wiki/content/blog/setup-guide.md

title, description, date, slug, published, tags, readTime

title	description	date	slug	published	tags	readTime
Fork and Deploy Your Own Markdown Blog	Step-by-step guide to fork this blog, set up Convex backend, and deploy to Netlify in under 10 minutes.	2025-01-14	setup-guide	true	convex netlify tutorial deployment	8 min read

Fork and Deploy Your Own Markdown Blog

This guide walks you through forking this markdown site, setting up your Convex backend, and deploying to Netlify. The entire process takes about 10 minutes.

How publishing works: Once deployed, you write posts in markdown, run npm run sync, and they appear on your live site immediately. No rebuild or redeploy needed. Convex handles real-time data sync, so all connected browsers update automatically.

Table of Contents

• Fork and Deploy Your Own Markdown Blog
  • Table of Contents
  • Prerequisites
  • Step 1: Fork the Repository
  • Step 2: Set Up Convex
    • Create a Convex Project
    • Verify the Schema
  • Step 3: Sync Your Blog Posts
  • Step 4: Run Locally
  • Step 5: Get Your Convex HTTP URL
  • Step 6: Verify Edge Functions
  • Step 7: Deploy to Netlify
    • Option A: Netlify CLI
    • Option B: Netlify Dashboard
    • Netlify Build Configuration
  • Step 8: Set Up Production Convex
  • Writing Blog Posts
    • Frontmatter Fields
    • Adding Images
    • Sync After Adding Posts
    • Environment Files
  • Customizing Your Blog
    • Change the Favicon
    • Change the Site Logo
    • Change the Default Open Graph Image
    • Update Site Configuration
    • Change the Default Theme
    • Change the Font
    • Add Static Pages (Optional)
    • Update SEO Meta Tags
    • Update llms.txt and robots.txt
  • API Endpoints
  • Troubleshooting
    • Posts not appearing
    • RSS/Sitemap not working
    • Build failures on Netlify
  • Project Structure
  • Next Steps

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• Node.js 18 or higher installed
• A GitHub account
• A Convex account (free at convex.dev)
• A Netlify account (free at netlify.com)

Step 1: Fork the Repository

Fork the repository to your GitHub account:

# Clone your forked repo
git clone https://github.com/waynesutton/markdown-site.git
cd markdown-site

# Install dependencies
npm install

Step 2: Set Up Convex

Convex is the backend that stores your blog posts and serves the API endpoints.

Create a Convex Project

Run the Convex development command:

npx convex dev

This will:

1. Prompt you to log in to Convex (opens browser)
2. Ask you to create a new project or select an existing one
3. Generate a .env.local file with your VITE_CONVEX_URL

Keep this terminal running during development. It syncs your Convex functions automatically.

Verify the Schema

The schema is already defined in convex/schema.ts:

import { defineSchema, defineTable } from "convex/server";
import { v } from "convex/values";

export default defineSchema({
  posts: defineTable({
    slug: v.string(),
    title: v.string(),
    description: v.string(),
    content: v.string(),
    date: v.string(),
    published: v.boolean(),
    tags: v.array(v.string()),
    readTime: v.optional(v.string()),
    lastSyncedAt: v.optional(v.number()),
  })
    .index("by_slug", ["slug"])
    .index("by_published", ["published"]),

  viewCounts: defineTable({
    slug: v.string(),
    count: v.number(),
  }).index("by_slug", ["slug"]),
});

Step 3: Sync Your Blog Posts

Blog posts live in content/blog/ as markdown files. Sync them to Convex:

npm run sync

This reads all markdown files, parses the frontmatter, and uploads them to your Convex database.

Step 4: Run Locally

Start the development server:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173 to see your blog.

Step 5: Get Your Convex HTTP URL

Your Convex deployment has two URLs:

• Client URL: https://your-deployment.convex.cloud (for the React app)
• HTTP URL: https://your-deployment.convex.site (for API endpoints)

Find your deployment name in the Convex dashboard or check .env.local:

# Your .env.local contains something like:
VITE_CONVEX_URL=https://happy-animal-123.convex.cloud

The HTTP URL uses .convex.site instead of .convex.cloud:

https://happy-animal-123.convex.site

Step 6: Verify Edge Functions

The blog uses Netlify Edge Functions to dynamically proxy RSS, sitemap, and API requests to your Convex HTTP endpoints. No manual URL configuration is needed.

Edge functions in netlify/edge-functions/:

• rss.ts - Proxies /rss.xml and /rss-full.xml
• sitemap.ts - Proxies /sitemap.xml
• api.ts - Proxies /api/posts and /api/post
• botMeta.ts - Serves Open Graph HTML to social media crawlers

These functions automatically read VITE_CONVEX_URL from your environment and convert it to the Convex HTTP site URL (.cloud becomes .site).

Step 7: Deploy to Netlify

For detailed Convex + Netlify integration, see the official Convex Netlify Deployment Guide.

Option A: Netlify CLI

# Install Netlify CLI
npm install -g netlify-cli

# Login to Netlify
netlify login

# Initialize site
netlify init

# Deploy
npm run deploy

Option B: Netlify Dashboard

1. Go to app.netlify.com
2. Click "Add new site" then "Import an existing project"
3. Connect your GitHub repository
4. Configure build settings:
   • Build command: npm ci --include=dev && npx convex deploy --cmd 'npm run build'
   • Publish directory: dist
5. Add environment variables:
   • CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY: Generate from Convex Dashboard > Project Settings > Deploy Key
   • VITE_CONVEX_URL: Your production Convex URL (e.g., https://your-deployment.convex.cloud)
6. Click "Deploy site"

The CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY deploys functions at build time. The VITE_CONVEX_URL is required for edge functions to proxy RSS, sitemap, and API requests at runtime.

Netlify Build Configuration

The netlify.toml file includes the correct build settings:

[build]
  command = "npm ci --include=dev && npx convex deploy --cmd 'npm run build'"
  publish = "dist"

[build.environment]
  NODE_VERSION = "20"

Key points:

• npm ci --include=dev forces devDependencies to install even when NODE_ENV=production
• The build script uses npx vite build to resolve vite from node_modules
• @types/node is required for TypeScript to recognize process.env

Step 8: Set Up Production Convex

For production, deploy your Convex functions:

npx convex deploy

This creates a production deployment. Update your Netlify environment variable with the production URL if different.

Writing Blog Posts

Create new posts in content/blog/:

---
title: "Your Post Title"
description: "A brief description for SEO and social sharing"
date: "2025-01-15"
slug: "your-post-url"
published: true
tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
readTime: "5 min read"
image: "/images/my-post-image.png"
---

Your markdown content here...

Frontmatter Fields

Field	Required	Description
title	Yes	Post title
description	Yes	Short description for SEO
date	Yes	Publication date (YYYY-MM-DD)
slug	Yes	URL path (must be unique)
published	Yes	Set to true to publish
tags	Yes	Array of topic tags
readTime	No	Estimated reading time
image	No	Header/Open Graph image URL

Adding Images

Place images in public/images/ and reference them in your posts:

Header/OG Image (in frontmatter):

image: "/images/my-header.png"

This image appears when sharing on social media. Recommended: 1200x630 pixels.

Inline Images (in content):

![Alt text description](/images/screenshot.png)

External Images:

![Photo](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-xxx?w=800)

Sync After Adding Posts

After adding or editing posts, sync to Convex.

Development sync:

npm run sync

Production sync:

First, create .env.production.local in your project root:

VITE_CONVEX_URL=https://your-prod-deployment.convex.cloud

Get your production URL from the Convex Dashboard by selecting your project and switching to the Production deployment.

Then sync:

npm run sync:prod

Environment Files

File	Purpose	Created by
.env.local	Dev deployment URL	npx convex dev (automatic)
.env.production.local	Prod deployment URL	You (manual)

Both files are gitignored. Each developer creates their own local environment files.

Customizing Your Blog

Change the Favicon

Replace public/favicon.svg with your own SVG icon. The default is a rounded square with the letter "m":

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="512" height="512" viewBox="0 0 512 512">
  <rect x="32" y="32" width="448" height="448" rx="96" ry="96" fill="#000000"/>
  <text x="256" y="330" text-anchor="middle" font-size="300" font-weight="800" fill="#ffffff">m</text>
</svg>

To use a different letter or icon, edit the SVG directly or replace the file.

Change the Site Logo

The logo appears on the homepage. Edit src/pages/Home.tsx:

const siteConfig = {
  logo: "/images/logo.svg", // Set to null to hide the logo
  // ...
};

Replace public/images/logo.svg with your own logo file. Recommended: SVG format, 512x512 pixels.

Change the Default Open Graph Image

The default OG image is used when a post does not have an image field in its frontmatter. Replace public/images/og-default.svg with your own image.

Recommended dimensions: 1200x630 pixels. Supported formats: PNG, JPG, or SVG.

Update the reference in src/pages/Post.tsx:

const DEFAULT_OG_IMAGE = "/images/og-default.svg";

Update Site Configuration

Edit src/pages/Home.tsx to customize:

const siteConfig = {
  name: "Your Name",
  title: "Your Title",
  intro: "Your introduction...",
  bio: "Your bio...",
  featuredEssays: [{ title: "Post Title", slug: "post-slug" }],
  links: {
    github: "https://github.com/waynesutton/markdown-site",
    twitter: "https://twitter.com/yourusername",
  },
};

Change the Default Theme

Edit src/context/ThemeContext.tsx:

const DEFAULT_THEME: Theme = "tan"; // Options: "dark", "light", "tan", "cloud"

Change the Font

The blog uses a serif font by default. To switch to sans-serif, edit src/styles/global.css:

body {
  /* Sans-serif */
  font-family:
    -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif;

  /* Serif (default) */
  font-family:
    "New York",
    -apple-system-ui-serif,
    ui-serif,
    Georgia,
    serif;
}

Add Static Pages (Optional)

Create optional pages like About, Projects, or Contact. These appear as navigation links in the top right corner.

1. Create a content/pages/ directory
2. Add markdown files with frontmatter:

---
title: "About"
slug: "about"
published: true
order: 1
---

Your page content here...

Field	Required	Description
title	Yes	Page title (shown in nav)
slug	Yes	URL path (e.g., /about)
published	Yes	Set true to show
order	No	Display order (lower = first)

3. Run npm run sync to sync pages

Pages appear automatically in the navigation when published.

Update SEO Meta Tags

Edit index.html to update:

• Site title
• Meta description
• Open Graph tags
• JSON-LD structured data

Update llms.txt and robots.txt

Edit public/llms.txt and public/robots.txt with your site information.

API Endpoints

Your blog includes these API endpoints for search engines and AI:

Endpoint	Description
/rss.xml	RSS feed with descriptions
/rss-full.xml	RSS feed with full content
/sitemap.xml	Dynamic XML sitemap
/api/posts	JSON list of all posts
/api/post?slug=xxx	Single post as JSON
/api/post?slug=xxx&format=md	Single post as raw markdown

Troubleshooting

Posts not appearing

1. Check that published: true in frontmatter
2. Run npm run sync to sync posts to development
3. Run npm run sync:prod to sync posts to production
4. Verify posts exist in Convex dashboard

RSS/Sitemap not working

1. Verify VITE_CONVEX_URL is set in Netlify environment variables
2. Check that Convex HTTP endpoints are deployed (npx convex deploy)
3. Test the Convex HTTP URL directly: https://your-deployment.convex.site/rss.xml
4. Verify edge functions exist in netlify/edge-functions/

Build failures on Netlify

Common errors and fixes:

"vite: not found" or "Cannot find package 'vite'"

Netlify sets NODE_ENV=production which skips devDependencies. Fix by using npm ci --include=dev in your build command:

[build]
  command = "npm ci --include=dev && npx convex deploy --cmd 'npm run build'"

Also ensure your build script uses npx:

"build": "npx vite build"

"Cannot find name 'process'"

Add @types/node to devDependencies:

npm install --save-dev @types/node

General checklist:

1. Verify CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY environment variable is set in Netlify
2. Check that @types/node is in devDependencies
3. Ensure Node.js version is 20 or higher
4. Verify build command includes --include=dev

See netlify-deploy-fix.md for detailed troubleshooting.

Project Structure

markdown-site/
├── content/blog/       # Markdown blog posts
├── convex/             # Convex backend functions
│   ├── http.ts         # HTTP endpoints
│   ├── posts.ts        # Post queries/mutations
│   ├── rss.ts          # RSS feed generation
│   └── schema.ts       # Database schema
├── netlify/
│   └── edge-functions/ # Netlify edge functions
│       ├── rss.ts      # RSS proxy
│       ├── sitemap.ts  # Sitemap proxy
│       ├── api.ts      # API proxy
│       └── botMeta.ts  # OG crawler detection
├── public/             # Static assets
│   ├── robots.txt      # Crawler rules
│   └── llms.txt        # AI agent discovery
├── src/
│   ├── components/     # React components
│   ├── context/        # Theme context
│   ├── pages/          # Page components
│   └── styles/         # Global CSS
├── netlify.toml        # Netlify configuration
└── package.json        # Dependencies

Next Steps

After deploying:

1. Add your own blog posts
2. Customize the theme colors in global.css
3. Update the featured essays list
4. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console
5. Share your first post

Your blog is now live with real-time updates, SEO optimization, and AI-friendly APIs. Every time you sync new posts, they appear immediately without redeploying.