🦙🚨 Bug - TinaCMS Dependency - Images uploaded via TinaCMS editor are not synced to source control

[KostaMadorsky]

Requested by: @KostaMadorsky via YakShaver.ai 🦬
cc: @KostaMadorsky, @KahaMason, @Marxoz, @PothieuG, @Freego1783, @jakebayliss, @JackDevAU, @brookjeynes-ssw , @wicksipedia

Hi Team!

  🟥  Watch the video (6 min 35 sec)

  Url from screen share: SSWConsulting/SSW.Rules.Content#1178

Pain

When editing Rules V3 (TinaCMS) content using the TinaCMS editor, images uploaded via the Media Manager (drag & drop or upload) are stored only in TinaCloud and are not committed to the Git repository. Although the editor warns that a pull request is required, the image still appears selectable and can be inserted and saved. After refresh or deployment, the rule references an image that does not exist in source control, causing images to be missing locally and in non-production environments. Uploading images through a GitHub pull request works correctly, highlighting an inconsistency and risk of content/image loss when using the UI-only workflow.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Images uploaded via the TinaCMS editor are committed to the connected Git repository as part of a pull request
2. The editor prevents saving or inserting images that are not synced to source control
3. Media Manager only shows images that exist in source control or clearly indicates their sync status
4. After refresh, deployment, or environment switch, images referenced in rules continue to render correctly
5. Behavior is consistent between UI-only edits and pull-request-based workflows
6. No images remain stored only in TinaCloud without a corresponding Git commit

Reproduce Steps

1. Start editing a rule via Rules V3 (TinaCMS) editor and Save so it creates a pull request
2. Edit an image and open the Media Manager
3. Drag and drop or upload a new image via the editor UI
4. Dismiss the warning indicating a pull request is required
5. Insert the uploaded image into the rule and click Save
6. Refresh the page or check the GitHub repository
7. Observe that the rule references the image but the image file does not exist in the pull request

Screenshot

Figure: Image uploaded via editor exists only in TinaCloud and is missing from source control after refresh

[KostaMadorsky]

Existing data problem - Please also make sure to sync all the images that are only in TinaCloud in prod to GitHub.

[Aibono1225]

This one is related: tinacms/tinacms#6306

I believe this happens because we enabled the editorial workflow. In that setup, the image gets uploaded to TinaCloud but not to GitHub, since the media manager doesn’t support branching, as @kulesy mentioned in the comment

I tested uploading an image without the editorial workflow, and in that case the images do get pushed to GitHub (example commit: Aibono1225/tina-nextjs-starter@32ec779)

[KostaMadorsky]

@Aibono1225 @jakebayliss should we do something about it until the issue is properly resolved, e.g.

1. Block image uploads via Media Manager
2. Sync all the images that are not in GitHub
3. Write up a doc on how to upload images (via GitHub PR push) until the issue is resolved

[KostaMadorsky]

32 images are missing so far

public/uploads/rules/add-days-to-dates/rule.mdx /uploads/rules/add-days-to-dates/apple_date_good_example.png
public/uploads/rules/best-digital-signage/rule.mdx      /uploads/rules/best-digital-signage/screencloud-logo-black.jpg
public/uploads/rules/business-travel/rule.mdx   /uploads/rules/do-you-make-business-travel-easier/Business-travel-1.png
public/uploads/rules/business-travel/rule.mdx   /uploads/rules/do-you-make-business-travel-easier/Business-travel-2.png
public/uploads/rules/business-travel/rule.mdx   /uploads/rules/do-you-make-business-travel-easier/Business-travel-3.jpg
public/uploads/rules/consistent-ai-generated-characters/rule.mdx        /uploads/rules/consistent-ai-generated-characters%20/yak.png
public/uploads/rules/done-tasks-figma/rule.mdx  /uploads/rules/done-tasks-figma/figma_tasks_good_example.png
public/uploads/rules/done-video/rule.mdx        /uploadshttps://github.com/user-attachments/assets/204f8986-5146-4e0c-9c5f-34985728d03d
public/uploads/rules/easy-recording-space/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1686da19-626b-4840-988f-660113c4ac49
public/uploads/rules/easy-recording-space/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://github.com/user-attachments/assets/883aff45-3714-478d-9365-ba98aac57a06
public/uploads/rules/easy-recording-space/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9b7c9969-7082-4a25-87db-1c9c564b19a5
public/uploads/rules/finish-day-handover-next-team/rule.mdx     /uploads/rules/finish-day-handover-next-team/Daily-scrum-handover.png
public/uploads/rules/follow-scrum-enable-following-sun/rule.mdx /uploads/rules/follow-scrum-enable-following-sun/sprint-follow-sun.png
public/uploads/rules/generate-interfaces-for-your-dtos/rule.mdx /uploads/rules/generate-interfaces-for-your-dtos/northwind-tranders-client.png
public/uploads/rules/optimise-content-for-topical-authority/rule.mdx    /uploads/rules/optimise-content-for-topical-authority/ChatGPT%20Image%20Jan%2014,%202026,%2012_35_46%20PM.png
public/uploads/rules/post-using-social-media-management-tools/rule.mdx  /uploads/rules/post-using-social-media-management-tools/Automation-Hero_1__1_.png
public/uploads/rules/resolving-code-review-comments/rule.mdx    /uploads/rules/do-you-properly-resolve-code-review-comments/Screenshot%202026-01-22%20115911.png
public/uploads/rules/resolving-code-review-comments/rule.mdx    /uploads/rules/do-you-properly-resolve-code-review-comments/Screenshot%202026-01-22%20165155.png
public/uploads/rules/resolving-code-review-comments/rule.mdx    /uploads/rules/do-you-properly-resolve-code-review-comments/Screenshot%202026-01-22%20172623.png
public/uploads/rules/resolving-code-review-comments/rule.mdx    /uploads/rules/do-you-properly-resolve-code-review-comments/Screenshot%202026-01-22%20175826.png
public/uploads/rules/rule/rule.mdx      /uploads/rules/rule/image-file.jpg
public/uploads/rules/rule/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://images.unsplash.com/photo-1478998674531-cb7d22e769df?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1000&q=80
public/uploads/rules/rule/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://images.unsplash.com/photo-1491472253230-a044054ca35f?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1000&q=80
public/uploads/rules/rule/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://images.unsplash.com/photo-1513677785800-9df79ae4b10b?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1000&q=80
public/uploads/rules/rule/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://images.unsplash.com/photo-1528820454441-189cd70a6c3c?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=400&q=80
public/uploads/rules/rule/rule.mdx      /uploadshttps://images.unsplash.com/photo-1542014740373-51ad6425eb7c?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd9&auto=format&fit=crop&w=1000&q=80
public/uploads/rules/screencloud-channels-playlists/rule.mdx    /uploads/rules/screencloud-channels-playlists/screencloud-channel.png
public/uploads/rules/screencloud-channels-playlists/rule.mdx    /uploads/rules/screencloud-channels-playlists/screencloud-playlist.png
public/uploads/rules/use-mermaid-diagrams/rule.mdx      /uploads/rules/best-tools-technical-diagrams/image-embed-github-issue.png
public/uploads/rules/use-mermaid-diagrams/rule.mdx      /uploads/rules/best-tools-technical-diagrams/mermaid-embed-github-issue.png
public/uploads/rules/video-background/rule.mdx  /uploads/rules/video-background/ssw-teams-bg-good.jpg
public/uploads/rules/zz-files/rule.mdx  /uploadshttps://github.com/SSWConsulting/SSW.Rules.Content/assets/147477898/748b40ce-792b-4400-84ca-5c759aa72148

[KostaMadorsky]

Until it's properly working, I suggest we do:

1. Make Media Manager "read-only" and have some visible info saying why it's read-only and what is the right way to upload images for now
2. Add readme on how to properly upload images (via manual github push to PR) and notify people
3. Sync up the 32 missing images (I shared a script)
   --- At this point there should not be issues with missing images
4. (Stage 2) Fix it properly - images have to be pushed to github when they are uploaded into Media Manager and removed, when deleted.

[KostaMadorsky]

People can upload images via GitHub UI, so no need to pull the repo on local:

Figure: adding image Figure: removing image

[KostaMadorsky]

check-missing-image-embeds.mjs.txt
Script for finding missing images (Copilot generated)

1. Download
2. Remove .txt from the end
3. Quick look through the code (always do when downloading scripts from the internet 🙂)
4. in SSW.Rules.Content> node scripts/check-missing-image-embeds/check-missing-image-embeds.mjs

[KostaMadorsky]

I also suggest rendering the path to the folder of the rule somewhere around media manager explaining that people need to use Github for now:

https://github.com/SSWConsulting/SSW.Rules.Content/tree/tina/public/uploads/rules/migrate-from-edmx-to-ef-core/rule/public/uploads/rules/404-useful-error-page

https://github.com/SSWConsulting/SSW.Rules.Content/tree/{BranchName}/{PathToTheRuleFolder}

BranchName: tina/public/uploads/rules/migrate-from-edmx-to-ef-core/rule
PathToTheRuleFolder: public/uploads/rules/404-useful-error-page

That way, it's a simple click on the URL that takes them to github folder and they can upload/delete images in 3 clicks

[KostaMadorsky]

@Calinator444 @kulesy @JackDevAU @jakebayliss Adding to the loop