I’m trying to create an integration to be able to publish CMS Items to Webflow, but I can’t seem to find any solid information on what formats are supported for the Rich Text Field, when submitting via API.
Is there any official documentation that I’m missing, on the formatting required to submit valid content to a CMS.
I have searched and found brief mentions of ‘basic html’ support, but no actual definition of what that means.
If we submit in full RTF format will that work? (also can’t find any solid documentation on that)
Rich Text Fields in Webflow accept JSON format for API submissions. The content structure should include the required formatting and content elements such as paragraphs, headings, lists, images, videos, and code blocks. You can find detailed documentation about Rich Text Field API specifications in the Webflow API reference documentation at https://developers.webflow.com.
For example implementations and specific format requirements, please refer to the API documentation in the Webflow Developers portal.
Hopefully this helps! If you still need assistance, please reply here so somebody from the community can help.
In general, your best best is to familiarize yourself with the rich text block and its sub elements. Create some samples through the designer, then retrieve them from the API. that will give you a good reference on how to create what you want.
Technically you can submit pretty anything through the API, and Webflow will accept it. However once you open it in the designer, it will be sanitized to Webflow’s rich text standards.
You’re absolutely right — Webflow’s documentation on Rich Text Field formatting through the API is frustratingly vague. “Basic HTML” can mean a dozen different things depending on context, and the lack of explicit examples makes integration unnecessarily complex. I’ve run into similar issues when trying to sync dynamic CMS content between systems — especially when you also have to factor in sanitization and content validation. In projects like this, it’s not just about formatting but also about Security and Compliance – in a world of data leaks and strict regulations (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.), developers ensure your systems are secure, compliant, and trustworthy. That’s why it often helps to Frontend engineers for hire experienced with Webflow’s API quirks and content safety layers to avoid potential issues with malformed HTML or API schema mismatches.