High Altitude Receiving Center

An archive of contact with the Confederation

This repo constitutes a Jekyll static site generator for the High Altitude Receiving Center (HARC) website. Theme converted from the WordPress "Amalie Lite" theme. Includes github workflows that automatically transcribe mp3s.

Getting started

The best way to start is to install git on your machine, designate a directory where this code lives, and clone the repository (git clone https://github.com/oswg/harc.git or use the Github CLI). Go into that directory, install Ruby and Bundler, and then bundle install and bundle exec jekyll serve. If everything goes right, you be able to navigate in your browser to http://localhost:4000 and see a usuable HARC site, right on your machine. Any changes you make to the content or code will be reflected on that site, so it's a good way to double check your submissions.

Audio setup (required for contributors adding MP3s)

MP3s live in assets/audio/ and are versioned with Git LFS (pointers in git; blobs on Forgejo). The site serves them same-origin at /assets/audio/… after Forgejo Actions deploys.

1. Install Git LFS and run git lfs install
2. Clone from Forgejo: git clone https://git.har.center/CoSM/harc.git (LFS objects pull from there)
3. Add new MP3s under assets/audio/ matching the post basename (see below), then git add / commit / push — LFS uploads the binary automatically

Do not push LFS objects to GitHub unless you have a GitHub LFS data pack; use the Forgejo remote as the source of truth for audio.

Post and audio filename structure

In order for the site to work with new session posts, they have to be named in a certain pattern, given an extension (if you use Markdown, .md is the extension), and placed in _posts/. Notice that underscores separate descriptive "slugs" or short indicators, which must be in this order:

2025-04-05_circle-a_event-x_001

In the above example here 2025-04-05 is the date (April 5, 2025), circle-a would refer to circle it maps to in category_descriptions.yml, same with event-x and 001 is the session number. This base filename would have a .md extension in _posts and a .mp3 extension under assets/audio.

Post front matter

Field	Description
title	Post title
date	Session/post date
circle	Circle name
event	Event name
session	Session number
categories	e.g. Transcripts, Training Session
tags	Optional tags

Posts in the Training Session category get the training label and a caveat added once rendered. They are excluded from the index feed, but available by going to any category page.

More on how to contribute

Direct commits to main are disabled; that's the branch we use for publishing the site. All changes must go through a pull request, which requires you to:

1. Create your own branch for the new content
2. Add the MP3 to assets/audio/ (Git LFS) and push to Forgejo: git push git.har.center <branch name>
3. Give it about 5 minutes or so, then git pull should pull down a provisional post matching the filename structure of your mp3 but with the .md extension under _posts/ (if the transcribe workflow is enabled).
4. Flesh out the front matter data at the top of the post and submit a pull request. Other members of HARC will review and when approved, your post will be merged into main and published.

You will need to talk to jeremy6d if you want to contribute.

Adding a new session

1. Create a branch: git checkout -b add-session-YYYY-MM-DD_event_NNN
2. Add the MP3 to assets/audio/ (see filename structure above; tracked via Git LFS).
3. Commit and push the branch to Forgejo
4. After about five minutes or so, run git pull to view the transcribed post under _posts/ (if the transcribe workflow ran).
5. Edit the post, fleshing out the front matter data at the top of the post, checking that the transcription is accurate, adding instrument change notes, etc.
6. Commit and push to your branch, and then submit a pull request on the branch.
7. Other members of HARC will review and when approved, your post will be merged into main and published.
8. Checkout main again and clean up the old branch no longer needed.

More details about the transcription workflow

MP3s are versioned in Git LFS under assets/audio/ and served from https://har.center/assets/audio/. The transcribe workflow runs when changes are pushed to a branch other than main. It finds orphan MP3s in assets/audio/ (no matching post), transcribes each, and creates a new post with dummy frontmatter and the transcript in the body. Make sure you git pull after you give it a chance to create the stub post. You then need to edit the transcript, adding introduction, group question, instrument change notes, footnotes, paragraphs, and correcting any Whisper errors.

GitLab server bootstrap

For a standalone Ubuntu 24.04 LTS VPS (GitLab EE, Pages, Runner, hardened SSH on port 24197). Run on the server via SSH, not locally:

ssh root@your-server
export ADMIN_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY="$(cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub)"
export ADMIN_USER=deploy
export GITLAB_EXTERNAL_URL=https://git.example.com
export GITLAB_PAGES_URL=https://pages.example.io
sudo -E ./scripts/setup_gitlab_server.sh

See the script header in scripts/setup_gitlab_server.sh for optional variables (ADMIN_IP, Let's Encrypt, root password).

Usage rights and copyright

This entire repository and any forks are copyrighted work. You may share freely as long as you attribute the work to HARC or the instruments involved. Feel free to fork, but keep in mind that it won't be published until it's approved by HARC staff.

Reach out if you need any assistance, if you have a circle practicing Carla Rueckert's protocols and want to get involved, or if you have a background in this tradition and would like to review new submissions.

Go forth, therefore, rejoicing merrily in the power and the peace of the One Infinite Creator.