Safe Publish

Publish a Webflow site with comprehensive preview, validation, and explicit confirmation workflow.

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_sites_tool with action get_site for detailed site information
•Use Webflow MCP's data_pages_tool with action list_pages for retrieving all pages
•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 list_collection_items for checking draft items
•Use Webflow MCP's data_sites_tool with action publish_site for publishing the site
•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 Selection & Status Check

•Get site: Identify the target site. If user does not provide site ID, ask for it.
•
Fetch site details: Use Webflow MCP's data_sites_tool with action get_site to retrieve:
- •Last published date
- •Last updated date
- •Custom domains configured
- •Locale settings
•
Check publish status: Determine if site has unpublished changes:
- •Compare lastUpdated vs lastPublished timestamps
- •If lastPublished is null, site has never been published
- •If lastUpdated > lastPublished, site has unpublished changes

Phase 2: Change Detection & Analysis

•List all pages: Use Webflow MCP's data_pages_tool with action list_pages
•
Identify modified pages:
- •Compare each page's lastUpdated with site's lastPublished
- •Flag pages modified after last publish
- •Categorize by type (static, CMS template, archived, draft)
•List all collections: Use Webflow MCP's data_cms_tool with action get_collection_list
•
Check for draft items:
- •For each collection, use Webflow MCP's collections_items_list_items
- •Count items where isDraft: true
- •Count items modified since last publish
•
Detect issues:
- •Draft items that won't be published unless explicitly included
- •Pages missing SEO metadata
- •Broken references (if detectable)

Phase 3: Pre-Publish Validation & Preview

•
Run pre-publish checks:
- •Verify no broken collection references
- •Check for pages with missing required fields
- •Warn about draft items that will remain unpublished
•
Generate detailed preview:
- •Show all pages to be published
- •Show all CMS items to be published
- •Display warnings for any issues found
- •Show which domains will be updated
•
Ask for publish scope:
- •Webflow subdomain only
- •Custom domains only
- •Both subdomain and custom domains

Phase 4: Confirmation & Publishing

•
Require explicit confirmation:
- •User must type "publish" to proceed
- •"yes" or "y" should NOT trigger publish
- •Show clear warning about what will go live
•
Execute publish:
- •Use Webflow MCP's data_sites_tool with action publish_site with correct parameters
- •Handle customDomains as empty array if no custom domains
- •Set publishToWebflowSubdomain based on user choice
•
Capture publish timestamp:
- •Fetch site info again after publish
- •Record exact publish time from lastPublished field

Phase 5: Verification & Reporting

•
Verify publish success:
- •Check that lastPublished timestamp updated
- •Verify site is accessible at published URL(s)
- •Report any verification failures clearly
•
Generate success report:
- •Show publish timestamp
- •List what went live (pages, items)
- •Provide published URL(s)
- •Show verification status
•
Handle failures gracefully:
- •If publish fails, show clear error message
- •Suggest remediation steps
- •Do not retry automatically

Examples

User prompt:

code

Publish my site

Step 1: Site Selection

code

🚀 Safe Publish - Site Selection

Available Sites:

1. **MCP Demo#1**
   - Last published: January 9, 2026 at 20:05:38 UTC
   - Last updated: January 9, 2026 at 20:49:37 UTC
   - ⚠️ **Has unpublished changes** (updated 44 minutes after last publish)

2. **MCP Demo#2**
   - Last updated: January 9, 2026 at 19:32:53 UTC
   - Status: Not yet published

Which site would you like to publish? (1-2)

Step 2: Change Detection & Preview

code

🚀 Publish Preview: MCP Demo#1

**Last published:** January 9, 2026 at 20:05:38 UTC
**Time since last publish:** ~1 hour 5 minutes

---

## Changes to Publish:

### 📄 Pages Modified: 1
└── **Home** (/)
    - SEO title updated to "Home Page"
    - Last modified: 21:10:52 UTC

### 📝 CMS Items: 2 draft items to publish

**Blog Posts (2 drafts):**

1. **"Why Webflow MCP Will Transform Your Workflow in 2026!"**
   - Status: Draft
   - Created: 20:24:44 UTC
   - Last modified: 21:11:03 UTC
   - Featured: Yes
   - Slug: webflow-mcp-transform-workflow-2026

2. **"Webflow E-commerce: The Future of Online Shopping in 2026!"**
   - Status: Draft
   - Created: 20:05:24 UTC
   - Last modified: 21:11:11 UTC
   - Featured: Yes
   - Slug: webflow-ecommerce-2026

---

**Pre-Publish Checks:**
- ✅ No broken references detected
- ✅ All required fields populated
- ⚠️ 2 draft items will become published

**Publish Targets:**
- Webflow subdomain: mcp-demo-1-e88499.webflow.io
- Custom domains: None configured

**⚠️ Type "publish" to make these changes live.**

Step 3: After user types "publish"

code

🔄 Publishing MCP Demo#1...

Progress: ████████████████████ 100%

✅ Published Successfully!

**Site:** MCP Demo#1
**Published at:** 2026-01-09 21:12:52 UTC (January 9, 2026 at 21:12:52)

---

## What Went Live:

### 📄 Pages (1)
- ✅ Home (/) - SEO title updated

### 📝 Blog Posts (2)
- ✅ "Why Webflow MCP Will Transform Your Workflow in 2026!"
- ✅ "Webflow E-commerce: The Future of Online Shopping in 2026!"

---

## Verification:

- ✅ **Site accessible:** Yes
- ✅ **URL:** https://mcp-demo-1-e88499.webflow.io
- ✅ **Status:** Page loading successfully
- ✅ **Content delivery:** Webflow CDN responding

---

**🎉 Your site is now live with all changes published!**

All unpublished changes have been successfully published to the Webflow subdomain. The 2 draft blog posts are now visible on your site.

Alternative: With Warnings

code

🚀 Publish Preview: Company Site

**Last published:** January 8, 2026 at 14:30:00 UTC

---

## Changes to Publish:

### 📄 Pages Modified: 3
├── **About** (/about)
│   └── Content updated
├── **Contact** (/contact)
│   └── Form fields changed
└── **Home** (/)
    └── Hero section updated

### 📝 CMS Items

**Blog Posts:**
- 5 published items modified
- 2 draft items (will NOT be published automatically)

**Products:**
- 3 new items created
- 1 item updated

---

**Pre-Publish Checks:**
⚠️ **Warnings Found:**

1. **Missing SEO Metadata (2 pages):**
   - /about - No meta description
   - /contact - No meta title or description
   - 💡 Recommendation: Add SEO metadata before publishing

2. **Draft Items (2):**
   - "Upcoming Product Launch" (Blog Post)
   - "Holiday Sale Announcement" (Blog Post)
   - ⚠️ These will remain unpublished

3. **Large Change Set:**
   - 3 pages + 9 CMS items will be updated
   - Consider reviewing changes carefully

**Publish Targets:**
- Webflow subdomain: company-site.webflow.io
- Custom domains: example.com, www.example.com

---

**Would you like to:**
1. Proceed with publish (type "publish")
2. Cancel and review (type "cancel")

Guidelines

Phase 1: Critical Requirements

Site Status Check:

•Always fetch complete site details using sites_get
•Compare lastUpdated vs lastPublished to detect unpublished changes
•If timestamps are identical, inform user "No changes to publish"
•If lastPublished is null, warn "First publish - entire site will go live"

Timestamp Handling:

•Store both ISO format and human-readable format
•Calculate time elapsed since last publish
•Show timezone (prefer UTC for clarity)

Phase 2: Change Detection Rules

Page Change Detection:

•Compare page lastUpdated with site lastPublished
•Only flag pages where lastUpdated > lastPublished
•
Categorize changes:
- •Content changes (hard to detect via API)
- •SEO metadata changes (compare if available)
- •Structural changes (page created/deleted)

CMS Item Detection:

•Check isDraft field for all items
•Compare lastUpdated with site lastPublished
•
Count items in each state:
- •Published + not modified
- •Published + modified
- •Draft (won't be published)
- •Archived (won't appear on site)

Collections to Check:

•Query all collections with collections_list
•For each collection, list items with collections_items_list_items
•Batch queries if site has many collections (10+ collections)

Phase 3: Pre-Publish Validation

Required Checks:

•
Broken References:
- •Check if referenced items exist
- •Warn if reference field points to deleted/archived item
- •Note: API may not expose this easily - best effort
•
Missing Required Fields:
- •Verify all required CMS fields are populated
- •Warn if required fields are empty (shouldn't be possible, but check)
•
SEO Completeness:
- •Check pages for missing seo.title or seo.description
- •Warn but don't block publish
- •Provide recommendations for improvement
•
Draft Item Warning:
- •Clearly list all draft items
- •Explain they will remain unpublished
- •Offer to cancel if user wants to publish drafts first

Warning Levels:

•🔴 Critical: Would break site (broken refs, missing required fields)
•⚠️ Warning: Suboptimal but publishable (missing SEO, drafts)
•💡 Suggestion: Best practices (add meta descriptions, optimize images)

When to Block Publish:

•Only block if critical errors found
•For warnings and suggestions, allow user to proceed
•Always show warnings prominently

Phase 4: Confirmation & Publishing

Confirmation Requirements:

•User MUST type "publish" (case-insensitive)
•Do NOT accept: "yes", "y", "ok", "go", "confirm"
•Rationale: Prevents accidental publishes from generic confirmations
•If user types anything else, ask again or treat as cancel

Publish API Usage:

javascript

// Correct format for sites_publish
{
  "site_id": "site-id-here",
  "publishToWebflowSubdomain": true,  // or false
  "customDomains": []  // MUST be array, even if empty
}

// If custom domains exist:
{
  "site_id": "site-id-here",
  "publishToWebflowSubdomain": false,
  "customDomains": ["example.com", "www.example.com"]
}

Domain Selection:

•If no custom domains: Publish to subdomain only
•
If custom domains exist: Ask user which to publish to
- •Subdomain only
- •Custom domains only
- •Both
•Default to subdomain if user doesn't specify

Error Handling:

•If customDomains validation error: Ensure it's an array
•If 400 Bad Request: Check request format
•If 403 Forbidden: Check site publish permissions
•If 500 Server Error: Retry once after 5 seconds, then report failure

Phase 5: Verification & Reporting

Post-Publish Verification:

•
Fetch Updated Site Info:
- •Call sites_get again
- •Verify lastPublished timestamp updated
- •If timestamp didn't update, publish may have failed
•
Site Accessibility Check:
- •Use WebFetch to check published URL
- •Verify site returns 200 OK
- •Check that content is served (not error page)
- •Measure response time
•
Custom Domain Checks:
- •If published to custom domains, verify each domain
- •Some domains may take time to propagate (DNS)
- •Note: "Domain may take a few minutes to update" if slow

Verification Failure Handling:

•If site not accessible: Report clearly
•Note: Changes ARE published even if verification fails
•
Possible causes:
- •DNS propagation delay
- •CDN cache not yet cleared
- •Temporary Webflow infrastructure issue
•Suggest: "Try accessing the site in 2-3 minutes"

Success Report Format:

code

✅ Published Successfully!

Site: [Site Name]
Published at: [ISO Timestamp] ([Human Readable])

What Went Live:
- X pages modified
- Y CMS items published
- Z draft items promoted to published

Verification:
✅ Site accessible
✅ URL: [primary URL]
✅ Response time: [Xms]

[If custom domains]
Custom Domains:
✅ example.com - accessible
⚠️ www.example.com - propagating (may take 2-3 minutes)

Best Practices

Always:

•✅ Show comprehensive preview before publishing
•✅ Require explicit "publish" confirmation
•✅ Verify site after publish
•✅ Report exact publish timestamp
•✅ List all changes going live
•✅ Warn about draft items

Never:

•❌ Publish without explicit user confirmation
•❌ Accept generic confirmations like "yes"
•❌ Hide warnings from user
•❌ Retry failed publishes automatically
•❌ Proceed if critical errors detected

Edge Cases:

No Changes to Publish:

code

ℹ️ No Changes to Publish

Last published: January 9, 2026 at 20:05:38 UTC
Last updated: January 9, 2026 at 20:05:38 UTC

All changes are already published. Your site is up to date!

First Publish (Never Published Before):

code

⚠️ First Publish Warning

This site has NEVER been published before.

This will make the ENTIRE site publicly accessible:
- All pages (2 pages)
- All CMS items (47 items across 3 collections)
- All assets

Are you ready to make this site live?
Type "publish" to proceed, or "cancel" to abort.

Publish to Staging Subdomain:

•If site has custom domains but user chooses subdomain only
•Useful for testing before publishing to production domain
•Explain: "Publishing to subdomain only. Custom domains will continue showing old version."

Partial Publish Not Supported:

•Webflow publishes entire site, not individual pages
•Cannot publish specific pages or collections
•If user asks to "publish just the homepage", explain limitation
•Alternative: Use staging subdomain for testing

Performance Optimization

For Large Sites:

•Sites with 100+ pages or 1000+ items may take time to analyze
•Show progress: "Analyzing 150 pages..."
•Batch API calls when possible
•Consider skipping detailed diff for very large change sets

Caching:

•Cache site info during workflow (don't refetch unnecessarily)
•Only refetch after publish to verify

Timeouts:

•Publish API may take 10-30 seconds for large sites
•Don't timeout too quickly
•Show: "Publishing... this may take up to 30 seconds for large sites"

Error Messages

Clear and Actionable:

❌ Bad:

code

"Publish failed"

✅ Good:

code

"Publish Failed: Validation Error

The Webflow API returned an error:
- customDomains parameter must be an array

This is likely a configuration issue. Retrying...

Common Errors:

•
Validation Error (customDomains):
- •Fix: Ensure customDomains: [] is an array
- •Don't pass null or omit the field
•
Site Not Found:
- •User may have provided wrong site ID
- •List available sites and ask user to select
•
Insufficient Permissions:
- •Site may require specific publish permissions
- •Check workspace access settings
•
Publish Already in Progress:
- •Another publish may be running
- •Wait 30 seconds and try again