Serverless Blog CMS

A fully serverless blog content management system built with AWS Lambda, S3, API Gateway, and CloudFront. Write blog posts in Markdown, store them in S3, and serve them globally through a fast, scalable, and cost-effective serverless architecture.

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│  CloudFront │────│ API Gateway │────│   Lambda    │────│     S3      │
│    (CDN)    │    │   (Routes)  │    │ (Processor) │    │  (Storage)  │
└─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘    └─────────────┘

Components

Amazon S3: Stores Markdown blog posts and static assets
AWS Lambda: Processes requests and renders Markdown to HTML
API Gateway: RESTful API routing and HTTP handling
CloudFront: Global content delivery and caching (optional)

🚀 Features

✅ Markdown Support: Write posts in Markdown with YAML frontmatter
✅ Serverless Architecture: Pay only for what you use
✅ Auto-scaling: Handles traffic spikes automatically
✅ Global Performance: Fast loading worldwide
✅ SEO Friendly: Proper HTML rendering with metadata
✅ Cost Effective: Minimal infrastructure costs
✅ Easy Deployment: Infrastructure as Code

📁 Project Structure

serverless-blog-cms/
├── lambda/
│   ├── render-post/
│   │   ├── index.js              # Individual post renderer
│   │   ├── package.json          # Dependencies (marked)
│   │   └── node_modules/
│   ├── list-posts/
│   │   ├── index.js              # Posts list generator
│   │   ├── package.json          # No external dependencies
│   │   └── node_modules/
│   ├── render-post.zip           # Deployment package
│   └── list-posts.zip            # Deployment package
├── posts/
│   ├── welcome-to-my-serverless-blog.md
│   └── building-serverless-applications.md
├── infrastructure/
│   └── api-gateway.yaml          # CloudFormation template
├── scripts/
│   ├── deploy.sh                 # Deployment script
│   └── create-post.sh            # New post creation script
├── README.md
├── .gitignore
└── package.json

🛠️ Prerequisites

AWS CLI configured with appropriate permissions
Node.js 18+ installed
AWS Account with the following services enabled:
- Lambda
- S3
- API Gateway
- IAM
- CloudFormation (optional)
- CloudFront (optional)

Required AWS Permissions

Your AWS user/role needs these permissions:

lambda:*
s3:*
apigateway:*
iam:CreateRole, iam:AttachRolePolicy, iam:PutRolePolicy
cloudformation:* (if using CloudFormation)

📦 Installation & Setup

1. Clone and Setup

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd serverless-blog-cms

# Install dependencies for Lambda functions
cd lambda/render-post
npm install
cd ../list-posts
npm install
cd ../..

2. Create S3 Bucket

# Replace with your unique bucket name
export BLOG_BUCKET="my-blog-content-$(date +%s)"
aws s3 mb s3://$BLOG_BUCKET

echo "Created bucket: $BLOG_BUCKET"
echo "BLOG_BUCKET=$BLOG_BUCKET" > .env

3. Create Lambda Functions

# Create deployment packages
cd lambda/render-post
zip -r ../render-post.zip .
cd ../list-posts
zip -r ../list-posts.zip .
cd ../..

# Create IAM role for Lambda
aws iam create-role --role-name lambda-blog-role --assume-role-policy-document '{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "Service": "lambda.amazonaws.com"
      },
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
    }
  ]
}'

# Attach basic execution policy
aws iam attach-role-policy --role-name lambda-blog-role \
  --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole

# Create S3 access policy
aws iam put-role-policy --role-name lambda-blog-role --policy-name S3Access --policy-document '{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:ListBucket"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:s3:::'$BLOG_BUCKET'",
        "arn:aws:s3:::'$BLOG_BUCKET'/*"
      ]
    }
  ]
}'

# Get your AWS account ID
ACCOUNT_ID=$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)

# Deploy Lambda functions
aws lambda create-function \
  --function-name blog-render-post \
  --runtime nodejs18.x \
  --role arn:aws:iam::$ACCOUNT_ID:role/lambda-blog-role \
  --handler index.handler \
  --zip-file fileb://lambda/render-post.zip \
  --environment Variables="{BLOG_BUCKET=$BLOG_BUCKET}"

aws lambda create-function \
  --function-name blog-list-posts \
  --runtime nodejs18.x \
  --role arn:aws:iam::$ACCOUNT_ID:role/lambda-blog-role \
  --handler index.handler \
  --zip-file fileb://lambda/list-posts.zip \
  --environment Variables="{BLOG_BUCKET=$BLOG_BUCKET}"

4. Create API Gateway

# Create REST API
aws apigateway create-rest-api --name serverless-blog-api

# Get API ID
API_ID=$(aws apigateway get-rest-apis --query 'items[?name==`serverless-blog-api`].id' --output text)
ROOT_ID=$(aws apigateway get-resources --rest-api-id $API_ID --query 'items[?path==`/`].id' --output text)

# Create resources
aws apigateway create-resource --rest-api-id $API_ID --parent-id $ROOT_ID --path-part posts
aws apigateway create-resource --rest-api-id $API_ID --parent-id $ROOT_ID --path-part post

POSTS_ID=$(aws apigateway get-resources --rest-api-id $API_ID --query 'items[?pathPart==`posts`].id' --output text)
POST_ID=$(aws apigateway get-resources --rest-api-id $API_ID --query 'items[?pathPart==`post`].id' --output text)

aws apigateway create-resource --rest-api-id $API_ID --parent-id $POST_ID --path-part '{slug}'
SLUG_ID=$(aws apigateway get-resources --rest-api-id $API_ID --query 'items[?pathPart==`{slug}`].id' --output text)

# Get region
REGION=$(aws configure get region)

# Create methods and integrations
aws apigateway put-method --rest-api-id $API_ID --resource-id $POSTS_ID --http-method GET --authorization-type NONE
aws apigateway put-integration --rest-api-id $API_ID --resource-id $POSTS_ID --http-method GET --type AWS_PROXY --integration-http-method POST --uri "arn:aws:apigateway:$REGION:lambda:path/2015-03-31/functions/arn:aws:lambda:$REGION:$ACCOUNT_ID:function:blog-list-posts/invocations"

aws apigateway put-method --rest-api-id $API_ID --resource-id $SLUG_ID --http-method GET --authorization-type NONE
aws apigateway put-integration --rest-api-id $API_ID --resource-id $SLUG_ID --http-method GET --type AWS_PROXY --integration-http-method POST --uri "arn:aws:apigateway:$REGION:lambda:path/2015-03-31/functions/arn:aws:lambda:$REGION:$ACCOUNT_ID:function:blog-render-post/invocations"

# Grant permissions
aws lambda add-permission --function-name blog-list-posts --statement-id api-gateway-invoke-list --action lambda:InvokeFunction --principal apigateway.amazonaws.com --source-arn "arn:aws:execute-api:$REGION:$ACCOUNT_ID:$API_ID/*/*"
aws lambda add-permission --function-name blog-render-post --statement-id api-gateway-invoke-render --action lambda:InvokeFunction --principal apigateway.amazonaws.com --source-arn "arn:aws:execute-api:$REGION:$ACCOUNT_ID:$API_ID/*/*"

# Deploy API
aws apigateway create-deployment --rest-api-id $API_ID --stage-name prod

echo "🎉 Blog deployed successfully!"
echo "API URL: https://$API_ID.execute-api.$REGION.amazonaws.com/prod"
echo "Posts: https://$API_ID.execute-api.$REGION.amazonaws.com/prod/posts"

✍️ Writing Blog Posts

Blog Post Format

Create Markdown files with YAML frontmatter:

---
title: "Your Post Title"
date: "2025-07-25"
author: "Your Name"
tags: ["tag1", "tag2", "tag3"]
excerpt: "A brief description of your post for the posts list page."
---

# Your Post Title

Your content goes here using **Markdown** formatting.

## Subheading

- Bullet points
- Are supported

```javascript
// Code blocks work too
console.log("Hello, World!");

Links, images, and all standard Markdown features are supported.


### Adding New Posts

1. **Create the Markdown file** in the `posts/` directory
2. **Upload to S3**:
   ```bash
   aws s3 cp posts/your-new-post.md s3://$BLOG_BUCKET/posts/

Access via URL: https://your-api-id.execute-api.region.amazonaws.com/prod/post/your-new-post

Supported Frontmatter Fields

title (required): Post title
date (required): Publication date (YYYY-MM-DD)
author (optional): Author name
tags (optional): Array of tags
excerpt (optional): Short description for post lists

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables

Lambda functions use these environment variables:

BLOG_BUCKET: S3 bucket name containing blog posts

Customization

Styling

Edit the CSS in lambda/render-post/index.js and lambda/list-posts/index.js in the generateHTML functions.

Markdown Processing

The project uses the marked library. You can customize parsing options in lambda/render-post/index.js.

🚀 Deployment

Manual Deployment

Follow the installation steps above.

Automated Deployment (Coming Soon)

./scripts/deploy.sh

CI/CD with GitHub Actions (Coming Soon)

See .github/workflows/deploy.yml for automated deployments.

📊 Monitoring & Logging

CloudWatch Logs

Function logs: /aws/lambda/blog-render-post and /aws/lambda/blog-list-posts
API Gateway logs: Enable in API Gateway console

Metrics to Monitor

Lambda invocations and duration
API Gateway 4xx/5xx errors
S3 GET requests
CloudFront cache hit ratio (if using CDN)

Cost Optimization

Enable CloudFront caching to reduce Lambda invocations
Monitor S3 storage costs
Use S3 Intelligent Tiering for older posts

🧪 Testing

Local Testing

# Test Lambda functions locally (requires SAM CLI)
sam local invoke blog-render-post -e test-events/render-post.json
sam local invoke blog-list-posts -e test-events/list-posts.json

Integration Testing

# Test live endpoints
curl https://your-api-id.execute-api.region.amazonaws.com/prod/posts
curl https://your-api-id.execute-api.region.amazonaws.com/prod/post/your-post-slug

🔒 Security

Current Security Measures

Lambda functions run with minimal IAM permissions
S3 bucket is private (no public read access)
API Gateway handles HTTPS termination

Security Best Practices

Enable API Gateway throttling
Add WAF protection
Implement API keys for admin functions (future)
Enable CloudTrail logging
Use VPC for Lambda functions (if needed)

🚧 Roadmap

Phase 1 (Current)

Basic Markdown rendering
Post listing
Serverless architecture
S3 storage

Phase 2 (Next)

CloudFront CDN integration
RSS feed generation
Sitemap generation
Admin interface for post management

Phase 3 (Future)

💰 Cost Estimation

Monthly costs for a small blog (1000 page views):

Lambda: ~$0.20 (2M requests free tier)
API Gateway: ~$3.50 (1M requests free tier first year)
S3: ~$0.02 (first 5GB free)
CloudFront: ~$0.85 (first 1TB free first year)
Total: ~$4.60/month

At scale (100K page views/month):

Approximately $15-25/month with proper caching

🤝 Contributing

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

Follow JavaScript ES6+ standards
Add error handling for all AWS service calls
Include JSDoc comments for functions
Test changes with real AWS resources

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🆘 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Lambda Function Not Found

# Check if functions exist
aws lambda list-functions --query 'Functions[].FunctionName'

# Redeploy if missing
aws lambda create-function [... parameters ...]

S3 Access Denied

# Check bucket exists and permissions
aws s3 ls s3://$BLOG_BUCKET
aws iam get-role-policy --role-name lambda-blog-role --policy-name S3Access

API Gateway 500 Errors

# Check CloudWatch logs
aws logs describe-log-groups --log-group-name-prefix "/aws/lambda/blog"
aws logs tail /aws/lambda/blog-render-post --follow

Posts Not Displaying

Verify posts are uploaded to S3: aws s3 ls s3://$BLOG_BUCKET/posts/
Check frontmatter formatting (YAML syntax)
Ensure filename matches URL slug

Getting Help

Check AWS Lambda documentation
Review API Gateway documentation
Open an issue in this repository
Check CloudWatch logs for detailed error messages

📚 Additional Resources

AWS Serverless Application Lens
Markdown Syntax Guide
AWS CLI Reference
Serverless Framework (alternative deployment method)

Built with ❤️ using AWS Serverless Technologies

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 1 Commit
lambda		lambda
posts		posts
.getignore		.getignore
README.md		README.md
api-gateway.yaml		api-gateway.yaml
first-post.md		first-post.md

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Serverless Blog CMS

🏗️ Architecture

Components

🚀 Features

📁 Project Structure

🛠️ Prerequisites

Required AWS Permissions

📦 Installation & Setup

1. Clone and Setup

2. Create S3 Bucket

3. Create Lambda Functions

4. Create API Gateway

✍️ Writing Blog Posts

Blog Post Format

Supported Frontmatter Fields

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables

Customization

Styling

Markdown Processing

🚀 Deployment

Manual Deployment

Automated Deployment (Coming Soon)

CI/CD with GitHub Actions (Coming Soon)

📊 Monitoring & Logging

CloudWatch Logs

Metrics to Monitor

Cost Optimization

🧪 Testing

Local Testing

Integration Testing

🔒 Security

Current Security Measures

Security Best Practices

🚧 Roadmap

Phase 1 (Current)

Phase 2 (Next)

Phase 3 (Future)

💰 Cost Estimation

Monthly costs for a small blog (1000 page views):

At scale (100K page views/month):

🤝 Contributing

Development Guidelines

📄 License

🆘 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Lambda Function Not Found

S3 Access Denied

API Gateway 500 Errors

Posts Not Displaying

Getting Help

📚 Additional Resources

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