blog-system-design git:20260806.58c1a2fA

Immutable. This exact content is served forever at /api/v1/blob/10a420a8d0f69319.

---
name: blog-system-design
description: Design, build, or revise a technical blog as a product system. Use when work affects the blog index, category or section pages, article layout, typography, information density, full-text search, keyboard shortcuts, resizable or collapsible navigation, table of contents, responsive breakpoints, reusable article components, media policy, accessibility, or blog-wide visual QA. Pair with ai-devblog when publishing individual technical articles; keep article writing in ai-devblog and shared presentation infrastructure here.
---

# Blog System Design

Build a dense, readable technical publication rather than a marketing landing
page. Treat the index, post shell, navigation, typography, and explanatory
components as one reusable reading system.

## Keep the boundary clear

Use `ai-devblog` for choosing an article angle, writing and editing the prose,
selecting article-specific evidence, and publishing a post. Use this skill when
that work requires a new or changed shared layout, navigation model, taxonomy,
search behavior, or reusable component.

One article must not silently redesign the blog. Audit the existing system
first. Reuse a suitable established component; change the system deliberately
when the existing pattern is inadequate.

## Audit before designing

Inspect the rendered blog and its implementation at desktop, tablet, and mobile
sizes. Identify:

- content source and metadata schema;
- index, category, archive, and post routes;
- typography, spacing, reading width, and theme tokens;
- navigation, heading anchors, TOC behavior, and keyboard shortcuts;
- search corpus and URL state;
- reusable figures, tables, code blocks, callouts, tabs, and playgrounds;
- image provenance, loading behavior, accessibility, and bundle cost.

Preserve durable URLs, feeds, metadata, and existing content contracts. Keep
shared layout code separate from article-owned content and data.

## Information architecture

Provide the smallest useful hierarchy:

1. **Index** — recent and featured posts, full-text search, and clear metadata.
2. **Sections** — stable categories or topics only when they help readers find
   related work. Do not manufacture a large taxonomy from a small archive.
3. **Post** — title, short deck, compact byline, prose, contextual navigation,
   and explanatory components.
4. **Archive/feed** — durable chronological access for readers and machines.

Use one canonical post URL. Make filters shareable through query parameters.
Do not create duplicate routes for visual variants of the same article.

## Design a useful index

- Prefer a compact two-column list on wide screens and one column on narrow
  screens. Keep titles, category, date, and reading time easy to scan.
- Provide simple client-side full-text search across title, description,
  category, and body when the archive is small enough to ship safely. Use a
  real index or server search when the corpus makes client delivery wasteful.
- Bind `/` to focus search when the reader is not typing. Let `Escape` clear or
  blur it. Show the shortcut beside the field.
- Store non-empty search text in `?q=` with replace-state semantics so filtered
  indexes survive reload, sharing, and browser navigation.
- Show result count, a specific no-match state, and a visible clear action.
- Do not use decorative hero art to make the index feel substantial. Lead with
  the strongest article and its useful description.

## Design the post shell

On wide desktop screens, keep the blog index available in a left rail while the
reader opens a post. Make the rail genuinely useful:

- support pointer resizing with an explicit separator or handle;
- support keyboard resizing or provide equivalent preset widths;
- define sensible minimum, default, and maximum widths;
- offer a labeled minimize/restore control;
- preserve the reader's width preference when the site already persists UI
  preferences;
- transition width and visibility without shifting the reading position.

Use conventional responsive transitions unless the existing site defines
better breakpoints:

- **wide desktop (about 1280px and above):** resizable index rail, article, and
  sticky TOC can coexist;
- **tablet/small desktop (about 768–1279px):** hide the index rail, keep an
  obvious return-to-index action, and use a floating minimized TOC;
- **mobile (below about 768px):** use one reading column, compact masthead and
  back navigation, and a minimized TOC that expands without covering the
  article permanently.

Generate the TOC from stable heading anchors. Highlight the current section.
Let readers minimize and restore it. Keep it sticky beside the article on wide
screens and floating on narrower screens. Ensure transformed ancestors do not
break fixed positioning.

## Favor compact technical typography

Use a restrained publication such as the Cloudflare blog as inspiration:

- favor a highly legible sans-serif for body copy and a compact display face
  for headings;
- keep desktop body copy around 15–17px with roughly 1.55–1.7 line height;
- use a readable measure, usually 65–80 characters, rather than a narrow
  magazine column or edge-to-edge prose;
- keep article titles prominent but below billboard scale;
- reduce vertical ceremony between deck, byline, opening, headings, figures,
  and paragraphs;
- use monospace for metadata, code, labels, and small navigational indices;
- apply fluid type and spacing with bounded `clamp()` values where appropriate.

Information density does not mean tiny text. Compare how much useful content a
reader can scan in one viewport, then check legibility, hierarchy, and touch
targets.

## Build reusable explanatory components

Prefer semantic, site-native components for recurring forms:

- `Figure` with caption, provenance, and alt text;
- responsive comparison table with a textual mobile treatment;
- code sample, focused diff, and meaningful language label;
- note, caveat, definition, and operator callout;
- tabs for real alternatives, never to hide the only complete example;
- chart or diagram with explicit scale, labels, and textual equivalent;
- interactive playground that exposes the result before interaction and
  supports keyboard, touch, reduced motion, and narrow screens.

Keep component logic and styles feature-owned. Keep article data separate from
rendering. Do not grow one post route or global stylesheet into the permanent
home of every custom visualization.

## Reject decorative AI imagery

Do not generate decorative hero art unless the user explicitly requests it.
Prefer no image over an image that does not explain or prove anything.

Use, in order of explanatory value:

1. authentic screenshots of the relevant surface;
2. deterministic diagrams, plots, tables, code, and diffs;
3. article-specific interactive demonstrations;
4. editorial photography or illustration only when it carries real context.

Remove any visual that could be swapped for unrelated artwork without changing
the article's meaning.

## Verify the system

Run content, type, lint, link, and production-build checks. Then inspect the
rendered system at representative widths such as 1600, 1280, 1024, 768, and
390px. Verify:

- index density and search behavior, including `/`, `Escape`, `?q=`, empty
  results, and browser back/forward;
- rail resizing, minimum/maximum bounds, minimize/restore, and breakpoint
  hiding;
- TOC anchors, active state, sticky/floating placement, and restore control;
- title wrapping, reading measure, code overflow, figures, tables, captions,
  and interactive fallbacks;
- no horizontal overflow, obscured text, clipped controls, or layout shifts;
- visible focus, semantic landmarks, touch targets, reduced motion, and theme
  contrast;
- reasonable image and JavaScript weight.

Treat visual inspection as required evidence. A passing build does not prove
that a reading system works.