

# Title (becomes article title)

Regular paragraph text with **bold** and *italic*.

## Section Header

More content here.

![Image alt text](./image.png)

- List item 1
- List item 2

1. Numbered item
2. Another item

> Blockquote text

[Link text](https://example.com)

\`\`\`
Code blocks become blockquotes (X doesn't support code)
\`\`\`

Frontmatter Fields

Field	Description
title	Article title (or uses first H1)
cover_image	Cover image path or URL
cover	Alias for cover_image
image	Alias for cover_image

Image Handling

1. Cover Image: First image or cover_image from frontmatter
2. Remote Images: Automatically downloaded to temp directory
3. Placeholders: Images in content use XIMGPH_N format
4. Insertion: Placeholders are found, selected, and replaced with actual images

Markdown to HTML Script

Convert markdown and inspect structure:

# Get JSON with all metadata
${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/md-to-html.ts article.md

# Output HTML only
${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/md-to-html.ts article.md --html-only

# Save HTML to file
${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/md-to-html.ts article.md --save-html /tmp/article.html

JSON output:

{
  "title": "Article Title",
  "coverImage": "/path/to/cover.jpg",
  "contentImages": [
    {
      "placeholder": "XIMGPH_1",
      "localPath": "/tmp/x-article-images/img.png",
      "blockIndex": 5
    }
  ],
  "html": "<p>Content...</p>",
  "totalBlocks": 20
}

Supported Formatting

Markdown	HTML Output
# H1	Title only (not in body)
## H2 - ###### H6	<h2>
**bold**	<strong>
*italic*	<em>
[text](url)	<a href>
> quote	<blockquote>
`code`	<code>
```	<blockquote> (X limitation)
- item	<ul><li>
1. item	<ol><li>
	Image placeholder

Codex Chrome Plugin Workflow

1. Load Chrome skill: use chrome:Chrome, not Computer Use.
2. Connect: initialize the Chrome plugin browser client and verify with browser.user.openTabs().
3. Parse Markdown: run md-to-html.ts --save-html /tmp/x-article-body.html > /tmp/x-article.json.
4. Read the map: use /tmp/x-article.json for title, coverImage, and contentImages.
5. Open X Articles: open or claim a Chrome tab for https://x.com/compose/articles.
6. Create Draft: click the create/write button if needed, or open the target draft.
7. Upload Cover: use the Chrome plugin file chooser flow. If file upload returns Not allowed, report the Chrome Extension file-access fix and stop.
8. Fill Title: fill the title field.
9. Paste Content:
   • Run copy-to-clipboard.ts html --file /tmp/x-article-body.html.
   • Click the article body.
   • Press Meta+V on macOS or Control+V on Windows/Linux through the Chrome plugin.
   • Verify the article body appeared and contains XIMGPH_ placeholders. On macOS, use pbpaste to verify shell-written system clipboard contents if paste is suspicious; tab.clipboard.readText() may not reflect the system clipboard after shell writes.
10. Insert Images: for each contentImages item in placeholder order:

• Locate the exact visible placeholder text (XIMGPH_N) and click it to put the insertion point there.
• Open the editor toolbar dropdown Insert and choose Media.
• In the Insert modal, click the icon button with aria-label="Add photos or video"; do not click the "Choose a file or drag it here" text/dropzone or hidden file input.
• Use the Chrome plugin file chooser flow to upload that image's localPath.
• Wait until the image block appears. If XIMGPH_N remains above the image, select exactly that placeholder and press Delete first; use Backspace only if Delete fails and the selected text is confirmed to be exactly the placeholder.
• Verify that placeholder's count is 0 before continuing.

11. Verify:

• Inspect the editor for XIMGPH_ residue.
• Confirm the expected number of image blocks is visible.
• Open Preview and verify title, cover, body, links, and images.

12. Publish Safety: ask the user for explicit final confirmation before clicking Publish.

If the Chrome plugin reports native pipe is closed, retry one lightweight browser call after 2 seconds, then run the Chrome skill health checks. If Chrome, the extension, and native host are healthy, ask the user before opening a new Chrome window and retrying.

Computer Use Workflow

1. Detect Computer Use: call get_app_state for Google Chrome; use tool_search first if the tools are not visible.
2. Parse Markdown: run md-to-html.ts --save-html /tmp/x-article-body.html > /tmp/x-article.json.
3. Read the map: use /tmp/x-article.json for title, coverImage, and contentImages.
4. Open X Articles: use Chrome Computer Use to navigate to https://x.com/compose/articles.
5. Create Draft: click the create/write button if needed, or open the target draft.
6. Upload Cover: if coverImage exists, use Chrome's visible upload/file picker UI. If the file picker cannot be operated reliably, stop and ask for help rather than switching to CDP silently.
7. Fill Title: type the title into the title field.
8. Paste Content:
   • Run copy-to-clipboard.ts html --file /tmp/x-article-body.html.
   • Click the article body.
   • Press super+v on macOS or control+v on Windows/Linux with Computer Use.
9. Insert Images: for each contentImages item in placeholder order:
   • Locate the exact visible placeholder text (XIMGPH_N) and click it to put the insertion point there.
   • Open the editor toolbar dropdown Insert, choose Media, then click the icon button with aria-label="Add photos or video" inside the modal.
   • Use the native file picker to choose that image's localPath.
   • Wait until the image block appears and upload activity is complete.
   • If XIMGPH_N remains above the inserted image, reselect exactly that placeholder text and press Delete first; use Backspace only if Delete fails and the Computer Use state confirms the selected text is exactly the placeholder.
   • Confirm that placeholder is gone before continuing.
10. Verify:

• Inspect the Computer Use state for XIMGPH_ residue.
• Confirm the expected number of image blocks is visible.
• Open Preview and verify title, cover, body, links, and images.

11. Publish Safety: ask the user for explicit final confirmation before clicking Publish.

CDP Script Workflow (Fallback)

1. Parse Markdown: Extract title, cover, content images, generate HTML
2. Launch Chrome: Real browser with CDP, persistent login
3. Navigate: Open x.com/compose/articles
4. Create Article: Click create button if on list page
5. Upload Cover: Use file input for cover image
6. Fill Title: Type title into title field
7. Paste Content: Copy HTML to clipboard, paste into editor
8. Insert Images: For each placeholder in placeholder order:
   • Find and click the placeholder text in the editor
   • Use Insert -> Media
   • Click the modal's icon button labeled Add photos or video
   • Upload the matching image file
   • Delete the leftover placeholder text with Delete after the image appears
9. Post-Composition Check (automatic):
   • Scan editor for remaining XIMGPH_ placeholders
   • Compare expected vs actual image count
   • Warn if issues found
10. Review: Browser stays open for 60s preview
11. Publish: Only with --submit flag and explicit user confirmation

Example Session

User: /post-to-x article ./blog/my-post.md --cover ./thumbnail.png

Claude:
1. Detects that the user requested the Codex Chrome plugin
2. Parses markdown: title="My Post", 3 content images
3. Saves `/tmp/x-article-body.html` and `/tmp/x-article.json`
4. Uses the Chrome plugin to open X Articles and create a draft
5. Uploads thumbnail.png as cover
6. Fills title "My Post"
7. Pastes HTML content with a real Chrome paste
8. Inserts 3 images at placeholder positions
9. Opens Preview and asks before publishing

Troubleshooting

• No create button: Ensure X Premium subscription is active
• Cover upload fails: Check file path and format (PNG, JPEG)
• Images not inserting: Verify placeholders exist in pasted content; use Insert -> Media -> modal icon button Add photos or video, not image clipboard paste, the dropzone text, or the hidden file input.
• Content not pasting: Check HTML clipboard: ${BUN_X} {baseDir}/scripts/copy-to-clipboard.ts html --file /tmp/test.html
• Chrome plugin native pipe is closed: retry once after 2 seconds, then run Chrome skill checks; ask before opening a new Chrome window if checks pass.
• Chrome plugin upload Not allowed: enable file URL access for the Codex Chrome Extension in chrome://extensions → Details.
• Computer Use unavailable: Use the CDP fallback script, unless the user explicitly required Chrome Computer Use.
• Placeholder remains after upload: Select only the placeholder text and press Delete after upload completes. Use Backspace only if Delete fails and the selection is exactly the placeholder.

How It Works

1. md-to-html.ts converts Markdown to HTML:

   • Extracts frontmatter (title, cover)
   • Converts markdown to HTML
   • Replaces images with unique placeholders
   • Downloads remote images locally
   • Returns structured JSON

2. The Codex Chrome plugin publishes through the user's real Chrome session when explicitly requested:

   • Uses the user's active Chrome profile and logged-in X session
   • Uses the Chrome Extension browser client rather than Computer Use or CDP
   • Uses copy-to-clipboard.ts for rich HTML body paste
   • Inserts body images through X's toolbar Insert -> Media modal and its Add photos or video icon button
   • Keeps the final publish click under user confirmation

3. Chrome Computer Use publishes through the user's visible Chrome UI:

   • Uses the user's active Chrome profile and logged-in X session
   • Uses copy-to-clipboard.ts for rich HTML body paste
   • Inserts body images through X's toolbar Insert -> Media modal and its Add photos or video icon button
   • Uses real keystrokes (super+v/control+v) through Codex Computer Use
   • Keeps the final publish click under user confirmation

4. x-article.ts publishes via CDP as a fallback:

   • Launches real Chrome (bypasses detection)
   • Uses persistent profile (saved login)
   • Navigates and fills editor via DOM manipulation
   • Pastes HTML from system clipboard
   • Finds/selects/replaces each image placeholder