DR

How to create a professional and automated README for your GitHub profile

Learn how to build an engaging and automated GitHub README that updates your blog posts and showcases your main projects.

Published on May 25, 2024

A professional GitHub profile README can be a powerful way to introduce yourself, highlight your key projects, and even link dynamic content like your blog posts.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to:

  • Build a visually engaging README using Markdown
  • Highlight your most relevant projects
  • Automatically update your blog posts in the README
  • Connect your personal blog built with Next.js to your GitHub profile

🧠 Why have a professional README?

A profile README is the first thing visitors see on your GitHub. It acts like your developer portfolio, so it should reflect:

  • Who you are
  • What you're building
  • Where to find your work (projects, blog, LinkedIn, etc.)

Here's what we'll build:

preview

🚀 Step 1: Create the README.md

In a repository named exactly as your GitHub username (e.g. dennerrondinely), create a README.md and structure it with:

# 👋 Hello, I'm Denner

![GIF](https://i.gifer.com/77w2.gif)

## 🚧 Projects I'm focusing on

- [TailAid](https://github.com/dennerrondinely/tail-aid)
- [Tailor](https://github.com/dennerrondinely/tailor)
- [Lemonade](https://github.com/dennerrondinely/lemonade)

## 📝 Latest blog posts

<!-- BLOG-POSTS:START -->
<!-- BLOG-POSTS:END -->

## 📫 Connect with me

- Email: denner.rondinely@gmail.com
- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/denner-rondinely-da-silva/)
- [Blog](https://www.dennerrondinely.dev/en)

⚙️ Step 2: Expose your blog posts with an API

If you use Markdown files locally in a Next.js blog, expose your posts through a route like:

/pages/api/posts.ts

This should return the latest 5 posts in JSON.

🧪 Step 3: Write the update script

Create a file like scripts/update-blog-posts.ts:

// fetches latest blog posts and updates the README

Full code on GitHub

🤖 Step 4: Automate with GitHub Actions

Create the file:

.github/workflows/update-blog-posts.yml

With the following:

name: Update blog posts in README
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 6 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
  update-readme: ...

🧩 Bonus: Add your favorite technology badges

Use shields.io to generate badges like:

![React](https://img.shields.io/badge/react-%2320232a.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=react&logoColor=%2361DAFB)

✅ Result

You'll have a GitHub profile that:

  • Shows what you're working on
  • Updates automatically
  • Promotes your personal blog

See live example →

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