Backlinks System

The backlinks system is a component of figpack that helps track and manage references to figpack figures across public GitHub repositories. This system ensures that figures being actively used in documentation remain accessible.

Overview

The backlinks system consists of two main components:

figpack-url-refs: A repository that maintains a daily-updated index of figpack figure URLs used across public GitHub repositories
Bulk Renewal Process: An administrative function that prevents referenced figures from expiring

figpack-url-refs Repository

The figpack-url-refs repository runs a daily GitHub Actions workflow to:

Search public GitHub repositories for Markdown files containing figpack URLs (https://figures.figpack.org/)
Clone repositories and scan their Markdown files for figpack references
Generate a JSON file containing all found references
Deploy the results to GitHub Pages

The data is accessible at

https://magland.github.io/figpack-url-refs/figpack-url-refs.json

Example JSON structure:

[
  {
    "repo": "owner/name",
    "file": "relative/path/to/file.md",
    "url": "https://figures.figpack.org/..."
  }
]

Bulk Renewal Process

To ensure figures referenced in public repositories remain accessible, the system includes a bulk renewal mechanism:

The figpack-manage administrative interface includes a “Renew Bulk” button that:
- Fetches the latest list of referenced figures from figpack-url-refs
- For each referenced figure, extends its expiration date to at least 7 days in the future
- Updates the figure’s metadata both in the database and in its figpack.json file
The renewal process:
- Skips pinned figures (as they don’t expire)
- Skips ephemeral figures
- Only updates figures with expiration dates less than 7 days away
- Maintains a count of renewed figures and any errors encountered
This process can be triggered daily by an administrator on the admin page of https://manage.figpack.org to ensure no referenced figures expire