My personal website export process

Up: § My personal website

The export process copies content from my Obsidian vault to an intermediate export directory, applying privacy rules and transforming content for web publishing.

Folder Structure

Source: /Users/joel/Obsidian Vaults/Notes
Destination: /Users/joel/Code/digital-garden-python-export

Content Types and Mappings

Algorithm

1. Process each content type - iterate through configured vault paths
2. Check privacy rules for each markdown file:
   • Default: public, except for clippings/ai chats and spaces directories
   • garden_private: in frontmatter → exclude from export
   • garden_public: in frontmatter → include in export (overrides directory default)
3. Process assets - find image references in content:
   • Obsidian-style: <img class="" src="/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/8UsJNwl0JNE30EmncpA2bw/assets/image.jpg/public" alt="">
   • Standard markdown: <img class="" src="/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/8UsJNwl0JNE30EmncpA2bw/assets/image.jpg/public" alt="alt">
   • Copy referenced assets from vault's assets/ folder to export's assets/ folder
4. Transform image syntax - convert to Eleventy shortcode format:
   • <img class="" src="/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/8UsJNwl0JNE30EmncpA2bw/assets/image.jpg/public" alt=""> → <img class="" src="/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/8UsJNwl0JNE30EmncpA2bw/assets/image.jpg/public" alt="">
5. Flatten structure - files are exported using just their filename (no subdirectory hierarchy preserved)
6. Sync changes - track new, modified, and deleted files; only write changed content
7. Output summary - report counts of new, modified, deleted files and copied assets

Privacy Logic

The get_directory_public_default() function determines default visibility:

• clippings/ai chats → private by default
• spaces → private by default
• All other directories → public by default

Frontmatter properties override the default.