substack-formatter

✓Verified·Scanned 2/18/2026

Formats plain text into Substack-ready HTML and provides a clipboard helper. The skill invokes local tools (xclip, pandoc) via subprocess.run (e.g., cat "<tmp>" | xclip -selection clipboard -t text/html) to copy text/html to the clipboard; no network endpoints or secret-access instructions are present.

from clawhub.ai·vd5d1a4f·37.6 KB·0 installs
Scanned from 1.0.1 at d5d1a4f · Transparency log ↗
$ vett add clawhub.ai/maddiedreese/substack-formatter

Substack Article Formatter

Transform plain text into professional Substack format. Ensures proper HTML formatting so bold/italic/headers work correctly when pasted into Substack editor.

✨ Key Features

  • Clean formatting for better readability
  • Proper HTML output that Substack editor recognizes
  • Copy-paste ready with formatting preserved
  • Minimal or standard formatting options

🚀 Quick Start

# Basic formatting
python3 formatter.py "Your content here"

# With specific structure  
python3 formatter.py "Your content here" micro-story

# Format and copy to clipboard (Linux)
python3 formatter.py "Your content here" | python3 copy_to_substack.py

📋 Copy-Paste Process

  1. Format your content using the formatter
  2. Copy as HTML using the copy script
  3. Paste into Substack - formatting preserved automatically!

Linux/WSL:

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install pandoc xclip  # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo pacman -S pandoc xclip    # Arch

# Format and copy
python3 formatter.py "Your text" > output.html
python3 copy_to_substack.py "$(cat output.html)"

macOS:

brew install pandoc
# Use pbcopy instead of xclip (modify copy script as needed)

🎯 Formatting Options

Standard Formatting

Clean paragraph structure with proper HTML tags

Minimal Formatting

Pure spacing improvements with exact content preservation

🛠 Files

  • formatter.py - Main formatting engine
  • copy_to_substack.py - HTML clipboard utility
  • test_formatter.py - Test all formats
  • examples.md - Before/after examples
  • SKILL.md - Complete documentation

🧪 Testing

# Test all formatting types
python3 test_formatter.py

# Test specific format
python3 formatter.py "Your content" micro-story

🔧 Integration with Clawdbot

Just tell Clawdbot:

"Format this for Substack: [your content]"

Or be specific:

"Format this for Substack as a micro-story: [your content]"

The skill handles:

  • Viral pattern application
  • HTML conversion
  • Copy instructions
  • Formatting verification

⚠️ Technical Notes

Why HTML conversion is needed: Substack editor treats raw markdown as plain text. The solution is converting to HTML and copying as text/html format so Substack recognizes the formatting.

Dependencies:

  • pandoc - Markdown to HTML conversion
  • xclip (Linux) - Clipboard management with MIME types
  • pbcopy (macOS) - Alternative clipboard tool

🎯 Philosophy

Format for readability, preserve your voice. This tool improves visual presentation while keeping your message and personality intact.