feat: removes git dates, enforces manual dates, and adds some validation to ensure presence

.github/workflows/validate.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+name: Validate content
+on:
+  push:
+    paths:
+      - 'www/content/**'
+      - 'www/public/*.txt'
+      - 'www/public/config.yaml'
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - 'www/content/**'
+      - 'www/public/*.txt'
+      - 'www/public/config.yaml'
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: 22
+          cache: pnpm
+      - run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
+      - run: pnpm validate:www

package.json

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     "dev:penfield": "pnpm --filter @ily/penfield dev",
     "dev:www": "pnpm --filter @ily/www dev",
     "build:penfield": "pnpm --filter @ily/penfield build",
-    "build:www": "pnpm --filter @ily/www build"
+    "build:www": "pnpm --filter @ily/www build",
+    "validate:www": "pnpm --filter @ily/www validate"
   }
 }

www/package.json

@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
     "dev": "astro dev --port 4322",
     "build": "astro build --remote && node scripts/generate-stats.js",
     "preview": "astro preview",
-    "serve": "pnpm build && npx serve .vercel/output/static -l 4322"
+    "serve": "pnpm build && npx serve .vercel/output/static -l 4322",
+    "validate": "node scripts/validate-content.js"
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@astrojs/db": "^0.19.0",

www/public/config.yaml

@@ -5,3 +5,9 @@ descriptions:
   man.txt: manual page
   changelog.txt: site changelog
   stats.txt: site statistics
+dates:
+  changelog.txt: 2026-01-23
+  cv.txt: 2026-01-23
+  man.txt: 2026-03-26
+  now.txt: 2026-01-23
+  stats.txt: 2026-01-23

www/scripts/validate-content.js

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import yaml from 'js-yaml';
+
+const root = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, '..');
+const contentDir = path.join(root, 'content');
+const publicDir = path.join(root, 'public');
+const errors = [];
+
+const mdFiles = fs.readdirSync(contentDir).filter(f => f.endsWith('.md'));
+for (const file of mdFiles) {
+  const content = fs.readFileSync(path.join(contentDir, file), 'utf8');
+  const match = content.match(/^---\n([\s\S]*?)\n---/);
+  if (!match) {
+    errors.push(`${file}: missing frontmatter`);
+    continue;
+  }
+  const frontmatter = match[1];
+  if (!/^date:\s*.+/m.test(frontmatter)) {
+    errors.push(`${file}: missing required 'date' field`);
+  }
+}
+
+const configPath = path.join(publicDir, 'config.yaml');
+const config = fs.existsSync(configPath)
+  ? yaml.load(fs.readFileSync(configPath, 'utf8'))
+  : {};
+const configDates = config.dates || {};
+const txtFiles = fs.readdirSync(publicDir).filter(f => f.endsWith('.txt'));
+for (const file of txtFiles) {
+  if (!configDates[file]) {
+    errors.push(`${file}: missing date in config.yaml`);
+  }
+}
+
+if (errors.length) {
+  console.error('Content validation failed:\n');
+  for (const err of errors) console.error(`  - ${err}`);
+  console.error('');
+  process.exit(1);
+} else {
+  console.log(`Validated ${mdFiles.length} posts and ${txtFiles.length} txt files.`);
+}

www/src/content.config.ts

@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ const md = defineCollection({
   loader: glob({ pattern: '**/*.md', base: './content' }),
   schema: z.object({
     title: z.string(),
-    date: z.coerce.date().optional(),
+    date: z.coerce.date(),
+    updated: z.coerce.date().optional(),
     pinned: z.boolean().optional(),
     category: z.string().optional(),
     related: z.array(z.string()).optional(),

www/src/lib/format.ts

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export function formatListItem(
   const pinnedBadge = options?.pinned ? ' [pinned]' : '';
   const suffix = options?.suffix ? ` ${options.suffix}` : '';
   const prefix = options?.prefix ?? '';
-  return `<span class="list-meta">${prefix}<span class="muted">${formatDate(date)}</span></span><span class="entry-content"><a href="${url}">${title}</a>${pinnedBadge}${suffix}</span>`;
+  return `<span class="list-meta">${prefix}<span class="muted">${formatDate(date)}</span></span><span class="entry-content"><a href="${url}" title="${title}">${title}</a>${pinnedBadge}${suffix}</span>`;
 }
 
 interface Sortable {

www/src/lib/git.ts

@@ -1,51 +0,0 @@
-import { execSync } from 'node:child_process';
-import path from 'node:path';
-
-export function getGitCreationDate(filePath: string): Date {
-  try {
-    // Run git from the file's directory to handle submodules
-    const dir = path.dirname(filePath);
-    const file = path.basename(filePath);
-    // Get the oldest commit for this file (first commit that added it)
-    const timestamp = execSync(
-      `git log --follow --diff-filter=A --format=%cI -- "${file}"`,
-      { encoding: 'utf8', cwd: dir }
-    ).trim();
-    return timestamp ? new Date(timestamp) : new Date(0);
-  } catch {
-    return new Date(0);
-  }
-}
-
-export function getGitLastModifiedDate(filePath: string): Date {
-  try {
-    // Run git from the file's directory to handle submodules
-    const dir = path.dirname(filePath);
-    const file = path.basename(filePath);
-    const timestamp = execSync(
-      `git log -1 --format=%cI -- "${file}"`,
-      { encoding: 'utf8', cwd: dir }
-    ).trim();
-    return timestamp ? new Date(timestamp) : new Date(0);
-  } catch {
-    return new Date(0);
-  }
-}
-
-export interface GitDates {
-  created: Date;
-  updated: Date | null; // null if never updated (created === lastModified)
-}
-
-export function getGitDates(filePath: string): GitDates {
-  const created = getGitCreationDate(filePath);
-  const lastModified = getGitLastModifiedDate(filePath);
-
-  // If dates are the same (same commit), there's no update
-  const hasUpdate = created.getTime() !== lastModified.getTime();
-
-  return {
-    created,
-    updated: hasUpdate ? lastModified : null,
-  };
-}

www/src/lib/md.ts

@@ -1,47 +1,19 @@
-import path from 'node:path';
 import type { CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content';
-import { getGitDates, type GitDates } from './git';
 import { DEFAULT_CATEGORY } from './consts';
 
 type Post = CollectionEntry<'md'>;
 
-export interface PostWithDates extends Post {
-  dates: GitDates;
-}
-
 export function getSlug(postId: string): string {
   const parts = postId.split('/');
   return parts[parts.length - 1];
 }
 
-function getPostFilePath(post: Post): string {
+function sortPosts(posts: Post[], { alphabetically = false } = {}): Post[] {
-  return path.join(process.cwd(), 'content', `${post.id}.md`);
-}
-
-export function enrichPostWithDates(post: Post): PostWithDates {
-  const filePath = getPostFilePath(post);
-  const gitDates = getGitDates(filePath);
-  const created = post.data.date ?? gitDates.created;
-  const updated = post.data.updated ?? gitDates.updated;
-  return {
-    ...post,
-    dates: {
-      created,
-      updated: updated && updated.getTime() !== created.getTime() ? updated : null,
-    },
-  };
-}
-
-export function enrichPostsWithDates(posts: Post[]): PostWithDates[] {
-  return posts.map(enrichPostWithDates);
-}
-
-function sortPosts(posts: PostWithDates[], { alphabetically = false } = {}): PostWithDates[] {
   return posts.slice().sort((a, b) => {
     if (a.data.pinned && !b.data.pinned) return -1;
     if (!a.data.pinned && b.data.pinned) return 1;
     if (alphabetically) return a.data.title.localeCompare(b.data.title);
-    return b.dates.created.getTime() - a.dates.created.getTime();
+    return b.data.date.getTime() - a.data.date.getTime();
   });
 }
 
@@ -53,8 +25,8 @@ export function resolveRelatedPosts<T extends { id: string }>(
   return slugs.flatMap(s => bySlug.get(s) ?? []);
 }
 
-export function organizePostsByCategory(posts: PostWithDates[], { sortAlphabetically = false } = {}): {
+export function organizePostsByCategory(posts: Post[], { sortAlphabetically = false } = {}): {
-  grouped: Record<string, PostWithDates[]>;
+  grouped: Record<string, Post[]>;
   categories: string[];
 } {
   const grouped = posts.reduce((acc, post) => {
@@ -62,7 +34,7 @@ export function organizePostsByCategory(posts: PostWithDates[], { sortAlphabetic
     if (!acc[category]) acc[category] = [];
     acc[category].push(post);
     return acc;
-  }, {} as Record<string, PostWithDates[]>);
+  }, {} as Record<string, Post[]>);
 
   const categories = Object.keys(grouped).sort((a, b) => {
     if (a === DEFAULT_CATEGORY) return -1;

www/src/lib/txt.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import yaml from 'js-yaml';
 import { sortByPinnedThenDate } from './format';
-import { getGitCreationDate } from './git';
 
 export interface TxtFile {
   name: string;
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ export interface TxtFile {
 export interface TxtConfig {
   pinned?: string[];
   descriptions?: Record<string, string>;
+  dates?: Record<string, string>;
 }
 
 export function getTxtDir(): string {
@@ -33,13 +33,14 @@ export function getTxtFiles(): TxtFile[] {
 
   const config = loadTxtConfig();
   const pinnedSet = new Set(config.pinned || []);
-
   const descriptions = config.descriptions || {};
+  const dates = config.dates || {};
+
   const files = fs.readdirSync(txtDir)
     .filter(file => file.endsWith('.txt'))
     .map(name => ({
       name,
-      date: getGitCreationDate(path.join(txtDir, name)),
+      date: dates[name] ? new Date(dates[name]) : new Date(0),
       pinned: pinnedSet.has(name),
       description: descriptions[name],
     }));

www/src/pages/[slug].astro

@@ -2,11 +2,10 @@
 import { getCollection, render } from 'astro:content';
 import Layout from '../layouts/Layout.astro';
 import { formatDate, formatListItem, excerpt } from '../lib/format';
-import { getSlug, enrichPostWithDates, enrichPostsWithDates, resolveRelatedPosts } from '../lib/md';
+import { getSlug, resolveRelatedPosts } from '../lib/md';
 
 export async function getStaticPaths() {
-  const rawPosts = await getCollection('md');
+  const allPosts = await getCollection('md');
-  const allPosts = enrichPostsWithDates(rawPosts);
   return allPosts.map(post => ({
     params: { slug: getSlug(post.id) },
     props: { post, allPosts }
@@ -22,13 +21,13 @@ const description = excerpt((post as any).body) || undefined;
 
 <article>
 <h1>{post.data.title}</h1>
-<p class="muted" style="margin-top: 0;">{formatDate(post.dates.created)}{post.dates.updated && ` (updated ${formatDate(post.dates.updated)})`}</p>
+<p class="muted" style="margin-top: 0;">{formatDate(post.data.date)}{post.data.updated && ` (updated ${formatDate(post.data.updated)})`}</p>
 <Content />
 </article>
 {related.length > 0 && (
   <section>
     <span class="section-label">related</span>
-    <pre set:html={related.map(p => formatListItem(p.dates.created, `/${getSlug(p.id)}`, p.data.title)).join('\n')} />
+    <pre set:html={related.map(p => formatListItem(p.data.date, `/${getSlug(p.id)}`, p.data.title)).join('\n')} />
   </section>
 )}
 </Layout>

www/src/pages/feed.xml.ts

@@ -1,19 +1,18 @@
 import rss from '@astrojs/rss';
 import { getCollection } from 'astro:content';
 import type { APIContext } from 'astro';
-import { getSlug, enrichPostsWithDates } from '../lib/md';
+import { getSlug } from '../lib/md';
 import { getTxtFiles } from '../lib/txt';
 import { excerpt } from '../lib/format';
 
 export async function GET(context: APIContext) {
-  const rawPosts = await getCollection('md');
+  const posts = await getCollection('md');
-  const posts = enrichPostsWithDates(rawPosts);
   const txtFiles = getTxtFiles();
 
   const items = [
     ...posts.map(post => ({
       title: post.data.title,
-      pubDate: post.dates.created,
+      pubDate: post.data.date,
       link: `/${getSlug(post.id)}`,
       description: excerpt((post as any).body) || post.data.title,
     })),

www/src/pages/index.astro

@@ -3,12 +3,11 @@ import { getCollection } from 'astro:content';
 import Layout from '../layouts/Layout.astro';
 import { getApprovedEntries, type GuestbookEntry } from '../lib/db';
 import { formatDate, formatListItem, escapeHtml } from '../lib/format';
-import { organizePostsByCategory, getSlug, enrichPostsWithDates } from '../lib/md';
+import { organizePostsByCategory, getSlug } from '../lib/md';
 import { getTxtFiles } from '../lib/txt';
 import { DEFAULT_CATEGORY, SECTIONS, SUBDOMAINS } from '../lib/consts';
 
-const rawPosts = await getCollection('md');
+const posts = await getCollection('md');
-const posts = enrichPostsWithDates(rawPosts);
 const { grouped, categories: sortedCategories } = organizePostsByCategory(posts);
 
 const bookmarksCollection = await getCollection('bookmarks');
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ try {
 }
 
 const urls = [
-  ...posts.map(post => ({ url: `/${getSlug(post.id)}`, date: post.dates.created.getTime() })),
+  ...posts.map(post => ({ url: `/${getSlug(post.id)}`, date: post.data.date.getTime() })),
   ...txtFiles.map(f => ({ url: `/${f.name}`, date: f.date.getTime() })),
 ].sort((a, b) => b.date - a.date).map(e => e.url).concat(SUBDOMAINS);
 ---
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ const urls = [
 <section data-section={category}>
 {!isDefault && <a class="section-label" href={`?just=${category}`}>{category}</a>}
 <div class="entry-list" set:html={categoryPosts.map(post =>
-  `<span class="entry">${formatListItem(post.dates.created, `/${getSlug(post.id)}`, post.data.title, { pinned: post.data.pinned })}</span>`
+  `<span class="entry">${formatListItem(post.data.date, `/${getSlug(post.id)}`, post.data.title, { pinned: post.data.pinned })}</span>`
 ).join('')} />
 </section>
   );