---
name: building-blog
description: "Use when adding a blog to a Next.js + Sanity site, building a blog section from scratch, integrating Sanity CMS for editorial content, or setting up an SEO-optimized article surface. Triggers on phrases like 'add a blog', 'build the blog', 'create blog section', 'set up blog with Sanity', 'integrate Sanity CMS', 'blog architecture', or any new-blog scoping conversation on a Next.js project."
risk: safe
source: community
date_added: "2026-05-21"
---

# Building a Blog (Next.js + Sanity)

## Overview

Universal workflow for adding a blog to a Next.js site backed by Sanity CMS. Targets a corporate blog: SEO-first, i18n-ready, performance-budgeted, accessibility-compliant.

**SKILL.md is the orchestrator. The spec lives in the two reference files.**

## Files

- `blog-technical-requirements.md` — §0 intake questionnaire (30+ questions) → §1 Project Profile → §2–§20 universal spec → checklist. Edit only §0 answers and §1 per project.
- `blog-image-style-guide.md` — universal template for AI-generated hero imagery via Gemini 3 Pro Image (Nano Banana Pro). Intake questions on top, aesthetic skeleton in the middle, three example slots at the bottom.

## Workflow

### Step 1 — Scan the host project (before asking anything)

Read what's already there. Pre-filling answers from detected values is much better than asking the user. Look for:

- `package.json` — Next.js version, `next-intl`, Sanity packages, Tailwind, `framer-motion`
- `next.config.{ts,js,mjs}` — existing `images.formats`, i18n config
- `src/messages/**`, `src/i18n/**`, `messages/**` — current locale set
- `src/app/[locale]/**` or `app/[locale]/**` — routing pattern
- `tailwind.config.*`, `globals.css`, design-system files — tokens, fonts
- `CLAUDE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `GEMINI.md` — project conventions and approved overrides
- Existing `sanity-studio/` or `studio/` folder
- `app/layout.{tsx,jsx}` — fonts, analytics, motion config
- `public/brand/**`, `public/logo*` — publisher logo
- `sitemap.ts`, `robots.ts` — existing routes
- `.env*` files — names of already-set env vars (do not log secret values)

Record findings as a brief "Detected" list before the questionnaire.

### Step 2 — Run the intake questionnaire

Open `blog-technical-requirements.md` and walk through §0.

- **Claude Code:** use `AskUserQuestion`. Group related questions into single calls (max 4 per call). Pre-fill recommended answers from the scan.
- **Codex / CLIs without an interactive picker:** list questions numerically in plain text, ask the user to answer in batches of 5–10. Show recommended answers from the scan.
- **Headless / non-interactive:** apply universal defaults to whatever the prompt did not explicitly cover; list every assumption.

Write the answers into §1 "Project Profile" (in a project-local copy under `docs/blog/`, not in the universal source).

### Step 3 — Produce the high-level plan

Use the plan template at the end of §0. One page. Phases, locked-in scope, out-of-scope items, open decisions. **Wait for explicit user approval. Do not start coding.**

### Step 4 — Implement against the spec

Follow §2–§20 in order. §19 (Pass/Fail Checklist) is the definition of done. The image style guide drives §20 if AI-generated hero images are in scope.

## When NOT to use this skill

- Static / MDX-only blogs (no CMS) — different stack, different patterns
- High-velocity news publishers — sitemap chunking and editor tooling become primary concerns
- Documentation sites — use a docs framework instead
- Marketing landing pages that aren't really a blog

## Source

Maintained at [BuildShipGrowRepeat/nextjs-sanity-blog-skill](https://github.com/BuildShipGrowRepeat/nextjs-sanity-blog-skill). MIT licensed.