HelloGitHub Monthly Publication Schedule: How the 28th Release Date Works

The HelloGitHub monthly publication schedule is fixed to the 28th of each month by explicit maintainer policy documented in the README, supported by an automation bot that looks back one day to collect the prepared issue content.

The 521xueweihan/HelloGitHub repository maintains a strict monthly publication schedule that releases new content on the 28th of every month. This predictable cadence is not arbitrary but defined by human-readable documentation and reinforced by targeted automation scripts that prepare the newsletter content.

The 28th Release Policy in Documentation

According to the repository's README.md, the project maintains a fixed release cadence where a new issue is released every 28th of the month in a monthly-magazine format. This declarative statement establishes the schedule as a design decision rather than a calculated or dynamic value.

The Automation Behind the 28th Schedule

While the date is manually defined, the execution relies on script/github_bot/github_bot.py (lines 48-111). This automation script implements a one-day lookback window controlled by the constant DAY = 1. When the maintainer executes the script on the 28th, it queries GitHub for issues created within the past 24 hours—specifically capturing the content prepared on the 27th for that month's edition.

The script uses Python's datetime module to filter issues based on creation timestamps:

# script/github_bot/github_bot.py (excerpt around lines 48-111)

DAY = 1                                   # look back one day

create_time = datetime.datetime.strptime(
    data['created_at'], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ") + datetime.timedelta(hours=8)

# Keep only issues created within the last DAY days

date_condition = create_time >= (
    datetime.datetime.now() - datetime.timedelta(days=DAY))

This logic ensures that only the most recently created issue—prepared specifically for the monthly release—is pulled for publication.

Manual Trigger Workflow

The publication process requires manual execution on the designated date. The maintainer runs the bot script on the 28th to trigger the content aggregation:

# On the 28th of the month

python script/github_bot/github_bot.py   # fetches the latest issue and publishes it

Running this command on October 28, 2025, for example, captures the issue created on October 27, 2025, which contains the curated content for that month's HelloGitHub edition.

Key Files Defining the Schedule

Three critical files work together to enforce the 28th publication schedule:

• README.md – Declares the official publishing cadence ("每月28号") and establishes the 28th as the fixed release date.
• script/github_bot/github_bot.py – Implements the DAY = 1 lookback logic that powers the automated content retrieval when executed on the 28th.
• content/HelloGitHubXX.md (e.g., HelloGitHub99.md) – Stores the generated markdown for each monthly issue, created around the 28th of each month.

Summary

• The HelloGitHub monthly publication schedule is explicitly set to the 28th of each month by maintainer policy documented in README.md.
• An automation bot in script/github_bot/github_bot.py supports this schedule by looking back exactly one day (DAY = 1) to fetch the prepared issue content.
• The workflow combines human decision with technical execution: the maintainer chooses the 28th, and the Python script ensures the correct content is pulled when run on that date.
• Content files in content/HelloGitHubXX.md store the final output generated through this predictable monthly process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the HelloGitHub publication date set to the 28th instead of month-end?

The 28th was selected as a fixed monthly publication date to maintain consistency and avoid the variability of month-end dates (which range from the 28th to 31st). According to the repository's README.md, this creates a reliable "monthly-magazine" format that readers can anticipate regardless of month length.

How does the automation script know which content to publish on the 28th?

The github_bot.py script uses the constant DAY = 1 to filter GitHub issues created within the last 24 hours. When executed on the 28th, it automatically captures the issue created on the 27th, which the maintainer has prepared as that month's curated content. The script checks the created_at timestamp against a datetime.timedelta(days=DAY) window to ensure only the latest issue is selected.

Can the publication schedule be changed to a different date?

Yes, but it requires two modifications: updating the declared policy in README.md to reflect the new date, and adjusting the manual execution workflow or the DAY constant logic in script/github_bot/github_bot.py to ensure the bot fetches content from the correct preparation day relative to the new publication date.

What happens if the maintainer misses the 28th execution?

The DAY = 1 lookback window means the script is designed to run on the publication day to catch the previous day's content. If execution is delayed, the script would need manual adjustment of the DAY value or date parameters to retrieve the correct issue, as the fixed one-day window would otherwise exclude the intended monthly content.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}