bulk-cms-update

Bulk CMS Update

Create or update multiple CMS items with comprehensive validation, granular approval, and rollback capability.

Important Note

ALWAYS use Webflow MCP tools for all operations:

• Use Webflow MCP's data_sites_tool with action list_sites for listing available sites
• Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action get_collection_list for listing CMS collections
• Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action get_collection_details for fetching collection schemas
• Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action list_collection_items for retrieving existing items
• Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action create_collection_items for creating items (draft or published)
• Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action update_collection_items for updating items (draft or published)
• Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action publish_collection_items for publishing draft items
• Use Webflow MCP's webflow_guide_tool to get best practices before starting
• DO NOT use any other tools or methods for Webflow operations
• All tool calls must include the required context parameter (15-25 words, third-person perspective)

Instructions

Phase 1: Site & Collection Selection

1. Get site: Identify the target site. If user does not provide site ID, ask for it.
2. List collections: Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action get_collection_list to show available collections
3. Ask user to select collection: User specifies which collection to work with
4. Fetch collection schema: Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action get_collection_details to retrieve:
   • All field definitions with types
   • Required vs optional fields
   • Field validations (max length, patterns, etc.)
   • Reference field targets

Phase 2: Data Collection & Parsing

5. Ask operation type: Clarify what user wants to do:

   • Create new items only
   • Update existing items only
   • Both create and update

6. Receive data from user: Accept data in flexible formats:

   • Structured format (JSON-like)
   • Natural language descriptions
   • CSV-style data
   • Bullet lists

7. Parse and normalize: Convert user data into structured format

8. Fetch existing items (if updates involved): Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action list_collection_items to get current data

   IMPORTANT - Efficient Item Lookup:

   • When searching for specific items by name, ALWAYS use the name parameter to filter (e.g., name: "Pikachu")
   • When searching by slug, use the slug parameter to filter
   • NEVER fetch all items first and then search through the results - this wastes API calls and tokens
   • Only fetch the full list when you need to display all items or don't know which specific items to target

Phase 3: Validation & Analysis

9. Validate all data:
   • Field names: Check all field names exist in schema
   • Required fields: Ensure all required fields are provided
   • Field types: Validate data types match schema
   • Constraints: Check max lengths, patterns, allowed values
   • Slugs: Ensure slugs are unique and valid
   • Reference fields: Verify referenced items exist
10. Detect conflicts:
    • Duplicate slugs (within batch or with existing items)
    • Missing required fields
    • Invalid data types
    • Constraint violations
11. Analyze impact:
    • Count creates vs updates
    • Identify which fields will change
    • Calculate batch size and processing time

Phase 4: Preview & Granular Approval

12. Generate detailed preview:
    • Show each item with validation status
    • Display warnings for any issues
    • For updates, show diffs (old → new)
    • For creates, show all field values
    • Number each item for selective approval
13. Present granular approval options:
    • Allow user to select specific items to process
    • Options: "all", "none", specific numbers, number ranges
    • Show estimated processing time
14. Offer publish options:
    • Publish immediately (use *_live endpoints)
    • Create as drafts (use regular endpoints + manual publish)

Phase 5: Execution & Reporting

15. Store rollback data: Before any changes, save:
    • Original values for all updated items
    • Timestamp
    • Operation details
16. Process in batches:
    • Maximum 50 items per batch
    • Show progress indicator
    • Handle rate limits gracefully
17. Execute operations: Use appropriate Webflow MCP tools based on user choice
18. Handle errors gracefully:
    • Continue processing on single item failures
    • Track successes and failures separately
    • Provide detailed error messages
19. Generate comprehensive report:
    • Summary (success/failure counts)
    • Detailed results per item
    • Item IDs for created/updated items
    • Error details for failed items
20. Offer rollback option: Allow user to undo changes if needed

Examples

User prompt:

Add 2 blog posts about Webflow MCP and update the first blog to say "Top" instead of "Best"

Step 1: Site & Collection Selection

📋 Bulk CMS Update Setup

Available Sites:
1. MCP Demo#1
2. MCP Demo#2
3. MCP Demo#3

Please select a site (1-3):

User selects: 1

Available Collections in MCP Demo#1:
└── Blog Posts (9 items)
    Fields: name, slug, post-body, post-summary, main-image, thumbnail-image, featured, color

Proceed with Blog Posts collection? (yes/no)

User confirms: yes

Step 2: Data Collection

🔍 Collection Schema: Blog Posts

Required Fields:
- name (PlainText, max 256 chars)
- slug (PlainText, max 256 chars, alphanumeric only)

Optional Fields:
- post-body (RichText)
- post-summary (PlainText)
- main-image (Image)
- thumbnail-image (Image)
- featured (Switch, true/false)
- color (Color, hex format)

I'll parse your request:
- Create 2 new posts about Webflow MCP
- Update first post: "Best" → "Top"

Generating items...

Step 3: Validation & Preview

📋 Preview: Bulk CMS Update

Collection: Blog Posts
Operations: Create 2 items + Update 1 item

---

### 🆕 Items to Create (2)

[1] ✓ NEW POST
    name: "Webflow MCP: The Future of Web Development"
    slug: "webflow-mcp-future-web-development"
    post-summary: "Discover how Webflow MCP is revolutionizing..."
    post-body: "<h1>The Future is Here</h1><p>..."
    featured: true
    color: "#9B59B6"
    ✅ All validations passed

[2] ✓ NEW POST
    name: "Why Webflow MCP Will Transform Your Workflow in 2026"
    slug: "webflow-mcp-transform-workflow-2026"
    post-summary: "Learn how Webflow MCP's integration..."
    post-body: "<h1>Transform Your Workflow</h1><p>..."
    featured: true
    color: "#3498DB"
    ✅ All validations passed

---

### ✏️ Items to Update (1)

[3] ✓ UPDATE EXISTING
    Item ID: 69615f84fc6ce1aa444d24d5
    Slug: why-webflow-is-best-2026-ai

    Changes:
      name: "Why Webflow is the Best Choice for 2026" → "Why Webflow is the Top Choice for 2026"

    ✅ All validations passed

---

**Summary:**
- ✅ 2 items will be created
- ✅ 1 item will be updated
- ⚠️ 0 warnings
- ❌ 0 errors

**Publish Options:**
1. Publish immediately (recommended)
2. Save as drafts

Which items would you like to process?
- Type "all" to process all 3 items
- Type numbers to skip (e.g., "2" to skip item 2)
- Type "none" to cancel

Select publish option (1/2): _
Select items: _

User selects: 1, all

⚠️ You're about to:
- Create 2 new blog posts (published live)
- Update 1 existing blog post (changes published live)

Type "confirm" to proceed.

User confirms: confirm

Step 4: Execution & Results

🔄 Processing bulk update...

Creating items: ██████████ 100% (2/2)
Updating items: ██████████ 100% (1/1)

✅ Bulk CMS Update Complete!

---

### 🆕 Created Items (2)

✓ [1] "Webflow MCP: The Future of Web Development"
      ID: 6961640c66de07bed9aacf3e
      Slug: webflow-mcp-future-web-development
      Published: Jan 9, 2026, 8:24 PM

✓ [2] "Why Webflow MCP Will Transform Your Workflow in 2026"
      ID: 6961640c66de07bed9aacf41
      Slug: webflow-mcp-transform-workflow-2026
      Published: Jan 9, 2026, 8:24 PM

---

### ✏️ Updated Items (1)

✓ [3] "Why Webflow is the Top Choice for 2026"
      ID: 69615f84fc6ce1aa444d24d5
      Changed: title updated
      Published: Jan 9, 2026, 8:24 PM

---

**Summary:**
- ✅ 2 items created successfully
- ✅ 1 item updated successfully
- ❌ 0 failures
- ⏱️ Completed in 3.2 seconds

**Total Items:** 11 (was 9)

📋 Rollback Available:
Last update: 3 items modified just now
Type "undo" within 5 minutes to revert all changes

Alternative: With Validation Warnings

📋 Preview: Bulk CMS Update

[1] ⚠️ NEW POST
    name: "Test Post"
    slug: "test"
    post-summary: "Hi"
    ⚠️ Warning: post-summary too short (< 20 chars) - may affect SEO
    ⚠️ Warning: slug too generic - consider more descriptive slug
    ⚠️ Warning: missing post-body - content will be empty
    ✅ Required fields present (can proceed)

[2] ❌ NEW POST
    name: "Another Post!!!"
    slug: "another post"
    ❌ Error: slug contains spaces (must be alphanumeric with hyphens only)
    ❌ Error: name contains special characters not allowed
    🔴 Cannot proceed - fix errors first

---

**Summary:**
- ✅ 1 item can be created (with warnings)
- ❌ 1 item has errors (cannot create)

Fix item 2 or skip it? (fix/skip)

Guidelines

Phase 1: Critical Requirements

Site & Collection Selection:

• Always fetch actual site list using sites_list
• Never assume site IDs
• Show collection names and item counts
• Display field schema before accepting data
• Confirm collection selection with user

Phase 2: Data Parsing

Flexible Input Formats: Accept data in multiple formats:

1. Structured (JSON-like):

CREATE:
- name: "Post Title"
  slug: "post-slug"
  featured: true

2. Natural Language:

"Add a blog post called 'Getting Started' with slug 'getting-started'"

3. CSV-style:

name,slug,featured
"Post 1","post-1",true
"Post 2","post-2",false

4. Bullet Lists:

- Post 1: "Title" (slug: title-slug)
- Post 2: "Another" (slug: another-slug)

Parsing Rules:

• Be lenient with format variations
• Infer missing optional fields
• Ask for clarification if ambiguous
• Never assume required field values

Efficient Item Lookup: When fetching existing items for updates, use filter parameters to minimize API calls:

# Good - Filter by name when you know the item name
collections_items_list_items(collection_id, name: "Pikachu")

# Good - Filter by slug when you know the slug
collections_items_list_items(collection_id, slug: "pikachu")

# Bad - Fetching all items then searching through results
collections_items_list_items(collection_id)  # Returns 100 items
# Then manually searching for "Pikachu" in results...

• ALWAYS use name or slug parameters when searching for specific items
• This reduces API calls, response size, and token usage
• Only fetch unfiltered lists when displaying all items or when the target is unknown

Phase 3: Validation Rules

Field Name Validation:

• Check all field names exist in schema
• Case-sensitive matching
• Suggest corrections for typos
• Example: "autor" → Did you mean "author"?

Required Fields:

• name and slug are ALWAYS required for Webflow CMS
• Check collection-specific required fields from schema
• List all missing required fields clearly
• Cannot proceed if required fields missing

Field Type Validation:

PlainText:

• Check max length constraints
• Validate patterns if specified
• No HTML allowed

RichText:

• Must be valid HTML
• Check for unclosed tags
• Allow common HTML elements

Image/File:

• Accept file IDs or URLs
• Validate file exists (if possible)
• Optional alt text

Switch (Boolean):

• Accept: true/false, yes/no, 1/0
• Normalize to boolean

Color:

• Must be hex format (#RRGGBB)
• Validate hex characters
• Example: #FF5733 ✓, red ✗

Reference Fields:

• Must reference existing item IDs
• Validate referenced items exist
• Show referenced item names for clarity

Slug Validation:

• CRITICAL: Must be alphanumeric with hyphens only
• No spaces, underscores, or special characters
• Max 256 characters
• Must be unique (check against existing + batch)
• Auto-suggest slugs from titles if missing
• Example:
  • ❌ "My Post!" → ⚠️ Contains special characters
  • ✅ "my-post" → Valid

Constraint Validation:

• Max length: Warn if approaching limit, error if exceeds
• Patterns: Test regex patterns from schema
• Allowed values: Check against enumerated options

Phase 4: Preview & Approval

Preview Format:

For Create Operations:

[1] ✓ NEW POST
    field1: "value1"
    field2: "value2"
    field3: "value3"
    ✅ All validations passed

For Update Operations:

[2] ✓ UPDATE EXISTING
    Item ID: xxx
    Slug: existing-slug

    Changes:
      field1: "old value" → "new value"
      field2: (no change)
      field3: "old" → "new"

    ✅ All validations passed

For Items with Warnings:

[3] ⚠️ NEW POST
    name: "Title"
    ⚠️ Warning: Missing optional field 'post-body'
    ⚠️ Warning: Slug may be too generic
    ✅ Can proceed (warnings only)

For Items with Errors:

[4] ❌ NEW POST
    name: "Title!!!"
    slug: "bad slug"
    ❌ Error: slug contains spaces
    ❌ Error: name has special characters
    🔴 Cannot proceed - must fix errors

Granular Approval:

• Number each item: [1], [2], [3]...
• Allow selective processing
• Accept formats:
  • "all" - process everything
  • "none" - cancel operation
  • "1,3,5" - process items 1, 3, and 5
  • "1-5" - process items 1 through 5
  • "2" - skip only item 2, process rest

Publish Options:

• Immediate publish: Use *_live endpoints (recommended)
• Draft mode: Use regular endpoints, publish later
• Explain implications of each choice

Phase 5: Execution & Reporting

Batch Processing:

• Maximum 50 items per batch
• Show progress bar:

  Processing: ████████░░ 80% (40/50 items)
  

• Estimated time remaining
• Handle rate limits (pause/retry)

Error Handling:

For Single Item Failures:

Processing item 3/10...
❌ Failed: "Post Title"
   Error: Slug already exists
   → Skipping to next item

Continue Processing:

• Don't fail entire batch for one error
• Track all successes and failures
• Report both separately

For Critical Failures:

❌ Critical Error: API connection lost

Items processed before error: 7/50
- 5 created successfully
- 2 updated successfully
- 43 not processed

Retry failed items? (yes/no)

Success Report Format:

✅ Operation Complete

Created: 25 items
- Show first 5 with IDs
- "[+20 more]" if > 5

Updated: 10 items
- Show first 5 with IDs
- "[+5 more]" if > 5

Failed: 2 items
- "Item Name": Error reason
- "Item Name": Error reason

Total time: 12.5 seconds
Items per second: 2.8

Rollback Capability:

Store Before Changes:

{
  "timestamp": "2026-01-09T20:24:44Z",
  "operations": [
    {
      "type": "update",
      "itemId": "xxx",
      "originalValues": {
        "name": "Old Title",
        "featured": false
      },
      "newValues": {
        "name": "New Title",
        "featured": true
      }
    }
  ]
}

Offer Rollback:

📋 Rollback Available:
Last update: 15 items modified 2 minutes ago

Rollback will:
- Restore 10 updated items to previous values
- Delete 5 newly created items

⚠️ Type "undo" to rollback all changes
⚠️ Rollback expires in 3 minutes

Performance Optimization

Batch Size:

• Default: 50 items per batch
• Adjust based on field complexity
• Heavy images: 20 items per batch
• Simple text fields: 100 items per batch

Progress Indicators:

Creating items...
Batch 1/3: ████████████████████ 100% (50/50)
Batch 2/3: ████████████████████ 100% (50/50)
Batch 3/3: ██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 30% (15/50)

Rate Limiting:

• Respect Webflow API rate limits
• Pause between batches if needed
• Show user why waiting
• Retry failed requests automatically (max 3 attempts)

Error Messages

Clear and Actionable:

❌ Bad:

"Error: validation failed"

✅ Good:

"Validation Error on item 3:
 - Slug 'my post' contains spaces
 - Change to: 'my-post' (alphanumeric with hyphens only)"

Error Categories:

• 🔴 Critical: Cannot proceed at all (API down, invalid auth)
• ❌ Error: This item cannot be processed (fix or skip)
• ⚠️ Warning: Can proceed but not recommended (missing optional fields)
• 💡 Suggestion: Best practices (slug too generic, summary too short)

Best Practices

Always:

• ✅ Show preview before any changes
• ✅ Require explicit confirmation
• ✅ Validate all data thoroughly
• ✅ Process in batches for large operations
• ✅ Report successes and failures separately
• ✅ Offer rollback for recent changes
• ✅ Use granular approval for flexibility

Never:

• ❌ Apply changes without user confirmation
• ❌ Fail entire batch for single item error
• ❌ Assume field names or values
• ❌ Process without validating first
• ❌ Hide validation warnings from user

Edge Cases:

• Duplicate slugs: Auto-append number (post-title-2)
• Missing optional fields: Leave empty (don't invent values)
• Large batches: Warn about processing time
• Reference fields: Validate targets exist
• Image fields: Accept URLs or file IDs

User Experience:

• Show collection schema upfront
• Number items for easy reference
• Use visual hierarchy (├── └──)
• Provide actionable error messages
• Estimate processing time
• Allow cancellation mid-process