Payload CMS Operations

Manage Payload CMS content via REST API. Works with any Payload deployment (production or local).

When to Use

• Creating or editing posts/pages in Payload CMS
• Converting markdown content to Lexical rich text format
• Listing and querying Payload collections
• Bulk content updates

Workflow: REST API with Authentication

Step 1: Determine the API Endpoint

Ask the user for their Payload site URL, or check common locations:

# Production site (ask user or check project config)
curl -s "https://your-site.com/api/posts?limit=1" | head -c 100

# Local development
curl -s "http://localhost:3000/api/posts?limit=1" 2>/dev/null | head -c 100
curl -s "http://localhost:3010/api/posts?limit=1" 2>/dev/null | head -c 100

Step 2: Authenticate

For mutations (create/update/delete), authentication is required. Payload uses session-based auth.

Option A: User provides credentials

# Login to get auth token
curl -X POST "https://your-site.com/api/users/login" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "user@example.com", "password": "..."}' \
  -c cookies.txt

# Use the cookie file for authenticated requests
curl -X POST "https://your-site.com/api/posts" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -b cookies.txt \
  -d '{"title": "...", "content": {...}}'

Option B: User logs in via admin UI Have the user log in at /admin, then extract the payload-token cookie from their browser for use in API calls.

Step 3: Create/Update Content

# Create a post
curl -X POST "https://your-site.com/api/posts" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -b cookies.txt \
  -d '{
    "title": "Post Title",
    "slug": "post-slug",
    "content": { "root": { ... } },
    "_status": "published"
  }'

# Update a post
curl -X PATCH "https://your-site.com/api/posts/POST_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -b cookies.txt \
  -d '{"content": { "root": { ... } }}'

Step 4: Verify

# Check the post was created
curl -s "https://your-site.com/api/posts?where[slug][equals]=post-slug" | jq '.docs[0]'

Lexical JSON Structure

Payload’s Lexical editor stores content as JSON:

{
  "root": {
    "type": "root",
    "format": "",
    "indent": 0,
    "version": 1,
    "direction": "ltr",
    "children": [
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "format": "",
        "indent": 0,
        "version": 1,
        "direction": "ltr",
        "children": [
          {"type": "text", "text": "Content here", "mode": "normal", "format": 0, "detail": 0, "version": 1, "style": ""}
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Supported Node Types

Text Format Bitmask

Markdown to Lexical Conversion

The skill includes a Python script for converting markdown to Lexical JSON:

python3 ${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/md_to_lexical.py article.md > /tmp/content.json

Common Collections

Local Development Alternative

If working locally and REST auth is problematic, write an inline script in the project:

// scripts/create-post.ts
import { getPayload } from 'payload'
import config from '../src/payload.config'

const payload = await getPayload({ config })
await payload.create({
  collection: 'posts',
  data: { title: '...', content: {...}, _status: 'published' }
})
process.exit(0)

Run with: source .env.local && bunx tsx scripts/create-post.ts

Note: If Drizzle prompts for schema migration, answer ‘n’ and use REST API instead.

Additional Resources

• references/lexical-format.md – Complete Lexical node type reference
• references/rest-api.md – Full REST API documentation
• scripts/md_to_lexical.py – Markdown to Lexical converter