eranchetz / hn2mastadon

Fun project to post top hackernews posts to mastodon

Here's a detailed README.md file for your project:

---

Hacker News to Mastodon Poster

This project automatically posts the top story from Hacker News to a Mastodon account once a day.

Contents

• Requirements
• Setup
  • Mastodon API Key
  • Environment Setup
• Usage
  • With Docker
  • Without Docker
• Automation
  • Cron Job Setup
• License

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or higher (for running without Docker).
• Docker (optional, for Docker usage).
• A Mastodon account.

Setup

Mastodon API Key

To use this script, you need an access token from Mastodon. Follow these steps to get it:

1. Log in to your Mastodon account.
2. Go to Settings > Development > New Application.
3. Create an application.
   • Application name: HackerNewsPoster (or any name you prefer).
   • Redirect URI: urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob.
   • Scopes: write.
4. Submit to create the application.
5. Copy the access token provided.

Environment Setup

1. Clone or download this repository to your local machine.
2. Install the necessary Python libraries:

   pip install requests mastodon.py

Usage

With Docker

1. Create a Dockerfile in the project directory with the following content:

   FROM python:3.9-slim
   WORKDIR /app
   COPY . /app
   RUN pip install requests mastodon.py
   CMD ["python", "./hn_to_mastodon.py"]

2. Build the Docker image:

   docker build -t hn_to_mastodon .

3. Run the Docker container:

   docker run --env MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN=YOUR_MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN hn_to_mastodon

Without Docker

1. Set up your environment as described in Environment Setup.
2. Run the script:

   python hn_to_mastodon.py

Automation

Cron Job Setup

To automate the script to run once a day:

1. Open your terminal and enter crontab -e.
2. Add the following line to schedule the job (example for 9 AM daily):

   0 9 * * * /usr/bin/docker run --env MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN=YOUR_MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN hn_to_mastodon
   

3. Save and close the editor.

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

---

Remember to replace YOUR_MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN with the actual token you obtained from Mastodon. This README.md provides a comprehensive guide for setting up and running the project, both with and without Docker.