Publish finished content to Webflow or WordPress via MCP connectors with preview, verification, and HTML export fallback

Publish Content — ContentForge CMS Publishing

Push publication-ready content from the ContentForge pipeline directly to your CMS (Webflow or WordPress) via MCP connectors. Preview before publishing, verify post-publish, and fall back to HTML export when no connector is available.

When to Use

Use /cf-publish when:

You have a finished, reviewed content piece (Phase 8 complete, score >=7.0)
You want to publish directly to Webflow or WordPress without copy-pasting
You need to schedule content for a future publish date
You want post-publish verification (URL live, meta tags correct, images loaded)
You want an HTML export for manual upload when no CMS connector is configured

Do NOT use for:

Content still in pipeline (must be Phase 8 complete)
Content flagged for human review (score <5.0)
Platforms other than Webflow/WordPress (use /cf-social-adapt for social media)

What This Command Does

Verify Connector -- Check if Webflow or WordPress MCP connector is active
Load Content -- Pull finished content from Google Drive or local output
Format for Platform -- Convert markdown/docx to platform-specific HTML/blocks
Preview -- Show rendered preview with meta tags, slug, featured image
Publish/Schedule -- Push to CMS as draft, published, or scheduled
Post-Publish Verification -- Confirm URL is live, meta tags are correct, content renders properly
Fallback -- If no connector, generate standalone HTML file for manual upload

Required Inputs

Minimum Required:

Content Source -- Google Drive URL, local file path, or requirement ID (e.g., REQ-001)
Platform -- webflow or wordpress
Status -- draft, publish, or schedule

Optional:

Schedule Date -- ISO date/time for scheduled publishing (required if status=schedule)
Collection/Category -- Webflow collection slug or WordPress category
Featured Image -- URL or local path to hero image
Author -- Override default author
Tags -- Comma-separated list of tags
Slug Override -- Custom URL slug (defaults to SEO-optimized slug from Phase 6)

How to Use

Interactive Mode

/cf-publish

Prompts you for:

Content source (Drive URL, file path, or requirement ID)
Platform (Webflow / WordPress)
Publish status (draft / publish / schedule)
Preview confirmation before pushing

Quick Mode

/cf-publish REQ-001 --platform=webflow --status=publish

Schedule for Later

/cf-publish REQ-001 --platform=wordpress --status=schedule --date="2026-03-01T09:00:00"

Publish from Google Drive

/cf-publish https://drive.google.com/file/d/ABC123 --platform=webflow --status=draft

What Happens

Step 1: Connector Verification (5-10 seconds)

Before attempting any CMS operation, verify the target connector is available.

Check MCP connector status:

Platform: webflow
Connector: Webflow MCP (https://mcp.webflow.com/sse)
Status: CHECKING...

Case A: Connector Active

Webflow MCP: CONNECTED
Site: acme-corp.webflow.io
Collections available: blog-posts, case-studies, resources
Proceeding with direct publish...

Case B: Connector Not Found

Webflow MCP: NOT CONNECTED

No Webflow connector detected in .mcp.json.
Falling back to HTML export mode.

To enable direct publishing, add the Webflow connector:
  /dm:connect webflow

Generating standalone HTML file for manual upload...

Step 2: Load and Validate Content (10-15 seconds)

Load content from source:

Read .docx or markdown from Google Drive or local output directory
Extract metadata: title, meta description, slug, keywords, author, featured image
Validate quality score >= 7.0 (refuse to publish unreviewed content)

Validation checks:

Content Validation
---------------------------------------------------
Title: "AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends"        OK
Quality Score: 9.2/10                          OK
Status: Approved (Phase 8 Complete)            OK
Word Count: 1,947                              OK
Meta Title: 58 chars                           OK
Meta Description: 152 chars                    OK
SEO Slug: ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends         OK
Featured Image: hero-ai-healthcare.jpg         OK
---------------------------------------------------
All checks passed. Ready to format for Webflow.

Rejection cases:

Quality score < 7.0: "Content has not passed quality review. Score: 4.8/10. Run the full pipeline first."
No Phase 8 completion: "Content pipeline incomplete. Phase 8 (Output Manager) has not run."
Missing meta tags: "Meta title and description are required. Run Phase 6 (SEO Optimizer) first."

Step 3: Format for Target Platform (10-20 seconds)

Convert ContentForge output into platform-native format.

Webflow Formatting:

Convert markdown headings to Webflow rich text blocks
Map H1 to name field, body to post-body rich text field
Set slug, meta-title, meta-description fields
Upload featured image to Webflow assets, link to main-image field
Map tags to Webflow multi-reference field
Preserve inline links, bold, italic, lists, blockquotes

WordPress Formatting:

Convert markdown to WordPress Gutenberg blocks (paragraph, heading, list, quote, image)
Set title, content, excerpt, slug, meta fields
Upload featured image via media endpoint, set as featured_media
Map categories and tags to taxonomy terms
Preserve shortcodes if present in original content
Add Yoast/RankMath SEO meta if plugin detected

Shared formatting rules:

Strip .docx formatting artifacts (extra whitespace, page breaks)
Ensure all internal links use relative paths where possible
Validate all image URLs are accessible (no broken images)
Preserve citation formatting (footnotes or inline links based on platform preference)

Step 4: Preview Before Publish

Show the user exactly what will be published before pushing.

PUBLISH PREVIEW
===================================================

Platform: Webflow (acme-corp.webflow.io)
Collection: blog-posts
Status: PUBLISH (goes live immediately)

---------------------------------------------------
URL: https://acme-corp.webflow.io/blog/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends

Meta Title: AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends and Predictions
Meta Description: Explore how AI is transforming healthcare in 2026,
  from diagnostic tools to patient care. Data-driven analysis with
  14 verified sources.

Featured Image: hero-ai-healthcare.jpg (1200x630, 245KB)
Author: ContentForge
Tags: AI, Healthcare, Technology Trends, 2026
Word Count: 1,947
---------------------------------------------------

Content Preview (first 300 characters):
"Multi-agent AI systems are changing how healthcare organizations
approach diagnostics, patient care, and operational efficiency. The
approach? Deploy specialized AI agents -- one for imaging analysis,
another for patient history, a third for treatment recommendations..."

===================================================

Proceed with publish? (yes / no / edit)

User options:

yes -- Push to CMS
no -- Cancel, return to command line
edit -- Open content for last-minute edits before publish

Step 5: Publish / Schedule / Draft (5-15 seconds)

Publish (immediate):

Publishing to Webflow...
API call: POST /collections/blog-posts/items
Status: 201 Created
Item ID: 6432a1b2c3d4e5f6
Live URL: https://acme-corp.webflow.io/blog/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends

Schedule (future date):

Scheduling for 2026-03-01 09:00 UTC...
API call: POST /collections/blog-posts/items (draft=true, scheduled_at=2026-03-01T09:00:00Z)
Status: 201 Created
Scheduled Publish: March 1, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC
Draft URL: https://acme-corp.webflow.io/blog/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends (not live yet)

Draft (no publish):

Saving as draft...
API call: POST /collections/blog-posts/items (draft=true)
Status: 201 Created
Draft URL: https://acme-corp.webflow.io/blog/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends (draft, not live)
Edit in Webflow: https://webflow.com/dashboard/sites/acme-corp/editor

Step 6: Post-Publish Verification (10-20 seconds)

After publishing, verify the content is live and correct.

Verification checks:

Post-Publish Verification
===================================================
URL Accessible: GET https://acme-corp.webflow.io/blog/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends
  Status Code: 200 OK                                  PASS
  Response Time: 340ms                                  PASS

Meta Tags:
  <title>: "AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends..."          PASS
  <meta name="description">: Present, 152 chars         PASS
  <meta property="og:title">: Present                   PASS
  <meta property="og:image">: Present                   PASS
  <link rel="canonical">: Present                       PASS

Content Integrity:
  H1 present: "AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends"           PASS
  Word count matches: 1,947 (expected 1,947)            PASS
  Images loaded: 3/3                                    PASS
  Internal links valid: 5/5                             PASS

SEO Elements:
  URL slug correct: ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends        PASS
  Schema markup: Article (JSON-LD)                      PASS
  Robots meta: index, follow                            PASS

===================================================
All 12 checks passed. Content is live and verified.

If verification fails:

VERIFICATION WARNING
===================================================
URL Accessible: 200 OK                                  PASS
Meta Description: MISSING                               FAIL
  Expected: "Explore how AI is transforming..."
  Found: (empty)

Action: Meta description did not save correctly.
  Attempting fix via API PATCH...
  Fixed: Meta description updated.
  Re-verification: PASS
===================================================

Step 7: Update Tracking Sheet

After successful publish:

Tracking Sheet Updated:
  Row: 5
  Status: "Published"
  Published URL: https://acme-corp.webflow.io/blog/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends
  Published At: 2026-02-25 14:30:00
  Platform: Webflow
  Verification: All 12 checks passed

Fallback: HTML Export Mode

When no CMS connector is available, generate a standalone HTML file.

What Gets Generated

Output: .tmp/publish-exports/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends.html

HTML Export includes:
- Full article content in clean, semantic HTML5
- Inline CSS for typography (portable, no external dependencies)
- Meta tags in <head> (title, description, OG tags, Twitter cards)
- Schema.org Article markup (JSON-LD)
- Featured image with alt text
- Responsive formatting (mobile-friendly)
- Copy-paste ready for any CMS

HTML Export File Structure

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends and Predictions</title>
  <meta name="description" content="Explore how AI is transforming...">
  <meta property="og:title" content="AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends...">
  <meta property="og:description" content="Explore how AI is transforming...">
  <meta property="og:image" content="hero-ai-healthcare.jpg">
  <script type="application/ld+json">
    { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", ... }
  </script>
</head>
<body>
  <article>
    <h1>AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends and Predictions</h1>
    <!-- Full formatted article content -->
  </article>
</body>
</html>

Manual Upload Instructions

HTML Export Complete
===================================================
File: .tmp/publish-exports/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends.html
Size: 48 KB

Manual Upload Instructions:
1. Open your CMS dashboard
2. Create a new blog post / article
3. Switch to HTML/code view
4. Copy the contents of the <article> tag
5. Paste into the content editor
6. Copy meta title and description from the <head> section
7. Upload featured image separately
8. Set URL slug to: ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends
9. Preview and publish

Alternatively, connect your CMS for direct publishing:
  /dm:connect webflow
  /dm:connect wordpress
===================================================

Output Example

Successful Publish:

CONTENTFORGE PUBLISH COMPLETE
===================================================

Content: AI in Healthcare: 2026 Trends
Platform: Webflow
Status: Published (LIVE)
URL: https://acme-corp.webflow.io/blog/ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends

Quality Score: 9.2/10
Word Count: 1,947
Meta Tags: All present and verified
Images: 3 loaded
Verification: 12/12 checks passed

Tracking Sheet: Updated (Row 5)
Published At: 2026-02-25 14:30:00

===================================================
Content is live and verified. No further action required.

Error Handling

CMS API Rate Limit

Error: 429 Too Many Requests
Action: Wait 60 seconds, retry (max 3 attempts)
If persistent: Save as draft, notify user to publish manually

Authentication Expired

Error: 401 Unauthorized
Action: Prompt user to re-authenticate
  Webflow: Re-authorize at https://webflow.com/oauth/authorize
  WordPress: Refresh application password

Content Too Large

Error: 413 Payload Too Large (WordPress limit: 2MB per post)
Action: Split content into parts or compress images
Fallback: Generate HTML export, notify user

Duplicate Slug

Error: Slug "ai-in-healthcare-2026-trends" already exists
Action: Check if this is an update (v1.1 refresh) or duplicate
  If update: PATCH existing post (preserve URL, update content)
  If duplicate: Append "-2" to slug, warn user

Image Upload Failure

Error: Featured image upload failed (timeout)
Action: Retry image upload (3 attempts)
Fallback: Publish without featured image, flag for manual fix
  "Published successfully but featured image failed to upload.
   Please upload hero-ai-healthcare.jpg manually in your CMS."

Platform-Specific Notes

Webflow

Uses Collection Items API for blog posts
Rich text field supports HTML content directly
Images must be uploaded to Webflow Assets first, then referenced
Publish requires site publish after item creation (API call to publish site)
CMS items are draft by default; explicit publish step needed
Rate limit: 60 requests per minute

WordPress

Uses REST API v2 (/wp-json/wp/v2/posts)
Gutenberg blocks preferred over classic editor HTML
Featured image uploaded via /wp-json/wp/v2/media, then linked by ID
Categories and tags are taxonomy term IDs (lookup by name first)
Supports date field for scheduling
Application Passwords or OAuth for authentication
Rate limit: Varies by host (typically 100-500 requests/minute)

Requirements

MCP Integrations (Optional but Recommended)

Webflow MCP (https://mcp.webflow.com/sse) -- For direct Webflow publishing
WordPress -- Via REST API (no MCP endpoint; uses HTTP connector or direct API)

Environment

Claude Code or Cowork (latest version)
Content must have completed Phase 8 (Output Manager)
Quality score >= 7.0

Integration with Other Skills

Before Publishing:

/contentforge -- Generate the content piece
/batch-process -- Generate multiple pieces for bulk publishing
/content-refresh -- Update old content before republishing

After Publishing:

/cf-social-adapt -- Generate social media posts to promote the published article
/content-refresh -- Schedule future refresh for evergreen content

Related Skills

/contentforge -- Full content production pipeline
/batch-process -- Parallel content production
/content-refresh -- Update existing content
/cf-social-adapt -- Social media adaptation

Version: 3.4.0 Agent: Output Manager (Phase 8) + CMS Publisher utility Utilities: cms-publisher.md Platforms: Webflow, WordPress Fallback: HTML export for manual upload