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Get Started in Minutes

This guide will walk you through setting up your own Historia Diaria instance - an automated daily story generator powered by AI and GitHub Actions.
Time to complete: ~10 minutes
Prerequisites: A GitHub account (free) and an OpenRouter API key (free tier available)

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Setup Overview

1

Fork the Repository

  1. Go to the Historia Diaria repository
  2. Click the Fork button in the top-right corner
  3. Wait for GitHub to create your own copy of the repository
Forking creates an independent copy of the project under your account. You’ll have full control to customize and run it.
2

Get Your OpenRouter API Key

Historia Diaria uses OpenRouter to access AI models. Here’s how to get your free API key:
  1. Visit OpenRouter.ai
  2. Sign up for a free account
  3. Navigate to your API Keys section
  4. Click Create Key and copy your API key
Keep your API key secure! Never commit it directly to your code. We’ll store it in GitHub Secrets in the next step.
The project uses the stepfun/step-3.5-flash:free model which is available on the free tier.
3

Configure GitHub Secrets

Store your API key securely in GitHub Secrets:
  1. In your forked repository, click Settings (top menu)
  2. In the left sidebar, expand Secrets and variables → click Actions
  3. Click New repository secret
  4. Enter the following:
    • Name: OPENROUTER_API_KEY
    • Secret: Paste your API key from step 2
  5. Click Add secret
# How the secret is used in the workflow
- name: 4. Ejecutar tu script
  env:
    OPENROUTER_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENROUTER_API_KEY }}
  run: python generar_historia.py
GitHub Secrets are encrypted and only exposed to workflows. They’re never visible in logs or to other users.
4

Enable GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions may be disabled by default on forked repositories:
  1. Go to the Actions tab in your repository
  2. If you see a message about workflows being disabled, click I understand my workflows, go ahead and enable them
  3. You should now see the “Actualizar Historia Diaria” workflow
This step is crucial - without enabling Actions, the automated workflow won’t run!
5

Enable GitHub Pages

Configure GitHub Pages to publish your stories:
  1. Go to Settings → Pages (in the left sidebar)
  2. Under Source, select Deploy from a branch
  3. Under Branch, select main (or master) and / (root)
  4. Click Save
Your site will be published at: https://YOUR_USERNAME.github.io/historia-diaria/
It may take a few minutes for your site to become available after the first deployment.
6

Test the Workflow

Trigger your first story generation manually:
  1. Go to the Actions tab
  2. Click on Actualizar Historia Diaria workflow (left sidebar)
  3. Click the Run workflow button (right side)
  4. Click the green Run workflow button in the dropdown
  5. Wait ~30-60 seconds for the workflow to complete
name: Actualizar Historia Diaria

on:
  schedule:
    # Runs daily at 13:00 UTC (8:00 AM Lima time)
    - cron: '0 13 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch: # Allows manual triggering
If the workflow succeeds, you’ll see:
  • A green checkmark ✓
  • New files committed to your repository: index.html, historia-YYYY-MM-DD.html, updated historial.json
If the workflow fails, check:
  • Is your API key correctly set in Secrets?
  • Did you enable write permissions for Actions? (Settings → Actions → General → Workflow permissions → Read and write permissions)
7

View Your Generated Story

Once the workflow completes and GitHub Pages deploys:
  1. Visit https://YOUR_USERNAME.github.io/historia-diaria/
  2. You should see your first AI-generated story!
  3. Click the ☰ menu icon to see the sidebar navigation
  4. Past stories will appear in the history organized by month
GitHub Pages deployment can take 2-5 minutes after the workflow completes. Be patient on your first run!

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Customize Your Instance

Now that your instance is running, here are some ways to customize it:
Edit the prompt in generar_historia.py to generate different types of stories:
generar_historia.py
prompt = """
Escribe una historia corta de ciencia ficción o fantasía.
Debes devolver tu respuesta EXACTAMENTE en este formato:
<TITULO>Aquí va el título</TITULO>
<HISTORIA>Aquí va la historia en unos dos o tres párrafos.</HISTORIA>
<IMAGEN>una_sola_palabra_clave_en_ingles</IMAGEN>
"""
Ideas to try:
  • Change the genre: “mystery”, “horror”, “romance”, “humor”
  • Add style requirements: “in the style of Edgar Allan Poe”
  • Set themes: “stories about time travel”, “underwater adventures”
  • Adjust length: “one paragraph” or “five paragraphs”
Don’t change the XML-like format tags (<TITULO>, <HISTORIA>, <IMAGEN>). The script uses regex to parse these specific tags.
Modify when stories are generated by editing the cron schedule in .github/workflows/actualizar.yml:
actualizar.yml
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 13 * * *'  # 13:00 UTC = 8:00 AM Lima
Cron syntax: minute hour day month weekdayExamples:
  • '0 0 * * *' - Midnight UTC every day
  • '0 12 * * *' - Noon UTC every day
  • '0 9 * * 1' - 9:00 AM UTC every Monday
  • '0 */6 * * *' - Every 6 hours
GitHub Actions uses UTC timezone. Convert your local time to UTC when setting the schedule.
Switch to a different AI model by editing the model parameter in generar_historia.py:
generar_historia.py
response = requests.post(
    url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}", "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    data=json.dumps({
        "model": "stepfun/step-3.5-flash:free",  # Change this line
        "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
    })
)
Free models on OpenRouter:
  • google/gemini-2.0-flash-exp:free - Google’s Gemini Flash
  • meta-llama/llama-3.1-8b-instruct:free - Llama 3.1
  • microsoft/phi-3-mini-128k-instruct:free - Microsoft Phi-3
Check OpenRouter Models for the full list and pricing.
Edit plantilla.html to change the look and feel of your stories:
plantilla.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="es">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Historia Diaria Automatizada</title>
    <style>
        /* Modify CSS here */
        body {
            font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana, sans-serif;
            background-color: #f0f2f5;
            /* Add your styles */
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Modify HTML structure here -->
    <div class="container">
        <h1>{{TITULO}}</h1>
        <img src="{{IMAGEN_URL}}" alt="Imagen del día" class="imagen-dia">
        <div class="historia-texto">
            <p>{{HISTORIA}}</p>
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>
Template variables:
  • {{TITULO}} - Story title
  • {{HISTORIA}} - Story content
  • {{IMAGEN_URL}} - Random image URL
  • {{MENU}} - Sidebar navigation HTML
Keep the {{VARIABLE}} placeholders intact - the script replaces these with actual content.
The script uses Picsum Photos for random images. Edit generar_historia.py to customize:
generar_historia.py
import uuid

# Current implementation - random seed for consistent daily image
codigo_unico = uuid.uuid4().hex
url_imagen = f"https://picsum.photos/seed/{codigo_unico}/600/350"
Alternatives:
# Use a specific photo ID
url_imagen = "https://picsum.photos/id/237/600/350"

# Grayscale image
url_imagen = f"https://picsum.photos/seed/{codigo_unico}/600/350?grayscale"

# Blur effect
url_imagen = f"https://picsum.photos/seed/{codigo_unico}/600/350?blur=2"

# Different dimensions
url_imagen = f"https://picsum.photos/seed/{codigo_unico}/800/400"
Or integrate with other image services like Unsplash API.

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Understanding the Generated Files

After each run, the workflow creates/updates these files: 
<!-- Always contains the LATEST story -->
<!-- This is what visitors see at your GitHub Pages URL -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="es">
  <!-- Full story with navigation -->
</html>

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Troubleshooting

Cause: GitHub Actions doesn’t have write permissions.Solution:
  1. Go to Settings → Actions → General
  2. Scroll to Workflow permissions
  3. Select Read and write permissions
  4. Click Save
Cause: API key is missing or invalid.Solution:
  1. Verify your OpenRouter API key is valid
  2. Check the secret name is exactly OPENROUTER_API_KEY
  3. Re-add the secret in Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
  4. Run the workflow again
You can also check the workflow logs for the specific error from the API.
Cause: Pages not enabled or files not in correct location.Solution:
  1. Verify GitHub Pages is enabled (Settings → Pages)
  2. Confirm source is set to main branch and / (root)
  3. Wait 2-5 minutes after the first deployment
  4. Check that index.html exists in your repository root
  5. Try accessing https://YOUR_USERNAME.github.io/historia-diaria/index.html directly
Cause: GitHub disables scheduled workflows on inactive forks.Solution:
  1. Ensure you’ve made at least one commit to your fork
  2. GitHub may disable schedules after 60 days of repository inactivity
  3. Manual workflow runs keep the repository “active”
  4. You can trigger manually anytime using workflow_dispatch
Cause: Multiple workflow runs on the same day.Solution: This is expected behavior! The script updates the entry for today if it already exists:
generar_historia.py
# Smart update logic
historia_actualizada = False
for item in historial[llave_mes]:
    if item['archivo'] == nombre_archivo_hoy:
        item['titulo'] = nuevo_titulo  # Updates instead of duplicating
        historia_actualizada = True
        break

if not historia_actualizada:
    historial[llave_mes].insert(0, {"titulo": nuevo_titulo, "archivo": nombre_archivo_hoy})
The system prevents duplicate entries by checking if a file for today already exists.

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Next Steps

Customize Your Project

Learn how to customize prompts, templates, and styling

Understanding the Code

Deep dive into the script structure and components

GitHub Actions Workflow

Optimize your GitHub Actions workflow configuration

API Setup Guide

Explore OpenRouter API configuration and model options

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Need Help?

If you run into issues not covered in this guide, check the workflow logs in the Actions tab. They provide detailed error messages and execution traces.
Congratulations! You now have a fully automated daily story generator. Your instance will create new stories every day without any manual intervention. Enjoy your creative automation! 🎉

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