payload

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

Step 1: Determine the API Endpoint

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

```bash

# 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

```bash

# 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

```bash

# 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

```bash

# Check the post was created

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

```

Payload's Lexical editor stores content as JSON:

```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

| Markdown | Lexical Node |

|----------|--------------|

| Paragraphs | paragraph |

| # Heading | heading with tag h1-h6 |

| bold | text with format: 1 |

| italic | text with format: 2 |

| ` code ` | text with format: 16 |

| Code blocks | block with blockType: "code" |

| Lists | list with listitem children |

| > quotes | quote |

Text Format Bitmask

| Value | Format |

|-------|--------|

| 0 | Normal |

| 1 | Bold |

| 2 | Italic |

| 3 | Bold + Italic |

| 16 | Code |

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

```bash

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

```

| Collection | Slug | Purpose |

|------------|------|---------|

| Posts | posts | Blog posts |

| Pages | pages | Static pages |

| Media | media | Uploaded files |

| Users | users | User accounts |

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

```typescript

// 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.

• 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