Dynamic Markdown

Description

Dynamic markdown frontmatter fields

Purpose

Streamline content editing, while reducing potential for human error.

Approach

These steps add a dynamic lastModified markdown frontmatter field.

Install VS Code Extensions

Install Run on Save (I used pucelle's. It worked, so didn't try other, simlarly named extensions) and Markdown All In One VS Code extensions.

Create Custom Script

Create script, @/update-frontmatter.js:

//<--------@/update-frontmatter.ts--------------------------------------------->
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const filePath = process.argv[2];
const currentDate = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0];

fs.readFile(filePath, 'utf8', (err, data) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err);
    return;
  }

  const updatedData = data.replace(/lastModified: '.*'/, `lastModified: '${currentDate}'`);

  fs.writeFile(filePath, updatedData, 'utf8', (err) => {
    if (err) {
      console.error(err);
      return;
    }
    console.log(`Updated lastModified date to ${currentDate} in ${filePath}`);
  });
});
//<--------@/update-frontmatter.ts--------------------------------------------->

Config VS Code Tasks

Create a task, @/.vscode/tasks.json, to run the script on save:

{
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
      {
        "label": "Update Frontmatter",
        "type": "shell",
        "command": "node",
        "args": [
          "${workspaceFolder}/update-frontmatter.js",
          "${file}"
        ],
        "problemMatcher": [],
        "isBackground": true
      }
    ]
}

Config VS Code Settings

Add to @/.vscode/settings.json:

"editor.codeActionsOnSave": {
    "source.fixAll": true
 },
"files.autoSave": "onWindowChange",
"files.autoSaveDelay": 1000,
"files.associations": {
    "*.md": "markdown"
},
"files.watcherExclude": {
    "**/.git/objects/**": true,
    "**/.git/subtree-cache/**": true,
    "**/node_modules/**": true
},
"files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
"files.insertFinalNewline": true,
"files.trimFinalNewlines": true,
"files.autoGuessEncoding": true,
"files.defaultLanguage": "markdown",
"files.exclude": {
    "**/.git": true,
    "**/.DS_Store": true,
    "**/node_modules": true
},
"runOnSave.commands": [
    {
    "match": "\\.md$",
    "command": "node ${workspaceFolder}/update-frontmatter.js ${file}"
    }
],