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• Check publish status: Determine if site has unpublished changes: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lastPublished , site has unpublished changes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• Warn about draft items that will remain unpublished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:

Publish my site

Step 1: Site Selection

🚀 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

🚀 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"

🔄 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

🚀 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:

// 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:

✅ 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:

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):

⚠️ 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:

"Publish failed"

✅ Good:

"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