linkedin-article-publisher-skill

LinkedIn Article Publisher Skill

English | 中文

Publish Markdown articles to LinkedIn Articles with one command. Say goodbye to tedious rich text editing.

v1.0.0 — Block-index positioning for precise image placement

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The Problem

If you're used to writing in Markdown, publishing to LinkedIn Articles is a painful process:

Pain Point	Description
Format Loss	Copy from Markdown editor -> Paste to LinkedIn -> All formatting gone
Manual Formatting	Set each H2, bold, link manually — 15-20 min per article
Tedious Image Upload	Multiple clicks per image: Add media -> Select -> Wait
Position Errors	Hard to remember where each image should go

Time Comparison

Task	Manual	With This Skill
Format conversion	15-20 min	0 (automatic)
Cover image	1-2 min	10 sec
5 content images	5-10 min	1 min
Total	20-30 min	2-3 min

10x efficiency improvement

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The Solution

This skill automates the entire publishing workflow:

Markdown File
     | Python parsing
     v
Structured Data (title, images with block_index, HTML)
     | Playwright MCP
     v
LinkedIn Articles Editor (browser automation)
     |
     v
Draft Saved (never auto-publishes)

Key Features

• Rich Text Paste: Convert Markdown to HTML, paste via clipboard — all formatting preserved
• Block-Index Positioning: Precise image placement using element indices, not text matching
• Reverse Insertion: Insert images from highest to lowest index to avoid position shifts
• Smart Wait Strategy: Conditions return immediately when met, no wasted wait time
• Safe by Design: Only saves as draft, never publishes automatically

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Why Block-Index?

Previously, images were positioned by matching surrounding text — this failed when:

• Multiple paragraphs had similar content
• Text was too short to be unique

Now, each image has a block_index indicating exactly which block element it follows. This is deterministic and reliable.

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Requirements

Requirement	Details
Claude Code	claude.ai/code
Playwright MCP	Browser automation
LinkedIn Account	Free account works (no Premium required)
Python 3.9+	With dependencies below
macOS	Currently macOS only

pip install Pillow pyobjc-framework-Cocoa

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Installation

Method 1: Git Clone (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/iamzifei/linkedin-article-publisher-skill.git
cp -r linkedin-article-publisher-skill/skills/linkedin-article-publisher ~/.claude/skills/

Method 2: Plugin Marketplace

/plugin marketplace add iamzifei/linkedin-article-publisher-skill
/plugin install linkedin-article-publisher@iamzifei/linkedin-article-publisher-skill

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Usage

Natural Language

Publish /path/to/article.md to LinkedIn

Help me post this article to LinkedIn: ~/Documents/my-post.md

Skill Command

/linkedin-article-publisher /path/to/article.md

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Workflow Steps

[1/7] Parse Markdown...
      -> Extract title, cover image, content images with block_index
      -> Convert to HTML, count total blocks

[2/7] Open LinkedIn Articles editor...
      -> Navigate to linkedin.com/article/new/

[3/7] Upload cover image...
      -> First image becomes cover

[4/7] Fill title...
      -> H1 used as title (not included in body)

[5/7] Paste article content...
      -> Rich text via clipboard
      -> All formatting preserved

[6/7] Insert content images (reverse order)...
      -> Sort by block_index descending
      -> Click block element at index -> Paste image
      -> Wait for upload (returns immediately when done)

[7/7] Save draft...
      -> Review and publish manually

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Supported Markdown

Syntax	Result
# H1	Article title (extracted, not in body)
## H2	Section headers
### H3	Sub-section headers
**bold**	Bold text
*italic*	Italic text
[text](url)	Hyperlinks
> quote	Blockquotes
- item	Unordered lists
1. item	Ordered lists
	Images (first = cover)

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Example

Input: article.md

# 5 AI Tools Worth Watching in 2024

![cover](./images/cover.jpg)

AI tools exploded in 2024. Here are 5 worth your attention.

## 1. Claude: Best Conversational AI

**Claude** by Anthropic excels at long-context understanding.

> Claude's context window reaches 200K tokens.

![claude-demo](./images/claude-demo.png)

## 2. Midjourney: AI Art Leader

[Midjourney](https://midjourney.com) is the most popular AI art tool.

![midjourney](./images/midjourney.jpg)

Parsed Output (JSON)

{
  "title": "5 AI Tools Worth Watching in 2024",
  "cover_image": "./images/cover.jpg",
  "content_images": [
    {"path": "./images/claude-demo.png", "block_index": 4},
    {"path": "./images/midjourney.jpg", "block_index": 6}
  ],
  "total_blocks": 7
}

Insertion Order

Images inserted in reverse: block_index=6 first, then block_index=4.

Result

• Cover: cover.jpg uploaded
• Title: "5 AI Tools Worth Watching in 2024"
• Content: Rich text with H2, bold, quotes, links
• Images: Inserted at precise positions via block index
• Status: Draft saved (ready for manual review)

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Project Structure

linkedin-article-publisher-skill/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json              # Plugin config
├── skills/
│   └── linkedin-article-publisher/
│       ├── SKILL.md             # Skill instructions
│       └── scripts/
│           ├── parse_markdown.py    # Extracts block_index
│           └── copy_to_clipboard.py
├── docs/
│   └── GUIDE.md                 # Detailed guide
├── README.md                    # This file
├── README_CN.md                 # Chinese version
└── LICENSE

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FAQ

Q: Why doesn't LinkedIn require Premium? A: Unlike X Articles which requires Premium Plus, LinkedIn Articles is available to all users with a LinkedIn account.

Q: Windows/Linux support? A: Currently macOS only. PRs welcome for cross-platform clipboard support.

Q: Image upload failed? A: Check: valid path, supported format (jpg/png/gif/webp), stable network.

Q: Can I publish to multiple accounts? A: Not automatically. Switch accounts in browser manually before running.

Q: Why insert images in reverse order? A: Each inserted image shifts subsequent block indices. Inserting from highest to lowest ensures earlier indices remain valid.

Q: Why does wait return immediately sometimes? A: browser_wait_for time=X returns as soon as the operation completes. The time parameter is just a maximum, not a fixed delay.

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Documentation

• Detailed Usage Guide — Complete documentation with examples

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Changelog

v1.0.0 (2025-01)

• Initial release for LinkedIn Articles
• Rich text paste via clipboard
• Block-index positioning for precise image placement
• Reverse insertion order to prevent index shifts
• Cover + content image support
• Draft-only publishing (safe by design)

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License

MIT License - see LICENSE

Author

iamzifei

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Contributing

• Issues: Report bugs or request features
• PRs: Welcome! Especially for Windows/Linux support