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2025-11-05 08:25 UTC gpt-5 Open in ChatGPT ↗

Excellent question — creative technology and new media projects blur boundaries between art, design, tech, and storytelling, so the lead role (the “top-dog”) can have very different titles depending on context, tradition, and medium.

Below is a structured, comprehensive list of lead titles commonly used across art, design, media, tech, performance, and installation contexts — especially relevant for your kind of studio.

🎬 FILM, VIDEO, AND NARRATIVE MEDIA

Director – Oversees all creative and narrative aspects.
Producer / Executive Producer – Manages financing, logistics, and overall production.
Showrunner – Lead creative on a serialized video or interactive narrative project.
Creative Director – Guides the artistic vision and aesthetic coherence (esp. music videos or branded films).
Art Director – Leads visual design and sets, under the Director/Creative Director.
Cinematographer / Director of Photography – Top lead for camera, lighting, and visual storytelling.

💻 INTERACTIVE, IMMERSIVE, & NEW MEDIA PROJECTS

Experience Director – Leads the overall user or audience journey in interactive/immersive projects.
Experience Designer (Lead) – Top role shaping narrative, interactivity, and sensory flow.
Creative Technologist (Lead) – Bridges concept and code; leads technological creativity.
Technical Director – Oversees technical architecture, hardware, and software integration.
Interactive Director – Similar to a film director, but for interactive/immersive works.
XR Director / VR Director / Immersive Director – For extended reality or immersive media projects.
Media Director – Leads use of screens, projections, and media systems in an installation.
Innovation Director – Oversees experimental or R&D-driven creative production.

🎨 ART, INSTALLATION, & EXHIBITION CONTEXTS

Artist / Lead Artist – Central author or conceptual lead.
Curator – Creative lead defining the conceptual and contextual framing.
Exhibition Designer / Spatial Designer – Oversees the form and flow of the visitor experience.
Installation Director – Coordinates artistic, technical, and spatial realization.
Concept Artist – Leads aesthetic development, style, and concept visualization.

🎭 PERFORMANCE & LIVE MEDIA

Choreographer – For movement-based work.
Stage Director / Performance Director – Oversees staging, performers, and dramatic action.
Composer / Music Director – Leads the sound and music dimension.
Lighting Designer (Lead) – Creative head of illumination and atmosphere.
Projection / Video Designer (Lead) – Responsible for live visuals and mapped projections.

🧠 DESIGN & BRAND-DRIVEN PROJECTS

Creative Director – Overall brand and aesthetic vision.
Design Director – Leads multidisciplinary design coherence.
Art Director – Leads visual identity and style.
Brand Director – Strategic and conceptual leader for brand-based commissions.

🎧 SOUND, MUSIC, & DIGITAL PERFORMANCE

Music Director / Composer – Artistic lead for all sonic content.
Sound Designer (Lead) – Shapes the sound environment or spatial audio.
Audio Director – Top audio lead in multimedia/interactive works.

🔮 HYBRID & EMERGING ROLES (common in new media art)

Transmedia Director – Oversees storytelling across multiple platforms and media types.
Metaverse Director – Creative lead for virtual world environments.
AI Art Director – Leads AI-assisted creative concepts and generation pipelines.
Data Artist / Lead Data Visualizer – Creative lead for data-driven aesthetics.
Immersive Experience Architect – Conceptual and spatial lead combining design, media, and interaction.
Speculative Designer / Futurist – Guides conceptual framing around future narratives.
Interaction Director – Oversees audience or participant engagement design.
Generative Art Director – Leads projects involving algorithmic or real-time art systems.

🧩 PRODUCTION & TEAM LEADS

Executive Producer – Financial and strategic lead.
Producer – Day-to-day production manager, often the organizational counterpart to the creative lead.
Project Director / Lead Producer – In large-scale or institutional projects, combines creative and production leadership.

Would you like me to narrow this list down to a concise “core set” of 10–15 titles that would make sense as standardized lead roles for your studio’s credits or proposals (e.g. to use across VR, installations, and films)?

Ah — got it.
You’re not talking about the creative lead on your side, but the ultimate “lead” or “top person” on the client or commissioning side — the originator, funder, or owner of the project.

In other words: the person or entity that initiates or owns the project, equivalent to “client” — but across art, commercial, institutional, and media contexts.

Here’s a breakdown of titles and roles that can play that “top-top” position, depending on the type of project:

🎨 ART & CULTURAL CONTEXT

Artist – When it’s their vision; they commission collaborators.
Commissioner – Neutral, formal term for the person or organization commissioning work.
Curator – The person initiating and shaping a commissioned installation or exhibition.
Patron – Traditional term for a private supporter or funder.
Collector – When a private buyer commissions an artwork.
Gallery / Gallery Director – If the commission comes through a gallery.
Institution / Museum Director – For institutional art commissions.
Public Art Commissioner / Arts Council – For civic or grant-funded commissions.

💼 COMMERCIAL & BRAND CONTEXT

Client – The catch-all standard term.
Brand / Brand Owner – When the commission comes from a company itself.
Brand Director / Head of Brand – The senior brand-side creative decision-maker.
Marketing Director / Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) – When it’s driven by marketing.
Creative Director (Client-side) – Oversees the creative brief internally.
Agency / Agency Partner – If the project is commissioned through an intermediary agency.
Executive Producer (Client-side) – High-level manager representing the brand or platform.

🎬 FILM, VIDEO, & MEDIA PRODUCTION

Producer / Executive Producer – The financier or rights-holder commissioning the project.
Studio / Production Company – The entity funding and owning the work.
Network / Platform – e.g., Netflix, BBC, or a festival commissioning original content.
Showrunner – In a TV/streaming context, the ultimate creative authority.

💻 IMMERSIVE, TECH, & NEW MEDIA COMMISSIONS

Commissioning Body / Institution – Generic but accurate for cultural-tech contexts.
Experience Owner – Used in UX and immersive design: the entity responsible for the audience experience.
Innovation Lead / R&D Partner – Corporate or academic collaborator who initiates the work.
Product Owner – If it’s part of a product experience or software-driven project.
Client Partner – A senior-level client-side person who owns the relationship and creative direction.
Festival / Biennale / Lab Director – When the project is commissioned for exhibition.

💰 FUNDING & EXECUTIVE ROLES

Sponsor – Provides funding with brand or cultural alignment.
Patron / Donor – Philanthropic supporter.
Granting Organization / Foundation – Institutional commissioner.
Executive Producer – In creative industries, often the financial “owner” or commissioner.
Investor – When a for-profit backer initiates or co-owns the work.

🧠 GENERIC, CROSS-SECTOR TERMS

If you want one term that fits any context:

Client (most universal, commercial and neutral)
Commissioner (formal, institutional, or art world)
Patron (traditional or philanthropic)
Producer / Executive Producer (film, media, funding side)
Initiator (conceptual or research-led work)
Originator (authorship-driven, less common but powerful)
Partner (neutral, collaborative tone)

✅ TL;DR – the “top-top” commissioner roles by domain:

Context	Typical “Owner / Commissioner” Title
Art / Public Work	Commissioner, Artist, Curator, Patron
Commercial / Brand	Client, Brand Director, CMO
Film / Media	Producer, Executive Producer
XR / Interactive	Experience Owner, Commissioning Body
Institutional	Museum Director, Festival Director
Philanthropic	Patron, Donor, Sponsor

Would you like me to make a standardized vocabulary list (say 8–10 terms) that your studio could use across proposals and credit lines — e.g. “Client / Commissioner / Partner / Producer” — so you can refer to them consistently?

Perfect — you want a clean, minimal, professional set of “commissioner-level” credit labels for your website, that flex across art, brand, and experimental tech contexts.
Here’s a refined, studio-agnostic standardized list, using your “-ed By” format where appropriate.

🩵 Standardized Commissioner / Owner Labels

Label	When to Use
Commissioned By	General purpose, ideal for art, cultural, or institutional projects. Neutral, elegant.
Client	Simple and familiar for commercial or brand collaborations.
Produced By	When the commissioner is also a production entity or executive producer. Works for film, immersive, or co-productions.
Presented By	For exhibitions, performances, festivals, or platforms that present the work publicly.
Supported By	For grants, residencies, or co-funding bodies.
In Collaboration With	When there’s a creative or technical partnership, not a traditional commission.
Developed With	For R&D or co-creation projects with labs, universities, or partners.
Funded By	When funding is provided by a sponsor or foundation without creative input.
Initiated By	For projects sparked or originated by another artist, curator, or institution.
Produced In Association With	When co-production or joint ownership applies (common in international or interdisciplinary works).

✳️ Recommended “Core Set” for Your Website Credits

If you want a minimal, flexible system that covers nearly all scenarios:

→ Commissioned By
→ Produced By
→ Presented By
→ Supported By
→ In Collaboration With

These five are clean, universal, and read well in any mix of art, tech, or brand work.

Would you like me to show how these could look visually standardized in your website credits (e.g. typographic hierarchy, layout examples like “Commissioned By [Name] / Produced By [Studio]”)?

Sure! Here’s your list of 10 standardized commissioner / ownership credit labels written in YAML style:

values: [
  Client,
  Commissioned By,
  Produced By,
  Presented By,
  Supported By,
  In Collaboration With,
  Developed With,
  Funded By,
  Initiated By,
  Produced In Association With
]

Excellent — let’s analyze and rationalize those 10 entries for semantic overlap and potential confusion when choosing credits.

🔍 Analysis of Ambiguities / Clashes

Label	Overlaps / Ambiguities	Notes
Client	Slight overlap with Commissioned By	“Client” is more commercial and personal; “Commissioned By” is institutional. They could be merged as one neutral term if you want to avoid deciding based on context.
Commissioned By	Overlaps with Client and Initiated By	Covers most “ownership” scenarios. Strong, flexible label.
Produced By	Overlaps with Produced In Association With	Both indicate production-side contribution — one solo, one joint. Could be simplified to just “Produced By.”
Presented By	Distinct	No real ambiguity — used for festivals, museums, or screenings.
Supported By	Overlaps with Funded By	Both refer to financial or institutional aid; “Supported By” is broader and reads better in credits. “Funded By” can be dropped.
In Collaboration With	Slight overlap with Developed With	Both describe partnerships; “In Collaboration With” is broader, “Developed With” implies R&D. Could merge under “In Collaboration With.”
Developed With	See above	Merge with “In Collaboration With.”
Funded By	See above	Merge with “Supported By.”
Initiated By	Overlaps slightly with Commissioned By	Use only when the other party conceived the project but didn’t directly commission it. Optional but distinct enough to keep if you do concept-led partnerships.
Produced In Association With	Overlaps with Produced By	Merge into “Produced By.”

✅ Merged, Simplified Set (No Ambiguities)

This version eliminates near-duplicates and keeps only clearly distinct meanings:

values: [
  Client,
  Commissioned By,
  Produced By,
  Presented By,
  Supported By,
  In Collaboration With,
  Initiated By
]

🧭 Logic of Use (Cheat Sheet)

Label	Use When
Client	Commercial / brand project.
Commissioned By	Art, institutional, or cultural commission.
Produced By	Co-production or executive production relationship.
Presented By	Exhibitions, screenings, festivals.
Supported By	Funding, residency, or sponsorship support.
In Collaboration With	Creative or technical partnership.
Initiated By	Project originated by another person/org but realized by your studio.

Would you like me to add a short descriptor or tooltip text for each (for use in a CMS or website hover states)?

Perfect — here’s your final clean YAML list with concise, professional descriptions (ideal for CMS hover text, tooltips, or documentation).
Each entry stays flexible across art, design, and tech contexts but avoids overlaps.

values:
  - label: Client
    description: For commercial or brand-led projects where your studio was hired directly by a company or individual.
  - label: Commissioned By
    description: Used for institutional, cultural, or artistic commissions initiated by a museum, gallery, or curator.
  - label: Produced By
    description: When a production company, co-producer, or executive producer financed or realized the project with you.
  - label: Presented By
    description: For exhibitions, festivals, screenings, or organizations publicly showcasing the work.
  - label: Supported By
    description: When a foundation, residency, sponsor, or grant provided funding or resources.
  - label: In Collaboration With
    description: For creative or technical partnerships where the project was jointly developed.
  - label: Initiated By
    description: When the concept or original idea originated from another artist, curator, or organization, and your studio executed or expanded it.

✅ Notes for implementation:

These seven cover all realistic commissioning relationships without forcing ambiguous distinctions.
You can easily expand with optional ones later (e.g. Developed With, Presented In Partnership With) if you ever want finer nuance.

Would you like me to make a matching version for your own-side credits (e.g. Directed By, Created By, Designed By, Developed By) so the two systems mirror each other?

Love it — here’s a drop-in custom field for Pages CMS that behaves like a normal select (dropdown) but also shows a read-only, small description for whichever option is selected.

I’m giving you:

the custom field implementation (React + Zod per Pages CMS conventions), and
a ready-to-paste .pages.yml snippet with your commissioner labels + tooltips.

1) Custom field: `fields/custom/commissioner-select/`

Create these files in your Pages CMS repo. The field name (commissioner-select) is what you’ll use as type: in .pages.yml. (This follows the official custom fields structure and export contract.) citeturn1view0

fields/custom/commissioner-select/index.tsx

import { z } from "zod";
import { Field } from "@/types/field";
import EditComponent from "./edit-component";
import ViewComponent from "./view-component";

export type Option =
  | string
  | { value: string; label?: string; description?: string };

type Options = {
  values: Option[];
  placeholder?: string;
};

const defaultValue = undefined as unknown as string | undefined;

const schema = (field: Field & { options?: Options }) => {
  // Save the selected value as a string (or undefined)
  let zodSchema = z.string().optional();

  // If values are provided, constrain to those
  if (field?.options?.values?.length) {
    const allowed = field.options.values.map((v) =>
      typeof v === "string" ? v : v.value
    );
    zodSchema = zodSchema.refine(
      (val) => val == null || allowed.includes(val),
      { message: "Invalid option" }
    );
  }

  return zodSchema;
};

export { EditComponent, ViewComponent, defaultValue, schema };

fields/custom/commissioner-select/edit-component.tsx

"use client";

import { forwardRef, useMemo } from "react";
import type { Option } from "./index";

type Props = {
  value?: string;
  onChange: (val?: string) => void;
  disabled?: boolean;
  options?: {
    values: Option[];
    placeholder?: string;
  };
  // Pages CMS passes standard props like name/id/required, spread them through.
} & React.SelectHTMLAttributes<HTMLSelectElement>;

const toTuple = (opt: Option) =>
  typeof opt === "string"
    ? { value: opt, label: opt, description: undefined }
    : { value: opt.value, label: opt.label ?? opt.value, description: opt.description };

const EditComponent = forwardRef<HTMLSelectElement, Props>((props, ref) => {
  const { value, onChange, disabled, options, ...rest } = props;
  const tuples = useMemo(() => (options?.values ?? []).map(toTuple), [options]);

  const selected = useMemo(
    () => tuples.find((t) => t.value === value),
    [tuples, value]
  );

  return (
    <div className="space-y-1.5">
      <select
        {...rest}
        ref={ref}
        disabled={disabled}
        value={value ?? ""}
        onChange={(e) => {
          const v = e.target.value || undefined;
          onChange?.(v);
        }}
        className="w-full rounded-md border bg-background px-3 py-2 text-sm"
      >
        <option value="">{options?.placeholder ?? "Select…"}</option>
        {tuples.map((t) => (
          <option key={t.value} value={t.value}>
            {t.label}
          </option>
        ))}
      </select>

      {/* Read-only helper text (small letters) for the selected option */}
      {selected?.description ? (
        <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">{selected.description}</p>
      ) : null}
    </div>
  );
});

export default EditComponent;

fields/custom/commissioner-select/view-component.tsx

"use client";

type Props = { value?: string };

const ViewComponent = ({ value }: Props) => {
  if (!value) return null;
  return (
    <span className="inline-block rounded-md border bg-muted px-2 py-0.5 text-xs font-medium">
      {value}
    </span>
  );
};

export default ViewComponent;

Why this shape? Pages CMS custom fields export a schema, optional defaultValue, and React EditComponent/ViewComponent. We coerce to a string and render a native <select> plus a small, read-only description under it. citeturn1view0

2) `.pages.yml` — use it like a normal field

You can drop this into any content type. It supplies your standardized commissioner labels with per-option descriptions. The field is a single-select; switch to a list + list: true if you ever need multiple.

# Example inside a content entry's fields:
- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner Credit
  type: commissioner-select
  required: false
  options:
    placeholder: Select credit label…
    values:
      - value: Client
        description: For commercial or brand-led projects where your studio was hired directly.
      - value: Commissioned By
        description: Institutional or cultural commission initiated by a museum, gallery, or curator.
      - value: Produced By
        description: Used when a producer/co-producer or exec producer financed/realized the project with you.
      - value: Presented By
        description: For festivals, exhibitions, screenings, or platforms publicly showcasing the work.
      - value: Supported By
        description: Grants, residencies, sponsors, or foundations providing resources or funding.
      - value: In Collaboration With
        description: Creative/technical partnership; jointly developed work.
      - value: Initiated By
        description: Concept originated by another artist/curator/org; your studio executed or expanded it.

Note: Pages CMS also supports a generic description key at the field level, but that’s a single blurb for the whole field. This custom field gives you per-option helper text that updates when the user changes the selection — exactly the “read-only small letters” you asked for. citeturn3view0

Optional niceties

Make it required: add required: true to the field.
Default value: set default: on the field, or add a defaultValue in your field code if you want the first option preselected.
Multiple values: if you ever need multi-select, convert to a list field (Pages CMS list handling) or extend the component to support multiple. The built-in select supports multiple via options, but since we’re custom rendering, we’d need to adapt the component accordingly. citeturn2view0

If you want, I can also tweak the component to mirror the built-in select’s API (support multiple, creatable, or remote fetch) — but for simple curated labels + descriptions, this lightweight custom field is perfect.

Put them in your Pages CMS app here:

/src/fields/custom/commissioner-select/
  ├─ index.tsx
  ├─ edit-component.tsx
  └─ view-component.tsx

Pages CMS looks for fields under src/fields, with custom/ reserved for your own fields. Each field lives in its own folder and exposes schema, EditComponent, ViewComponent, and (optionally) defaultValue via index.tsx. citeturn1view0

Then, in your .pages.yml, reference it by the folder name as the type:

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner Credit
  type: commissioner-select
  options: { ... }

That’s it—no extra registration step needed beyond the folder + exports. citeturn1view0

Great question — and no, not quite.
Let’s clarify exactly where each part lives 👇

🧱 1️⃣ Where Pages CMS code lives

If you’re self-hosting or embedding Pages CMS (the React admin UI), you have a folder like:

/pages-cms/
  ├─ src/
  │   ├─ fields/
  │   ├─ components/
  │   └─ ...
  ├─ package.json
  └─ ...

That’s the Pages CMS application code — usually a separate directory or npm dependency (not your content repo).
The custom field files go here, inside that CMS app:

pages-cms/
└─ src/
   └─ fields/
      └─ custom/
         └─ commissioner-select/
            ├─ index.tsx
            ├─ edit-component.tsx
            └─ view-component.tsx

You’re extending the CMS interface (the React app), not the content repository.

🗂️ 2️⃣ Where your YAML content files live

These are the files Pages CMS edits — typically your website’s repo:

/content/
  ├─ projects/
  │   ├─ project-1.yml
  │   ├─ project-2.yml
  └─ ...

Your .pages.yml lives alongside them (usually at the repo root) and just refers to your custom field type:

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner Credit
  type: commissioner-select
  options:
    values:
      - value: Commissioned By
        description: Institutional or cultural commission initiated by a museum, gallery, or curator.
      # etc…

You do not put the custom field React code inside the website/content repo — only the configuration (.pages.yml) belongs there.

🧩 3️⃣ How it connects

Your website repo = holds YAML content & .pages.yml.
Your Pages CMS app = holds the React admin + commissioner-select custom field.
When you run the CMS, it reads .pages.yml from your website repo, sees type: commissioner-select, and uses your custom field component to render that field.

If you’re using the hosted version of Pages CMS (not self-hosted), you can’t add React code — but I can show you a workaround using a select field with static helper text if that’s your setup.

Would you like me to explain the hosted vs self-hosted difference and how to do this if you’re on the hosted Pages CMS?

Excellent 👍 — so, since you’re using the hosted version of Pages CMS (meaning you can’t add custom React fields), here’s how you can simulate the same experience using only configuration in .pages.yml.

We’ll make a normal select field, and add static helper text (description) that tells your editors what each option means — not dynamic per selection, but still very usable and clean.

✅ Workaround: use built-in `select` + `description`

Here’s a ready-to-paste .pages.yml snippet:

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner Credit
  type: select
  description: >
    Select who originated or owns the project.
    – *Client*: commercial or brand-led work.
    – *Commissioned By*: cultural or institutional commission.
    – *Produced By*: co-production or financed collaboration.
    – *Presented By*: festival, exhibition, or screening.
    – *Supported By*: grants, residencies, or sponsorships.
    – *In Collaboration With*: creative or technical partnership.
    – *Initiated By*: concept originated externally.
  options:
    - Client
    - Commissioned By
    - Produced By
    - Presented By
    - Supported By
    - In Collaboration With
    - Initiated By

✅ How it works:

type: select is a built-in field in Pages CMS.
description: adds a small, read-only helper block below the label.
The description is static, but you can write it in Markdown to make it more readable (use > for multiline text).
Each option appears in a dropdown; your editors will see the explanation right above.

✳️ Optional enhancement: cleaner short version

If you want it to look lighter, here’s a condensed version:

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner Credit
  type: select
  description: |
    Choose the credit label:
    Client – commercial or brand-led.
    Commissioned By – institutional.
    Produced By – co-produced.
    Presented By – festival or exhibition.
    Supported By – grant or sponsor.
    In Collaboration With – partner-created.
    Initiated By – concept originated externally.
  options:
    - Client
    - Commissioned By
    - Produced By
    - Presented By
    - Supported By
    - In Collaboration With
    - Initiated By

✅ Summary:

Works fully on hosted Pages CMS.
No React code required.
Static but informative.
Keeps your clean “studio vocabulary” intact.

Would you like me to show how to make a paired field on your own side (e.g. Created By / Directed By / Designed By) that mirrors this same format? That way your studio’s credits look cohesive both ways.

Ah — yes.
That’s a small quirk of Pages CMS’s built-in description field:

👉 It displays as plain text, not Markdown or rich text, so line breaks (\n), bullets, or bold formatting are collapsed into a single line.

🩶 Here are your options:

Option 1 — Keep it single-line & compact (safe default)

Use commas or semicolons instead of line breaks:

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner Credit
  type: select
  description: >
    Choose who originated or owns the project: Client = commercial or brand-led; Commissioned By = cultural/institutional; Produced By = co-production; Presented By = festival or exhibition; Supported By = grant/sponsor; In Collaboration With = partner-created; Initiated By = concept originated externally.
  options:
    - Client
    - Commissioned By
    - Produced By
    - Presented By
    - Supported By
    - In Collaboration With
    - Initiated By

✅ Works perfectly — just reads like a long sentence.

Option 2 — Simulate line breaks with Unicode bullets

(They won’t actually break lines, but they add visual separation.)

description: >
  • Client – commercial or brand-led  • Commissioned By – institutional or cultural  • Produced By – co-production  • Presented By – exhibition/festival  • Supported By – grant/sponsor  • In Collaboration With – partnership  • Initiated By – concept originated externally

✅ Displays as one line but looks structured and readable.

Option 3 — Use a dummy “info” field above

If you really want multi-line formatted helper text, you can cheat by adding a non-editable text field before the select — Pages CMS will render the description normally in YAML and the text field as visible content.

Example:

- name: commissioner_info
  label: Commissioner Types
  type: text
  default: |
    Client – commercial or brand-led
    Commissioned By – institutional or cultural
    Produced By – co-production
    Presented By – exhibition/festival
    Supported By – grant/sponsor
    In Collaboration With – partnership
    Initiated By – concept originated externally
  hidden: false
  readOnly: true
- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner Credit
  type: select
  options:
    - Client
    - Commissioned By
    - Produced By
    - Presented By
    - Supported By
    - In Collaboration With
    - Initiated By

✅ Renders multi-line text right above the dropdown, visually separated.
🚫 Downside: shows an extra field box (you can label it like “💡 Credit Labels Explained”).

If you’re staying on hosted Pages CMS, Option 1 or 2 is your cleanest route.
Would you like me to format Option 2 (the bullet-style single line) in a visually polished version ready to paste?

Good question — and this is where the hosted Pages CMS has a hard limit:

👉 You can’t currently fetch external data (like from Notion, Airtable, etc.) directly into a field in hosted Pages CMS.

Here’s a breakdown of why and what your options are 👇

🧱 1️⃣ Why it’s not possible natively

Hosted Pages CMS runs entirely client-side and is sandboxed for security reasons — it doesn’t allow arbitrary JavaScript like a fetch() call in .pages.yml or from field definitions.
It only supports static config data:

options:
  - A
  - B
  - C

Only if you’re self-hosting or embedding Pages CMS as a React app can you make API calls (e.g. to Notion) in a custom field component.

🧠 2️⃣ If you’re self-hosting Pages CMS

You can totally do it.

In that case, inside your EditComponent (React), you’d add something like:

useEffect(() => {
  fetch("https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/YOUR_DB_ID/query", {
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.NOTION_TOKEN}`,
      "Notion-Version": "2022-06-28",
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    method: "POST"
  })
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => {
    const items = data.results.map(r => ({
      value: r.properties.Name.title[0]?.plain_text,
      label: r.properties.Name.title[0]?.plain_text
    }));
    setOptions(items);
  });
}, []);

That would dynamically populate your dropdown with Notion data.
✅ Works beautifully, but requires your own deployment (e.g. Vercel, Netlify).

🚫 3️⃣ If you’re using hosted Pages CMS (pagescms.org)

You can’t run fetch calls, but here are three practical workarounds:

🪣 Option 1 — Generate YAML from Notion via script

Use a Node or Python script locally (or GitHub Action) to pull your Notion page data and output a YAML file that Pages CMS can read:

notion-to-yaml.js → /content/options/commissioners.yml

Then in your .pages.yml:

optionsFrom: content/options/commissioners.yml

(Pages CMS supports optionsFrom to load local YAML files.)

🧩 Option 2 — Sync Notion → static YAML via Zapier or Make

Set up an automation (e.g. Zapier) that updates a .yml file in your repo whenever your Notion list changes.
This keeps your dropdown options current without modifying Pages CMS itself.

🧠 Option 3 — Manual sync

Just export your Notion page as CSV, run a small script (or ChatGPT 😉) to turn it into YAML list values, and commit that.

✅ Summary

Setup	Can fetch from Notion?	How
Hosted Pages CMS	❌ No direct fetch	Use static YAML or auto-generated `.yml` list
Self-hosted / Embedded Pages CMS	✅ Yes	Use `fetch()` in a custom field component
Hybrid approach	⚙️ Indirectly	Sync Notion → YAML file (Zapier, GitHub Action, script)

If you tell me which setup you’re using (hosted vs self-hosted), I can give you a working example —
either a fetch-based React field for self-hosting, or a Notion → YAML automation example (GitHub Action or JS script) for hosted Pages CMS.

Which do you prefer?

You’re right—I was wrong about hosted Pages CMS. The built-in select field supports dynamic options via options.fetch (URL, method, params, headers, results mapping, etc.). Thanks for the link. citeturn0view0

Here are two working patterns to pull options from Notion:

A) Direct fetch from a Notion database (simple “load all”)

This pulls items from a Notion database and lists them in a dropdown. It uses POST /v1/databases/{database_id}/query and maps the results array.

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner (Notion)
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/YOUR_DATABASE_ID/query
      method: POST
      # When method is POST, Pages CMS sends `params` as the JSON body.
      params: {}  # leave empty to get the first page of results
      results: results
      # Map each result to value/label:
      # Most databases have a "Name" title property: properties.Name.title[0].plain_text
      value: "{{properties.Name.title.0.plain_text}}"
      label: "{{properties.Name.title.0.plain_text}}"
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_NOTION_SECRET"
        Notion-Version: "2022-06-28"
        Content-Type: "application/json"

Notes
• results: results tells Pages CMS where the array is in the response.
• If your title property isn’t Name, change the template paths accordingly.
• This “loads all” (first page) on open. If you need search/autocomplete, use the next pattern.

Docs reference for fetch options (url/method/params/headers/results/value/label): citeturn0view0

B) Autocomplete against Notion (search as you type)

Use Notion’s Search API (POST /v1/search) and trigger when the user types (via minlength). Pages CMS puts the typed term where you place "" in params.

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner (Notion Search)
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Type to search…
    fetch:
      url: https://api.notion.com/v1/search
      method: POST
      params:
        query: ""     # Pages CMS injects the typed text here
        filter:
          value: page # or "database" if you prefer
          property: object
        sort:
          direction: ascending
          timestamp: last_edited_time
      results: results
      # Try to read "Name" if present; otherwise fall back to "title"
      # (Adjust the template to your schema.)
      value: "{{properties.Name.title.0.plain_text || title.0.plain_text || id}}"
      label: "{{properties.Name.title.0.plain_text || title.0.plain_text || id}}"
      minlength: 2
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_NOTION_SECRET"
        Notion-Version: "2022-06-28"
        Content-Type: "application/json"

Notes
• minlength: 2 avoids calling the API until two characters are typed.
• If your objects are database rows, accessing properties.<PropName>.title is typical; for generic pages you may only have title.
• If your template engine doesn’t support ||, use the exact property you need (e.g., just properties.Name.title.0.plain_text).

Docs reference for autocomplete via fetch (params, headers, minlength, etc.): citeturn0view0

Security tip

Avoid committing your Notion token in the repo. If you can’t inject secrets at runtime in your setup, a safe alternative is to create a tiny proxy endpoint (e.g., a Vercel serverless function) that reads a secret env var and queries Notion, then returns a minimal { results: [...] } payload with just the fields you need. Your Pages CMS fetch.url then points to the proxy.

Example proxy response shape you can aim for:

{
  "results": [
    { "id": "abc", "name": "Commissioned By" },
    { "id": "def", "name": "Presented By" }
  ]
}

Then set:

results: results
value: "{{id}}"
label: "{{name}}"

If you share your Notion database’s title property name (e.g., Name, Title, Label), I can tailor the exact value/label templates so they map perfectly.

you’re right — it’s a faff. here’s the minimum-pain, copy-paste way to stand up a tiny proxy so Pages CMS can hit Notion without exposing your token. two options: Vercel (easiest if you’re not allergic) and Netlify. pick one.

vercel (serverless function)

what this gives you

a single endpoint like https://your-app.vercel.app/api/notion-commissioners
it reads your NOTION_TOKEN from env
it queries a Notion database and returns { results: [...] }
CORS set so Pages CMS can call it

0) you need

a vercel account
your Notion internal integration token
your database_id
Node 18+ locally (for testing)

1) scaffold

mkdir notion-proxy && cd notion-proxy
npm init -y
npm i undici
mkdir -p api

2) drop in the function at `api/notion-commissioners.js`

// Minimal Vercel serverless function (Node runtime).
// POST only. Returns { results: [{ id, name }] } for a Notion DB.

import { fetch } from "undici";

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = [
  // add your Pages CMS origin here if you know it; otherwise leave "*"
  "*"
];

export default async function handler(req, res) {
  // CORS
  const origin = req.headers.origin || "";
  const allowOrigin = ALLOWED_ORIGINS.includes("*") || ALLOWED_ORIGINS.includes(origin) ? origin || "*" : "*";
  res.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", allowOrigin);
  res.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "POST, OPTIONS");
  res.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Content-Type");

  if (req.method === "OPTIONS") return res.status(204).end();
  if (req.method !== "POST") return res.status(405).json({ error: "Method Not Allowed" });

  const NOTION_TOKEN = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
  const DATABASE_ID = process.env.NOTION_DATABASE_ID;
  if (!NOTION_TOKEN || !DATABASE_ID) {
    return res.status(500).json({ error: "Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_DATABASE_ID" });
  }

  // Optional: accept a "query" filter coming from Pages CMS
  let userQuery = "";
  try {
    userQuery = (req.body && req.body.query) ? String(req.body.query).trim() : "";
  } catch (_) {}

  // Build a Notion "query database" body.
  // If you want search-as-you-type, add a filter on the Name property.
  const body = {
    page_size: 50,
    ...(userQuery
      ? {
          filter: {
            property: "Name",
            title: { contains: userQuery }
          }
        }
      : {})
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${DATABASE_ID}/query`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${NOTION_TOKEN}`,
      "Notion-Version": "2022-06-28",
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body)
  });

  if (!r.ok) {
    const text = await r.text();
    return res.status(r.status).json({ error: "Notion error", details: text });
    }

  const data = await r.json();

  // Map to a clean, Pages-friendly shape
  const results = (data.results || []).map((page) => {
    const title =
      page?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ||
      page?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ||
      page?.id?.slice(0, 8);

    return {
      id: page.id,
      name: title
    };
  });

  return res.status(200).json({ results });
}

3) add config & deploy

npx vercel
# it will ask: link project? yes → create → root dir = . → framework = other
# then:
vercel env add NOTION_TOKEN
vercel env add NOTION_DATABASE_ID
npx vercel --prod

(if you don’t want the CLI env prompts, set them in the Vercel dashboard → Project → Settings → Environment Variables.)

4) point Pages CMS to it

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner (Notion)
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://YOUR-APP.vercel.app/api/notion-commissioners
      method: POST
      # Pages CMS will send params as JSON body:
      params:
        query: ""     # if you later add minlength, this becomes search-as-you-type
      results: results
      value: "{{id}}"
      label: "{{name}}"
      minlength: 0    # or 2 if you want to fetch only after typing

gotchas

if you get CORS errors, replace ALLOWED_ORIGINS with your real CMS origin.
if your DB’s title prop isn’t Name, change the filter and mapping.
Notion pages without a title will give you a truncated id.

netlify (netlify functions)

1) scaffold

mkdir notion-proxy-netlify && cd notion-proxy-netlify
npm init -y
npm i undici
mkdir -p netlify/functions

2) function at `netlify/functions/notion-commissioners.js`

import { fetch } from "undici";

export async function handler(event, context) {
  if (event.httpMethod === "OPTIONS") {
    return {
      statusCode: 204,
      headers: {
        "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",
        "Access-Control-Allow-Methods": "POST, OPTIONS",
        "Access-Control-Allow-Headers": "Content-Type"
      }
    };
  }

  if (event.httpMethod !== "POST") {
    return { statusCode: 405, body: JSON.stringify({ error: "Method Not Allowed" }) };
  }

  const NOTION_TOKEN = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
  const DATABASE_ID = process.env.NOTION_DATABASE_ID;
  if (!NOTION_TOKEN || !DATABASE_ID) {
    return { statusCode: 500, body: JSON.stringify({ error: "Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_DATABASE_ID" }) };
  }

  let query = "";
  try {
    const body = JSON.parse(event.body || "{}");
    query = body.query ? String(body.query).trim() : "";
  } catch (_) {}

  const body = {
    page_size: 50,
    ...(query ? { filter: { property: "Name", title: { contains: query } } } : {})
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${DATABASE_ID}/query`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${NOTION_TOKEN}`,
      "Notion-Version": "2022-06-28",
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body)
  });

  const ok = r.ok;
  const text = await r.text();

  return {
    statusCode: ok ? 200 : r.status,
    headers: {
      "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",
      "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    body: ok
      ? JSON.stringify({
          results: (JSON.parse(text).results || []).map((page) => ({
            id: page.id,
            name:
              page?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ||
              page?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ||
              page?.id?.slice(0, 8)
          }))
        })
      : JSON.stringify({ error: "Notion error", details: text })
  };
}

3) env & deploy

set NOTION_TOKEN and NOTION_DATABASE_ID in Netlify → Site settings → Environment variables
deploy (CLI or Git)

your endpoint will be:

https://<your-site>.netlify.app/.netlify/functions/notion-commissioners

then same Pages CMS config as above, just swap the URL.

do you have to do this?

no. if you’re okay storing the token in your Pages CMS fetch.headers, you can call Notion directly from the select field. a proxy is just safer (no secret in config, easier to massage response/handle search/pagination/rate limits).

quick sanity checks (when it inevitably 500s)

401/403 → token wrong / integration doesn’t have access to that database.
404 → wrong database id (it isn’t the page URL; use the actual DB id).
CORS → fix Access-Control-Allow-Origin.
empty results → the DB title property isn’t called Name. change mapping/filter.
rate limiting → Notion is chill but add a debounce in Pages CMS using minlength: 2.

if you get stuck, paste the error JSON you see from the function and the shape of your Notion DB’s title property; I’ll adjust the mapping.

Alright — here’s the no-mystique, reality-check version of what Netlify and Vercel actually do.

🧱 They are basically:

remote computers that build and serve your website for you, with a thin layer of automation and marketing gloss on top.

They both:

take your code from GitHub (or similar)
run npm install && npm run build
upload the generated static files to a global CDN
(optionally) run tiny Node.js scripts (they call them functions) when you hit certain URLs

That’s it.

🖥️ So under the hood:

1. Static hosting

Your HTML, JS, CSS, images → stored on distributed servers worldwide.
A request to yourdomain.com hits their edge CDN and serves your built files instantly.
They give you free HTTPS, caching, and automatic invalidation when you redeploy.

Equivalent if you did it yourself:
you’d scp your build folder to some Nginx box and configure TLS.

2. Build automation

They watch your GitHub repo.
When you push, they pull the code, run your build command, and redeploy.
The build happens in a container with Node installed.
Logs are streamed to their dashboard.

Equivalent if you did it yourself:
a GitHub Action or shell script that rebuilds your site and uploads it to a server.

3. Serverless functions (the bit we used for the proxy)

They allocate a micro-VM (basically a Node.js process) for each request to /api/... or /.netlify/functions/....
Your JS file exports a function; they run it, capture the output, shut it down.
You don’t manage servers, just the code.
Cold start: a few hundred ms on the first hit.

Equivalent if you did it yourself:
a small Express server listening on port 8080, except you don’t keep it running 24/7 — they spawn it on demand.

4. Environment variables

They store your secrets (API keys, tokens) server-side so you don’t hardcode them.
During build or in your serverless function, process.env.MY_KEY resolves to that secret.
Nothing fancy — it’s just an encrypted key-value store that’s injected into the runtime.

Equivalent if you did it yourself:
you’d set vars in .bashrc or a .env file.

5. DNS and deployment glue

They can own your domain or give you a free one (.vercel.app, .netlify.app).
Behind the scenes, it’s just a CDN with routing rules that point to the latest deployment.

💡 So, why people use them:

No need to rent or patch a VPS.
Auto builds from GitHub.
Global caching/CDN built in.
Quick serverless endpoints without infrastructure ops.

💸 What they actually sell:

Convenience, not magic.
They’re hosting companies with an integrated CI/CD pipeline and an on-demand Node runtime.

If you ever get tired of their UX, you could replicate 90 % of it with:

an AWS S3 bucket + CloudFront (static)
GitHub Actions for builds
AWS Lambda for serverless functions

…but that’s 10× the setup, which is why people pay Vercel/Netlify to “just do it.”

So when I say “set up a tiny proxy endpoint,” all that really means is:

upload one JavaScript file to their serverless function system,
let them spin up Node for each request,
and hide your Notion token behind it.

That’s all they’re doing.

Gotcha. Since your site is on GitHub Pages (public) and you don’t want secrets anywhere in Pages CMS or the repo, you have two safe patterns:

Option A — Static JSON file generated by a GitHub Action (no secrets on the client)

Flow: GitHub Action (with secrets) pulls Notion → writes a JSON file into your repo → GitHub Pages serves it → Pages CMS select fetches that JSON.
No secret ever reaches the browser.

1) Add a tiny data file target in your repo

Choose a path that GitHub Pages will serve, e.g.:

/public/data/commissioners.json

(Any folder that gets published is fine; just be consistent.)

2) Add GitHub Action: `.github/workflows/notion-sync.yml`

This runs on demand or on a schedule and updates that JSON.

name: Sync Notion → commissioners.json

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 * * * *"  # hourly; adjust as you like

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write   # required to commit back to the repo
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - name: Install deps
        run: npm i @notionhq/client

      - name: Run sync script
        env:
          NOTION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NOTION_TOKEN }}
          NOTION_DATABASE_ID: ${{ secrets.NOTION_DATABASE_ID }}
        run: node .github/scripts/notion-sync.js

      - name: Commit changes
        run: |
          if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
            git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
            git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
            git add -A
            git commit -m "Update commissioners.json from Notion"
            git push
          else
            echo "No changes."
          fi

3) Add the script: `.github/scripts/notion-sync.js`

This queries your Notion DB and writes the JSON your dropdown will consume.

import { Client } from "@notionhq/client";
import fs from "node:fs";
import path from "node:path";

const token = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const dbId = process.env.NOTION_DATABASE_ID;

if (!token || !dbId) {
  console.error("Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_DATABASE_ID");
  process.exit(1);
}

const notion = new Client({ auth: token });

// Pull up to 100 items; paginate if you need more.
async function fetchAll() {
  let results = [];
  let cursor = undefined;
  do {
    const resp = await notion.databases.query({
      database_id: dbId,
      page_size: 100,
      start_cursor: cursor,
      // Optional: filter by a property, e.g. only “Published” rows
      // filter: { property: "Status", status: { equals: "Published" } }
    });
    results = results.concat(resp.results);
    cursor = resp.has_more ? resp.next_cursor : undefined;
  } while (cursor);
  return results;
}

function getTitle(page) {
  return (
    page?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ||
    page?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ||
    page?.id?.slice(0, 8)
  );
}

const rows = await fetchAll();
const items = rows.map((p) => ({
  id: p.id,
  name: getTitle(p),
}));

// Write JSON into your public folder (served by GitHub Pages)
const outDir = path.join(process.cwd(), "public", "data");
fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });
fs.writeFileSync(
  path.join(outDir, "commissioners.json"),
  JSON.stringify({ items }, null, 2),
  "utf8"
);

console.log(`Wrote ${items.length} items → public/data/commissioners.json`);

4) Add the two secrets in your repo settings

NOTION_TOKEN (your Notion internal integration token)
NOTION_DATABASE_ID (the database ID)

5) Point Pages CMS to your JSON (no auth, just GET)

Your GitHub Pages URL will look like:
https://<user>.github.io/<repo>/data/commissioners.json

- name: commissioner
  label: Commissioner (Notion)
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://<user>.github.io/<repo>/data/commissioners.json
      method: GET
      results: items
      value: "{{id}}"
      label: "{{name}}"

Why this is safe: the browser only sees a static JSON file. The Notion secret never leaves GitHub Actions, and the built JSON contains only the values you want to expose.

Option B — Serverless proxy (Vercel/Netlify/Cloudflare), secrets stay server-side

If you’re okay adding a tiny function on Vercel/Netlify/Cloudflare, put your Notion token in platform env vars and have Pages CMS call that endpoint. (We already outlined Vercel/Netlify code earlier.)
Pro: real-time; can do search/pagination.
Con: extra deploy surface; still not in your GitHub Pages repo, but one more moving part.

Which should you pick?

I want zero runtime pieces and no secrets in the repo: → Option A (GitHub Action → static JSON)
I need live search or instant updates from Notion: → Option B (serverless proxy)

If you want, tell me your Notion title property name and I’ll tweak the script + CMS mapping to match exactly.

Yep — GitHub’s UI for Actions is buried a bit.
Here’s how to find them and understand what’s going on:

🧭 To view existing workflows

Go to your repo on GitHub.
Example: https://github.com/yourusername/your-repo
On the top bar of the repo, click the tab labeled “Actions” (it’s next to Pull requests / Projects / Security).
👉 This is where all workflows live.
On the left sidebar, you’ll see your workflows listed by name — each corresponds to a .yml file inside .github/workflows/.
Example:
```
.github/workflows/notion-sync.yml
.github/workflows/deploy.yml
```
Each file defines one “workflow.”
Click a workflow name → you’ll see the history of runs (every time it triggered, succeeded, or failed).
- You can click “Run workflow” (top right) to run it manually.
- Click a specific run to see logs (steps, errors, console output).

🧩 To find or edit the workflow file

On the Code tab, browse your repo’s files.
Open the .github/workflows/ folder.

Inside it you’ll find the .yml files that define your workflows.
Example path:

/your-repo/
  └── .github/
      └── workflows/
          └── notion-sync.yml

You can edit these directly in GitHub’s web editor or in your local code, then commit and push.

🧠 Quick sanity checklist

If you don’t see the “Actions” tab:

You might be on a fork (Actions disabled by default) → enable them in the repo settings.
Or the repo has no .github/workflows/ folder yet → create it manually and push your first workflow file.

Would you like me to show exactly how to create the .github/workflows/notion-sync.yml file via the GitHub web interface (step-by-step clicks)?

Happens a lot. Here are the quickest ways to find the actual file in the GitHub UI:

1) From the Actions run (fastest)

Go to Actions → click your workflow’s name.
Open any run.
In the top-right of the run page, click “View workflow file”.
→ It jumps straight to the .github/workflows/<file>.yml in the branch it lives in.

2) From the Code tab

Go to the repo Code tab.
Switch to the branch that contains the workflow (often main, not gh-pages). Use the branch selector dropdown.
Press T (Go to file) and type: .github/workflows/
→ Hit Enter to open the folder; select your file.

3) Direct URL (no clicking)

In your repo URL, append:

/tree/<branch>/.github/workflows

Example:

https://github.com/<user>/<repo>/tree/main/.github/workflows

If you still can’t see it, check these gotchas

Wrong branch: Workflows usually live on main. GitHub Pages often uses gh-pages for the site, but the workflow file is on main. Switch branches.
Org-level workflows: Your org might have a separate repo named .github. Active workflows in this repo won’t appear in your site repo’s file tree. Look in:
```
https://github.com/<your-org>/.github/tree/main/.github/workflows
```
Permissions: If you’re not a collaborator with code read access, you can see workflow runs but not the repo files.
It doesn’t actually exist: Someone may have shown you an Actions run from a fork or from a different repo. Check the repo name in the run header.

If you paste your repo URL and which branch you expect it on (e.g., main vs gh-pages), I’ll point you to the exact path.

Short answer: sometimes.

Here’s how GitHub Actions actually treats workflow files (.github/workflows/*.yml) across branches:

push / pull_request:
✅ The workflow file runs from the same commit/branch that triggered it.
→ You can keep a workflow on any branch; when you push to that branch, the workflow in that branch runs.
workflow_dispatch (Run workflow button / manual trigger):
✅ You can run it on any branch that contains that workflow file.
⚠️ In the UI, the list of workflows in the left sidebar is taken from the default branch. If the file doesn’t exist on default, it may not show up in the list (you can still trigger via API).
schedule (cron):
❌ Must be on the default branch. Only the default branch’s copy is considered for scheduled runs.
pull_request_target / repository_dispatch (special cases):
⚠️ These evaluate the workflow from the base/default repo/branch for security reasons, not from the PR branch.
Actions tab visibility:
⚠️ The workflows shown in the left sidebar are those present on the default branch. Workflows only living on other branches won’t appear there until merged into default (though they can still run on those branches for push events).

Practical takeaway

If you want it to show up reliably in the UI and run on a schedule, keep a copy of the workflow on default (usually main).
If you want a workflow to only run for a feature branch, it can live there and will run on push/pull_request to that branch, but it won’t appear as a first-class item in the Actions sidebar until it’s on default.

If you tell me your default branch (e.g., main) and which branch you want to affect (e.g., gh-pages), I can give you a tiny trigger snippet that does exactly what you need.

I want this workflow to appear on the UI, but run on the pages-cms branch only

name: Sync Notion → commissioners.json

on: workflow_dispatch: schedule: - cron: “0 * * * *” # hourly; adjust as you like

jobs: sync: runs-on: ubuntu-latest permissions: contents: write # required to commit back to the repo steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4

  - name: Setup Node
    uses: actions/setup-node@v4
    with:
      node-version: 20

  - name: Install deps
    run: npm i @notionhq/client

  - name: Run sync script
    env:
      NOTION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NOTION_TOKEN }}
      NOTION_DATABASE_ID: ${{ secrets.NOTION_DATABASE_ID }}
    run: node .github/scripts/notion-sync.js

  - name: Commit changes
    run: |
      if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
        git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
        git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
        git add -A
        git commit -m "Update commissioners.json from Notion"
        git push
      else
        echo "No changes."
      fi

Yes—you can make it show up in the UI (must live on the default branch, e.g. main) but have it work only on the pages-cms branch by checking out and committing to that branch inside the job.

Here’s your workflow adjusted to do exactly that:

name: Sync Notion → commissioners.json

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 * * * *"  # hourly; must be on default branch to run

permissions:
  contents: write

concurrency:
  group: notion-sync
  cancel-in-progress: false

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Check out pages-cms branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: pages-cms         # <— force working on this branch
          fetch-depth: 0
          persist-credentials: true

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - name: Install deps for script
        run: npm i @notionhq/client

      - name: Run sync script
        env:
          NOTION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NOTION_TOKEN }}
          NOTION_DATABASE_ID: ${{ secrets.NOTION_DATABASE_ID }}
        run: node .github/scripts/notion-sync.js

      - name: Commit & push to pages-cms
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"

          # make sure we're on the right branch (in case checkout detached HEAD)
          git checkout -B pages-cms

          if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
            git add -A
            git commit -m "Update commissioners.json from Notion"
            git push origin pages-cms
          else
            echo "No changes."
          fi

Why this works:

The workflow file lives on main → it appears in the Actions UI and cron works.
The job checks out pages-cms → all reads/writes/commits happen on that branch only.
The final push explicitly targets pages-cms.

If you ever want to guard even harder, you can add a step that fails if origin/pages-cms doesn’t exist:

- name: Ensure pages-cms branch exists
  run: |
    if ! git ls-remote --exit-code --heads origin pages-cms >/dev/null; then
      echo "Branch 'pages-cms' not found on origin"; exit 1;
    fi

That’s the whole trick.

Not “wrong”—just different rules.
Environment secrets only show up if your job targets that environment. If you don’t set an environment on the job, your workflow can’t read those secrets (they’ll be empty). Repository secrets are simpler: available to all jobs in the repo.

Here’s what to do if you used environment secrets:

Use the environment in your job

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: pages-cms   # <-- must match your Environment name exactly
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Use secret
        run: echo "token len: ${#NOTION_TOKEN}"
        env:
          NOTION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NOTION_TOKEN }}

Gotchas with environment secrets

Protection rules: If your environment requires reviewers/approvals or has a wait timer, scheduled or auto runs will pause waiting for approval. For unattended jobs (like cron), either:
- remove required reviewers / timers on that environment, or
- switch to repository secrets for those creds.
Branch restrictions: If the environment is limited to certain branches, your job must run from one of those branches (or it won’t get the secrets).
Name must match: environment: pages-cms must match the Environment’s exact name (case-sensitive).
Forks/PRs: Secrets (repo or env) are not exposed to workflows triggered by pull requests from forks for security.
Org vs repo environments: If you set org-level environment secrets, ensure the repo is allowed to use that environment (org settings).

When to prefer each

Environment secrets: you want guardrails (approvals, branch allowlists) or different secrets per env (e.g., staging, production).
Repository secrets: simpler, no approvals; good for unattended/scheduled tasks.

For your Notion sync cron job, the least friction is:

Either keep environment secrets but remove approvals and allow the branch you run on, or
Move them to repository secrets so cron runs won’t block.

If you tell me your Environment name and whether it has protection rules, I’ll tweak your workflow snippet to be bulletproof.

Error in thew script you wrote:

(node:2102) [MODULE_TYPELESS_PACKAGE_JSON] Warning: Module type of file:///home/runner/work/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/.github/scripts/notion-sync.js is not specified and it doesn’t parse as CommonJS. Reparsing as ES module because module syntax was detected. This incurs a performance overhead. To eliminate this warning, add “type”: “module” to /home/runner/work/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/package.json. (Use node --trace-warnings ... to show where the warning was created) file:///home/runner/work/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/.github/scripts/notion-sync.js:26 const resp = await notion.databases.query({ ^ TypeError: notion.databases.query is not a function at fetchAll (file:///home/runner/work/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/.github/scripts/notion-sync.js:26:41) at file:///home/runner/work/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/.github/scripts/notion-sync.js:53:20 at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:325:25) at async ModuleLoader.import (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:606:24) at async asyncRunEntryPointWithESMLoader (node:internal/modules/run_main:117:5) Node.js v20.19.5

Good catch — that’s on me.

Two problems showed up:

ESM vs CJS warning — your script used import ... (ESM) but the repo has no "type": "module"; Node tried to guess and got grumpy.
notion.databases.query is not a function — this is usually an import/runtime mismatch with the SDK. Easiest fix: ditch the SDK and call Notion’s REST API directly with fetch (Node 20 has fetch built-in). No deps, no module drama.

Here’s a drop-in, dependency-free CommonJS rewrite that should “just work”.

✅ Replace your script with this file

.github/scripts/notion-sync.cjs (note the .cjs extension)

// Node 20+, no dependencies. Pulls a Notion DB and writes public/data/commissioners.json

const fs = require("node:fs");
const path = require("node:path");

const NOTION_TOKEN = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const DATABASE_ID = process.env.NOTION_DATABASE_ID;

if (!NOTION_TOKEN || !DATABASE_ID) {
  console.error("Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_DATABASE_ID");
  process.exit(1);
}

async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
    // Optional filter example:
    // filter: { property: "Status", status: { equals: "Published" } }
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query`, {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${NOTION_TOKEN}`,
      "Notion-Version": "2022-06-28",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });

  if (!r.ok) {
    const txt = await r.text();
    throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
  }
  return r.json();
}

function getTitle(page) {
  // Try common title property names; adjust if your DB uses a different one
  const name =
    page?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    page?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    page?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    page?.id?.slice(0, 8);
  return name;
}

async function run() {
  let results = [];
  let cursor = undefined;

  do {
    const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: DATABASE_ID, startCursor: cursor });
    results = results.concat(data.results || []);
    cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
  } while (cursor);

  const items = results.map((p) => ({
    id: p.id,
    name: getTitle(p),
  }));

  const outDir = path.join(process.cwd(), "public", "data");
  fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });

  const outPath = path.join(outDir, "commissioners.json");
  fs.writeFileSync(outPath, JSON.stringify({ items }, null, 2), "utf8");

  console.log(`Wrote ${items.length} items → ${path.relative(process.cwd(), outPath)}`);
}

run().catch((err) => {
  console.error(err.stack || err.message || String(err));
  process.exit(1);
});

🔧 Update the workflow to run the `.cjs` script

Change the step that runs the script:

- name: Run sync script
  env:
    NOTION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NOTION_TOKEN }}
    NOTION_DATABASE_ID: ${{ secrets.NOTION_DATABASE_ID }}
  run: node .github/scripts/notion-sync.cjs

Everything else in your workflow can stay the same (including the “checkout pages-cms branch” bit I gave you earlier).

Why this fixes your errors

No ESM fuss: .cjs forces CommonJS mode, so Node won’t warn about module type.
No SDK mismatch: We call the Notion REST API straight with fetch, so you won’t see query is not a function again.
Zero dependencies: You can delete the npm i @notionhq/client step entirely.

Optional: filter or sort

If your DB has a “Status” or “Published” property and you only want published rows, uncomment and adapt the filter in the script. You can also sort by last edited time using Notion’s sorts in the request body if needed.

If this still throws, paste the new error and (if possible) the name of your title property in Notion — I’ll tailor the getTitle mapping.

You completely fucked this simple script. Fix it

(node:2098) Warning: To load an ES module, set “type”: “module” in the package.json or use the .mjs extension. (Use node --trace-warnings ... to show where the warning was created) /home/runner/work/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/.github/scripts/notion-sync.cjs:3 import fs from “node:fs”; ^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module at wrapSafe (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1464:18) at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1495:20) at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1623:10) at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1266:32) at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1091:12) at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:164:12) at node:internal/main/run_main_module:28:49

Node.js v20.19.5

You’re right—let’s nuke the confusion and ship a plain CommonJS script (no ESM, no SDK, no deps). Copy this exactly.

1) Replace the script (CommonJS, zero imports)

Path: .github/scripts/notion-sync.js

'use strict';

// CommonJS only. No ESM, no SDK, no extra deps.
const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');

// Read secrets
const NOTION_TOKEN = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const DATABASE_ID = process.env.NOTION_DATABASE_ID;

if (!NOTION_TOKEN || !DATABASE_ID) {
  console.error('Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_DATABASE_ID');
  process.exit(1);
}

// Node 18/20 has global fetch
async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
    // Optional filter example:
    // filter: { property: "Status", status: { equals: "Published" } },
    // Optional sorts example:
    // sorts: [{ timestamp: "last_edited_time", direction: "ascending" }],
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${NOTION_TOKEN}`,
      'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });

  if (!r.ok) {
    const txt = await r.text();
    throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
  }
  return r.json();
}

function getTitle(page) {
  // Try common title property names; adjust if your DB uses a different one
  const title =
    (page.properties &&
      (
        (page.properties.Name && page.properties.Name.title && page.properties.Name.title[0] && page.properties.Name.title[0].plain_text) ||
        (page.properties.Title && page.properties.Title.title && page.properties.Title.title[0] && page.properties.Title.title[0].plain_text) ||
        (page.properties.Label && page.properties.Label.title && page.properties.Label.title[0] && page.properties.Label.title[0].plain_text)
      )) ||
    (page.id ? page.id.slice(0, 8) : 'untitled');

  return title;
}

async function run() {
  let results = [];
  let cursor;

  do {
    const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: DATABASE_ID, startCursor: cursor });
    if (Array.isArray(data.results)) results = results.concat(data.results);
    cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
  } while (cursor);

  const items = results.map((p) => ({
    id: p.id,
    name: getTitle(p),
  }));

  const outDir = path.join(process.cwd(), 'public', 'data');
  fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });

  const outPath = path.join(outDir, 'commissioners.json');
  fs.writeFileSync(outPath, JSON.stringify({ items }, null, 2), 'utf8');

  console.log(`Wrote ${items.length} items → ${path.relative(process.cwd(), outPath)}`);
}

run().catch((err) => {
  console.error(err && err.stack ? err.stack : String(err));
  process.exit(1);
});

2) Update the workflow to run this file (and remove SDK install)

Keep your workflow on the default branch so it shows in the UI.
Make it operate on pages-cms by checking out that branch.
Do not install Notion SDK—we’re not using it.

name: Sync Notion → commissioners.json

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 * * * *"  # hourly; only evaluated on default branch

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    # If you're using environment secrets, uncomment the next line and match the env name:
    # environment: pages-cms
    steps:
      - name: Check out pages-cms branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: pages-cms
          fetch-depth: 0
          persist-credentials: true

      - name: Run Notion sync (no deps, Node 20+ has fetch)
        env:
          NOTION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NOTION_TOKEN }}
          NOTION_DATABASE_ID: ${{ secrets.NOTION_DATABASE_ID }}
        run: node .github/scripts/notion-sync.js

      - name: Commit & push to pages-cms
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git checkout -B pages-cms
          if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
            git add -A
            git commit -m "Update commissioners.json from Notion"
            git push origin pages-cms
          else
            echo "No changes."
          fi

3) Sanity checks if it still yells

“import … outside a module” → you still have the old .cjs or ESM file. Ensure only .github/scripts/notion-sync.js exists and it uses require(...).
401/403 from Notion → wrong token or the integration isn’t shared to that database.
404 → wrong NOTION_DATABASE_ID (use the actual DB id, not a page URL).
Empty items → your title property isn’t Name/Title/Label. Tell me the actual property name and I’ll adjust getTitle.
Environment secrets → if you used Environment secrets, add environment: <name> to the job or switch them to Repository secrets.

This version is boring and bulletproof—no ESM, no packages, no surprises.

Short answer: it can—depending on the trigger.

push / pull_request → The workflow in each branch runs for events on that branch. If you push to both branches (or merge to both), you’ll get two runs.
workflow_dispatch (manual) → Runs once per branch you choose in the UI. If you trigger it on two branches, that’s two runs.
schedule (cron) → Only the default branch’s copy is evaluated. It won’t run twice just because the file also exists on another branch.
pull_request_target / repo/org dispatch → Special rules; typically not per-branch duplicates unless you trigger them per branch.

How to avoid accidental double-runs

Pick one (or combine):

A) Limit events to a branch

on:
  push:
    branches: [pages-cms]

B) Guard at the job level

jobs:
  sync:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/pages-cms'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps: ...

C) Prevent overlap (still allows multiples, but not concurrently)

concurrency:
  group: notion-sync-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: false

D) For cron that should act on pages-cms

Keep the workflow file on default so the schedule triggers once,
then checkout pages-cms inside the job (like we did earlier). This won’t double-run; it just makes the scheduled run operate on that branch.

Got it—here’s your CommonJS script updated to filter:

Type (select) equals "Client"
Projects (rollup) count > 0 (i.e., at least one related project)

'use strict';

// CommonJS only. No ESM, no SDK, no extra deps.
const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');

// Read secrets
const NOTION_TOKEN = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const DATABASE_ID = process.env.NOTION_DATABASE_ID;

if (!NOTION_TOKEN || !DATABASE_ID) {
  console.error('Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_DATABASE_ID');
  process.exit(1);
}

// Node 18/20 has global fetch
async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
    // --- FILTERS ---
    filter: {
      and: [
        { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
        // Assumes your Rollup aggregation is "Count"
        { property: 'Projects', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
      ]
    },
    // --- optional sorts example ---
    // sorts: [{ timestamp: "last_edited_time", direction: "ascending" }],
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${NOTION_TOKEN}`,
      'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });

  if (!r.ok) {
    const txt = await r.text();
    throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
  }
  return r.json();
}

function getTitle(page) {
  // Try common title property names; adjust if your DB uses a different one
  const title =
    (page.properties &&
      (
        (page.properties.Name && page.properties.Name.title && page.properties.Name.title[0] && page.properties.Name.title[0].plain_text) ||
        (page.properties.Title && page.properties.Title.title && page.properties.Title.title[0] && page.properties.Title.title[0].plain_text) ||
        (page.properties.Label && page.properties.Label.title && page.properties.Label.title[0] && page.properties.Label.title[0].plain_text)
      )) ||
    (page.id ? page.id.slice(0, 8) : 'untitled');

  return title;
}

async function run() {
  let results = [];
  let cursor;

  do {
    const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: DATABASE_ID, startCursor: cursor });
    if (Array.isArray(data.results)) results = results.concat(data.results);
    cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
  } while (cursor);

  const items = results.map((p) => ({
    id: p.id,
    name: getTitle(p),
  }));

  const outDir = path.join(process.cwd(), 'public', 'data');
  fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });

  const outPath = path.join(outDir, 'commissioners.json');
  fs.writeFileSync(outPath, JSON.stringify({ items }, null, 2), 'utf8');

  console.log(`Wrote ${items.length} items → ${path.relative(process.cwd(), outPath)}`);
}

run().catch((err) => {
  console.error(err && err.stack ? err.stack : String(err));
  process.exit(1);
});

Note: The rollup filter assumes your Projects rollup’s aggregation is Count.
If your rollup returns an array (not a number), switch that condition to:

{ property: 'Projects', rollup: { any: { rich_text: { is_not_empty: true } } } }

…but the Count approach is the cleanest for “at least one related project”.

why doesn’t this work in pages cms? the dropdown is empty

      - name: client_info
        label: Select from Clients & Collaborators
        type: select
        options:
            placeholder: Select…
            fetch:
              url: https://github.com/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/tree/pages-cms/public/data/commissioners.json
              method: GET
              results: items
              value: "{{id}}"
              label: "{{name}}"

Because that URL isn’t a JSON file — it’s an HTML “tree” page. Pages CMS expects the fetch to return raw JSON. Result: it can’t find items, so the dropdown is empty.

Fix it by pointing to a raw JSON URL, either:

Option 1 — Raw file from the `pages-cms` branch (works even if not published)

- name: client_info
  label: Select from Clients & Collaborators
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/pages-cms/public/data/commissioners.json
      method: GET
      results: items
      value: "{{id}}"
      label: "{{name}}"

Option 2 — If the file is actually served on GitHub Pages

(only if that JSON is on the branch your Pages site publishes from)

fetch:
  url: https://uncharted-limbo-collective.github.io/public/data/commissioners.json
  method: GET
  results: items
  value: "{{id}}"
  label: "{{name}}"

Quick checklist

Open the URL in your browser — you should see raw JSON, not a GitHub HTML page.
Ensure the JSON shape is:
```
{ "items": [ { "id": "...", "name": "..." }, ... ] }
```
and matches results: items, value: "{{id}}", label: "{{name}}".
CORS: raw.githubusercontent.com and GitHub Pages both allow cross-origin GETs, so Pages CMS can fetch them.
If your workflow writes to pages-cms only, use Option 1 (raw URL with the pages-cms branch). The site URL (Option 2) won’t see it until you merge to the published branch.

That “}” output usually means the templating isn’t being parsed and Pages CMS is treating the string literally. The fix is simple: don’t use {{ }}—use a path to the field instead.

Change this:

label: "{{name}}"
value: "{{id}}"

to this:

label: name
value: id

Full working block:

- name: client_info
  label: Select from Clients & Collaborators
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/pages-cms/public/data/commissioners.json
      method: GET
      results: items
      value: id
      label: name

If your data were nested, you’d use dot paths (still no braces), e.g.:

value: data.id
label: properties.Name.title.0.plain_text

Quick checks:

Open the JSON URL in your browser; ensure it’s { "items": [ { "id": "...", "name": "..." }, ... ] }.
Make sure there are no trailing spaces or hidden characters after name/id in YAML.

You’re seeing "name" for every option because Pages CMS is treating your label value as a literal string, not as a path into each result object.

Use one of these two known-working patterns:

1) Easiest: let Pages CMS defaults do it

If your JSON is:

{ "items": [ { "id": "abc", "name": "Client A" }, ... ] }

then omit value and label (defaults are id and name):

- name: client_info
  label: Select from Clients & Collaborators
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/pages-cms/public/data/commissioners.json
      method: GET
      results: items
    cache: false

2) Explicit paths (no braces)

If you do want to be explicit, set field names, not templates:

options:
  fetch:
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective/Uncharted-Limbo-Collective.github.io/pages-cms/public/data/commissioners.json
    method: GET
    results: items
    value: id
    label: name
  cache: false

If you prefer template syntax

Pages CMS supports template strings, but you must quote them so YAML doesn’t mangle the braces:

label: '{{ name }}'
value: '{{ id }}'

(If you used {{name}} in double quotes, YAML can behave oddly and you’ll see stray } or the literal word “name”.)

Quick checks

Open the JSON URL and confirm it’s raw JSON, not a GitHub HTML page.
Verify the array path matches results: items.
Make sure each item really has id and name keys (case-sensitive).
Add cache: false while testing so you’re not seeing a cached, older response.

If your JSON uses a different key (e.g. title), change label: name → label: title.

Sweet. Here’s the alphabetical sort added two ways:

Ask Notion to sort by the title property (Name)
Also sort locally after mapping (safety net, and covers fallbacks)

Drop-in replacement bits

In the query body (adds Notion-side sort):

const body = {
  page_size: 100,
  ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
  filter: {
    and: [
      { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
      { property: 'Projects', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
    ]
  },
  // ← NEW: server-side sort by title property "Name"
  sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }]
};

After building items, add a local alpha sort (case-insensitive):

const items = results.map((p) => ({
  id: p.id,
  name: getTitle(p),
}));

// ← NEW: client-side sort as a reliable fallback
items.sort((a, b) =>
  a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true })
);

Full script (compact, ready to paste)

'use strict';

const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');

const NOTION_TOKEN = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const DATABASE_ID = process.env.NOTION_DATABASE_ID;

if (!NOTION_TOKEN || !DATABASE_ID) {
  console.error('Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_DATABASE_ID');
  process.exit(1);
}

async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
    filter: {
      and: [
        { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
        { property: 'Projects', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
      ]
    },
    sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }] // server-side sort
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${NOTION_TOKEN}`,
      'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });

  if (!r.ok) {
    const txt = await r.text();
    throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
  }
  return r.json();
}

function getTitle(page) {
  // Adjust if your title property isn’t "Name"
  const t =
    (page.properties &&
      (
        (page.properties.Name && page.properties.Name.title && page.properties.Name.title[0] && page.properties.Name.title[0].plain_text) ||
        (page.properties.Title && page.properties.Title.title && page.properties.Title.title[0] && page.properties.Title.title[0].plain_text) ||
        (page.properties.Label && page.properties.Label.title && page.properties.Label.title[0] && page.properties.Label.title[0].plain_text)
      )) ||
    (page.id ? page.id.slice(0, 8) : 'untitled');
  return t;
}

async function run() {
  let results = [];
  let cursor;

  do {
    const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: DATABASE_ID, startCursor: cursor });
    if (Array.isArray(data.results)) results = results.concat(data.results);
    cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
  } while (cursor);

  const items = results.map((p) => ({ id: p.id, name: getTitle(p) }));

  // Local alpha sort (case-insensitive, numeric-aware)
  items.sort((a, b) =>
    a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true })
  );

  const outDir = path.join(process.cwd(), 'public', 'data');
  fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });
  const outPath = path.join(outDir, 'commissioners.json');
  fs.writeFileSync(outPath, JSON.stringify({ items }, null, 2), 'utf8');

  console.log(`Wrote ${items.length} items → ${path.relative(process.cwd(), outPath)}`);
}

run().catch((err) => {
  console.error(err?.stack || String(err));
  process.exit(1);
});

Note: If your title property isn’t called Name, either:

change the server-side sort to that property, e.g. sorts: [{ property: 'Title', direction: 'ascending' }], and/or
keep the local items.sort(...) (it sorts whatever getTitle() returns).

Use a single schedule entry with a daily cron. Remember: GitHub Actions cron runs in UTC and only the default branch’s workflow file is evaluated.

Common “once a day” crons

Exactly at midnight UTC (00:00 UTC):
```
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"
```
Once a day at 03:00 UTC (often safer than midnight traffic):
```
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 3 * * *"
```

If you want a specific local time (Europe/Athens)

GitHub Actions doesn’t know your timezone; convert to UTC yourself (and note DST shifts).

04:00 Athens standard time (UTC+2) → 02:00 UTC:
```
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 2 * * *"
```
During summer (UTC+3) it would be 01:00 UTC if you want 04:00 local. You can either:
- accept the 1-hour shift during DST, or
- maintain two entries and update them seasonally (most people don’t bother).

Full example (daily, shows in UI, runs on `pages-cms`)

Keep the workflow file on default so the schedule triggers once, then checkout pages-cms inside:

name: Sync Notion → commissioners.json

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 2 * * *"   # once a day at 02:00 UTC (~04:00 Athens in winter)

permissions:
  contents: write

concurrency:
  group: notion-sync
  cancel-in-progress: false

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: pages-cms
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Run Notion sync
        env:
          NOTION_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NOTION_TOKEN }}
          NOTION_DATABASE_ID: ${{ secrets.NOTION_DATABASE_ID }}
        run: node .github/scripts/notion-sync.js

      - name: Commit & push
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git checkout -B pages-cms
          if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
            git add -A
            git commit -m "Update commissioners.json from Notion"
            git push origin pages-cms
          else
            echo "No changes."
          fi

Gotchas

Cron format is "min hour day-of-month month day-of-week".
Put the cron in quotes.
Schedules only run on the default branch’s copy of the workflow.
If you used Environment secrets, add environment: <name> on the job or switch to repo secrets.

Based on this github action, help me setup vercel, using the LEAST AMOUNT OF CHANGES

// .github/scripts/notion-sync.js

const fs = require(“node:fs”); const path = require(“node:path”);

const token = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN; const dbId = process.env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;

if (!token) { console.error(“Missing NOTION_TOKEN”); process.exit(1); }

if (!dbId) { console.error(“Missing NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID”); process.exit(1); }

async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) { const body = { page_size: 100, …(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}), // Optional filter example: // --- FILTERS --- filter: { and: [ { property: ‘Type’, select: { equals: ‘Client’ } }, // Assumes your Rollup aggregation is “Count” { property: ‘Project_Count’, rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } } ] }, sorts: [{ property: ‘Name’, direction: ‘ascending’ }] };

const r = await fetch(https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query, { method: “POST”, headers: { Authorization: Bearer ${token}, “Notion-Version”: “2022-06-28”, “Content-Type”: “application/json”, }, body: JSON.stringify(body), });

if (!r.ok) { const txt = await r.text(); throw new Error(Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}); } return r.json(); }

function getTitle(page) { // Try common title property names; adjust if your DB uses a different one const name = page?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ?? page?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ?? page?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ?? page?.id?.slice(0, 8); return name; }

async function run() { let results = []; let cursor = undefined;

do { const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: dbId, startCursor: cursor }); results = results.concat(data.results || []); cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined; } while (cursor);

const items = results.map((p) => ({ id: getTitle(p), name: getTitle(p), }));

const outDir = path.join(process.cwd(), “public”, “data”); fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });

const outPath = path.join(outDir, “commissioners.json”); fs.writeFileSync(outPath, JSON.stringify({ items }, null, 2), “utf8”);

console.log(Wrote ${items.length} items → ${path.relative(process.cwd(), outPath)}); }

run().catch((err) => { console.error(err.stack || err.message || String(err)); process.exit(1); });

Got it. Easiest path: turn your existing script into a Vercel serverless function that returns the same { items: [...] } JSON. Then point Pages CMS to that URL. No file writes, no SDK, minimal edits.

1) Create the Vercel function

Project structure (new repo or a small folder you deploy):

/api/commissioners.js
/package.json   (optional)

api/commissioners.js — this is your script, trimmed to return JSON:

'use strict';

const token = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const dbId  = process.env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;

async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
    filter: {
      and: [
        { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
        { property: 'Project_Count', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
      ]
    },
    sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }]
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });

  if (!r.ok) {
    const txt = await r.text();
    throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
  }
  return r.json();
}

function getTitle(page) {
  return (
    page?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    page?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    page?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    page?.id?.slice(0, 8)
  );
}

// Vercel handler (supports GET/POST)
module.exports = async (req, res) => {
  // Basic CORS so Pages CMS can call it from anywhere (tighten if you want)
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*');
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET,POST,OPTIONS');
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type');

  if (req.method === 'OPTIONS') {
    res.status(204).end();
    return;
  }

  if (!token || !dbId) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID' });
    return;
  }

  try {
    let results = [];
    let cursor;

    do {
      const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: dbId, startCursor: cursor });
      results = results.concat(data.results || []);
      cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
    } while (cursor);

    // Map + local alpha sort (safety)
    const items = results
      .map((p) => {
        const name = getTitle(p);
        return { id: name, name };
      })
      .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

    res.status(200).json({ items });
  } catch (err) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: 'Proxy error', details: String(err && err.message || err) });
  }
};

Changes vs your GH Action script: removed fs/path and the file write; wrapped logic in a handler; added very light CORS; everything else kept.

You don’t need a package.json unless you want one; if you add it, keep it minimal:

{
  "private": true
}

2) Deploy to Vercel

npm i -g vercel (if needed)
vercel → follow prompts (Framework = “Other”)
Set env vars:
- In Vercel dashboard → Project → Settings → Environment Variables
  - NOTION_TOKEN = your internal integration token
  - NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID = your DB id
Redeploy (or vercel --prod)

You’ll get an endpoint:

https://<your-project>.vercel.app/api/commissioners

Open it in the browser; you should see:

{ "items": [ { "id": "…", "name": "…" }, ... ] }

3) Point Pages CMS at Vercel

In .pages.yml:

- name: client_info
  label: Select from Clients & Collaborators
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://<your-project>.vercel.app/api/commissioners
      method: GET
      results: items
      value: name   # you set id=name in the function; keeps it simple
      label: name
    cache: false    # optional while testing

4) Optional hardening (later)

Lock CORS to the exact origin of your Pages CMS instance.
If you want search-as-you-type, read req.body.query on POST and add a contains filter to the Notion query.

That’s the least-change path: your logic stays intact, now served by Vercel as JSON for Pages CMS to consume.

Short answer: Vercel needs either (A) a linked Git repo or (B) the Vercel CLI.
There’s no “upload a folder” button on the Vercel dashboard.

So your choices are:

Option 1 — Link a tiny Git repo (no npm on your machine)

Create a repo with just:
```
/api/commissioners.js
```
In Vercel: Add New → Project → Import Git Repository → select the repo.
Set env vars (NOTION_TOKEN, NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID) → Deploy.
✔️ No local npm needed.

Option 2 — No Git, use the CLI

Use vercel CLI from your machine to deploy a local folder.
This does require npm (or yarn/pnpm) once to install the CLI.

If you want no Git and no CLI, consider alternatives with a web editor:

Cloudflare Workers (paste code in the dashboard, add secrets, deploy)
Deno Deploy (similar)

Given your constraints, the least-friction path is Option 1: make a minimal repo with /api/commissioners.js, link it, set env vars, done.

Yep — on Vercel, importing a private repo typically needs a paid plan. If you don’t want to pay, you’ve got two clean workarounds:

1) Make a tiny public repo just for the proxy (safe)

Your Notion token won’t be exposed because it lives in Vercel Environment Variables, not in the repo.

Steps (2–3 mins):

Create a new public repo with one file:
```
/api/commissioners.js
```

Paste this (same logic you already have, returns {items: [...]}):

'use strict';

const token = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const dbId  = process.env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;

async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
    filter: {
      and: [
        { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
        { property: 'Project_Count', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
      ]
    },
    sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }]
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });

  if (!r.ok) {
    const txt = await r.text();
    throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
  }
  return r.json();
}

const getTitle = (page) =>
  page?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  page?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  page?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  page?.id?.slice(0, 8);

module.exports = async (req, res) => {
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*');
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET,POST,OPTIONS');
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type');
  if (req.method === 'OPTIONS') return res.status(204).end();

  if (!token || !dbId) {
    return res.status(500).json({ error: 'Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID' });
  }

  try {
    let results = [];
    let cursor;
    do {
      const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: dbId, startCursor: cursor });
      results = results.concat(data.results || []);
      cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
    } while (cursor);

    const items = results
      .map((p) => {
        const name = getTitle(p);
        return { id: name, name };
      })
      .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

    return res.status(200).json({ items });
  } catch (err) {
    return res.status(500).json({ error: 'Proxy error', details: String(err?.message || err) });
  }
};

In Vercel: Add New → Project → Import Git Repository → pick this public repo.
Set Environment Variables in Vercel:
- NOTION_TOKEN
- NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID

Deploy. Your endpoint will be:

https://<project>.vercel.app/api/commissioners

Point Pages CMS to that URL.

Public repo is fine because the secrets stay in Vercel, not in code.

2) Skip Vercel entirely: Cloudflare Workers (free, no repo required)

If you truly don’t want to make any repo public:

Steps:

Cloudflare dashboard → Workers & Pages → Create Worker.

Paste this code (works as-is):

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const token = env.NOTION_TOKEN;
    const dbId  = env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;

    const cors = {
      'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*',
      'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
      'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type'
    };
    if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: cors });

    if (!token || !dbId) {
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID' }), {
        status: 500, headers: { ...cors, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
      });
    }

    const body = {
      page_size: 100,
      filter: {
        and: [
          { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
          { property: 'Project_Count', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
        ]
      },
      sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }]
    };

    const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${dbId}/query`, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
        'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
      },
      body: JSON.stringify(body)
    });

    if (!r.ok) {
      const txt = await r.text();
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Notion error', details: txt }), {
        status: r.status, headers: { ...cors, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
      });
    }

    const data = await r.json();
    const items = (data.results || [])
      .map((p) => {
        const name =
          p?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
          p?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
          p?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
          p?.id?.slice(0, 8);
        return { id: name, name };
      })
      .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ items }), {
      status: 200, headers: { ...cors, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
    });
  }
}

In Settings → Variables & Secrets, add:
- NOTION_TOKEN
- NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID
Deploy. You’ll get:
```
https://<your-worker>.<account>.workers.dev/
```
(If you want a path, add a route rule or detect it in code.)

Then point Pages CMS to that URL.

Bottom line

Vercel free + private repo → paywall.
Free & simple → make a public micro-repo (secrets in env) or use Cloudflare Workers (no repo at all).

Yep—here’s the minimal CLI flow to deploy your /api/commissioners.js to Vercel without linking a repo.

0) Prereqs

You’ll need Node + npm (for npx vercel).
Your folder should contain:
```
api/
  commissioners.js
```
(That file is the serverless function we set up.)

1) Deploy (first time)

# from the folder that contains /api
npx vercel

Answer the prompts:

“Set up and deploy?” → Y
Scope → pick your account
Link to existing project? → N (Create a new project)
Project name → up to you
Framework → Other
Directory → .

This creates .vercel/ locally and deploys a preview.

2) Add environment variables (via CLI)

npx vercel env add NOTION_TOKEN
# paste your Notion internal integration token

npx vercel env add NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID
# paste your Notion database ID

These are stored on Vercel—not in your code.

3) Promote to production

npx vercel --prod

You’ll get a URL like:

https://<project>.vercel.app/api/commissioners

Open it in the browser — you should see:

{ "items": [ { "id": "...", "name": "..." }, ... ] }

4) Point Pages CMS to it

type: select
options:
  fetch:
    url: https://<project>.vercel.app/api/commissioners
    method: GET
    results: items
    value: name
    label: name

Optional niceties (only if needed)

Lock Node runtime to 20 (not required, but explicit): Create vercel.json at the project root:

{
  "functions": {
    "api/**.js": { "runtime": "nodejs20.x" }
  }
}

Then redeploy:

npx vercel --prod

Test with curl:

curl -s https://<project>.vercel.app/api/commissioners | jq .

Update env vars later:

npx vercel env ls
npx vercel env pull .env.local   # optional, to inspect locally
npx vercel env add NOTION_TOKEN  # re-add/rotate

That’s it. CLI path = no repo required, secrets stay in Vercel, and you can redeploy with a single npx vercel --prod.

Totally fair question. For your tiny Notion → JSON proxy, both Vercel and Cloudflare work. Here’s when you’d pick Cloudflare instead, in plain terms:

Pick Cloudflare Workers if you want…

No repo, no CLI: paste code in the dashboard, add two secrets, click Deploy. That’s it.
Edge-first performance: runs at Cloudflare’s edge (very low cold starts, global by default).
Built-in cron: schedule the worker itself (no GitHub Actions needed if you want daily refresh logic).
Already on Cloudflare DNS: instant custom domain and one vendor for DNS, SSL, caching, firewall.
Extras at the edge: KV (key–value), R2 (S3-like storage), Durable Objects, Queues—handy if this grows beyond a simple proxy.
Strict browser-style runtime: your worker code uses fetch/Web APIs (which you already do), so it ports cleanly.

Stick with Vercel if you want…

A simple Node serverless feel: CommonJS/Node globals “just work” (Workers don’t have Node’s fs, etc.).
You’re comfortable with CLI or a tiny public repo: both are easy and free.
You’re already using Vercel for other projects: one place for logs, env vars, and deployments.

For your case

Your proxy uses only fetch and no Node APIs → Cloudflare is a perfect fit and the fastest “no-repo/no-CLI” path.
If you’re okay with a public micro-repo or using the CLI, Vercel is also dead simple and equally free.

If you want, I can give you a copy-paste Cloudflare Worker with your exact filters plus a daily Cron Trigger variant so it refreshes on its own.

You’ve got two main knobs: domain and path. Here’s how to make a pretty, stable URL for your proxy on either Vercel or Cloudflare.

If you use Vercel

Goal: https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners (or https://yourdomain.com/api/commissioners)

Add your domain
Vercel → Project → Settings → Domains → Add yourdomain.com (or a subdomain like api.yourdomain.com).
If it’s a subdomain, add a DNS CNAME to Vercel’s target when prompted.
Choose the path you want
- Easiest: keep your function at /api/commissioners.js and use it directly:
  https://api.yourdomain.com/api/commissioners
- Nicer path (no /api): add a vercel.json rewrite:
```
{
  "rewrites": [
    { "source": "/commissioners", "destination": "/api/commissioners" }
  ]
}
```
  Now it’s https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners.

Point Pages CMS to it

fetch:
  url: https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners
  method: GET
  results: items
  value: name
  label: name

Tip: you can also attach it to your main domain: add a rewrite with "source": "/api/commissioners" on yourdomain.com.

If you use Cloudflare Workers

Goal: https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners (or https://yourdomain.com/api/commissioners)
You don’t need a repo; just map Routes.

Deploy your Worker (dashboard → Workers → Create Worker → paste code → Deploy).
Bind to your domain (Routes)
- Dashboard → Workers & Pages → your Worker → Triggers → Add Route.
- Examples:
  - Subdomain root: api.yourdomain.com/*
  - Specific path on main domain: yourdomain.com/api/*
- Cloudflare will ask you to add the domain (if not already) and set DNS:
  - For subdomain api: add DNS A or CNAME per the prompt (usually an A to 192.0.2.1 is not needed anymore; Cloudflare handles this when you attach the route—follow the UI).
- After adding the route, your Worker runs for any matching path.
- If you routed yourdomain.com/api/*, your URL is:
  https://yourdomain.com/api/commissioners
Optional: pretty path without /api
Use a second route like api.yourdomain.com/commissioners and handle it directly in the Worker (no extra config).

Point Pages CMS to it

fetch:
  url: https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners
  method: GET
  results: items
  value: name
  label: name

Don’t own a domain (yet)?

Vercel: use https://<project>.vercel.app/commissioners (with a rewrite as above).
Cloudflare: use https://<your-worker>.<account>.workers.dev/commissioners (you can set a Route later when you add a domain).

CORS reminder

You already send Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * in the function/worker code—keep it. If you want to lock it down later, replace * with your exact Pages CMS origin.

Quick choose

Already have a domain in Cloudflare DNS? → Workers + Routes is fastest to a pretty URL.
Already on Vercel with another site? → Add domain in Vercel + rewrite is trivial.

If you tell me your domain and whether you want /api/commissioners or /commissioners, I’ll give you the exact one-liner config for your platform.

Short answer: yes—anything your Pages CMS fetches from the browser is, by design, publicly accessible. If someone reads your .pages.yml, they can hit that URL and get the same JSON. CORS doesn’t hide data; it only controls which browsers can read it.

You’ve got three realistic options:

1) Accept it (data is non-sensitive)

If the commissioners list is fine to be public, you’re done. This is the simplest and most robust path.

2) “Soft gate” it (keep casual scraping out)

Not true security, but it stops casual use. Add an Origin allowlist so only requests coming from the Pages CMS UI succeed. Anyone calling the URL from elsewhere gets 403. (A determined user can still curl it.)

Vercel function (add Origin check)

// at top
const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = [
  'https://app.pagescms.org',        // hosted editor (verify actual origin in your devtools)
  'https://pagescms.org',            // sometimes used
  'https://<your-site-domain>'       // if you also load it from your site
];

function isAllowedOrigin(origin) {
  if (!origin) return false;
  try { return ALLOWED_ORIGINS.includes(new URL(origin).origin); }
  catch { return false; }
}

// in handler:
const origin = req.headers.origin || '';
res.setHeader('Vary', 'Origin');
if (!isAllowedOrigin(origin)) {
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', 'null');
  return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Forbidden' });
}
res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', origin);

Cloudflare Worker (same idea)

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([
  'https://app.pagescms.org',
  'https://pagescms.org',
  'https://<your-site-domain>'
]);

function corsHeaders(origin) {
  return {
    'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': origin,
    'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
    'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type'
  };
}

export default {
  async fetch(req, env) {
    const origin = new URL(req.headers.get('Origin') || 'null').origin;
    if (!ALLOWED_ORIGINS.has(origin)) {
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Forbidden' }), {
        status: 403, headers: { ...corsHeaders('null'), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
      });
    }
    // ...your logic...
    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ items }), {
      status: 200, headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
    });
  }
}

Tip: open the Pages CMS editor, look in DevTools → Network → Request Headers, and note the exact Origin to whitelist.

3) Make it actually private (requires moving generation server-side)

If the names are truly sensitive, don’t fetch them client-side. There’s no way around this without putting a secret in the client (which you don’t want).

Two private patterns:

Prebuild to your repo with GitHub Actions, then don’t expose the file publicly (but on GitHub Pages everything in the published branch is public, so this doesn’t solve privacy—only removes the external endpoint).
Gate behind authentication (e.g., your own admin with login) and have Pages CMS pull from your server with a session cookie/token. Hosted Pages CMS can’t send your private auth cookie, so this usually means a self-hosted admin or a custom backoffice, not Pages CMS.

Bottom line

If you keep using hosted Pages CMS + client-side fetch: assume the data is public. Add an Origin allowlist only as a deterrent.
If it must be private: don’t fetch it from the browser. Generate it server-side and show it only in a private admin you control.

If you tell me the exact Origin you see from the Pages CMS request, I’ll drop it straight into your Vercel/Worker code so it only responds to that UI.

That error happens because new URL('null') throws — "null" isn’t a valid URL. Don’t parse when the header is missing. Grab the header as a plain string, validate it, and only then use it.

Here’s a safe, drop-in CORS wrapper for your Cloudflare Worker:

// Safe Origin parsing
function getOrigin(req) {
  const raw = req.headers.get('Origin');          // may be null
  if (!raw) return null;                          // no Origin header
  try {
    return new URL(raw).origin;                   // e.g. "https://app.pagescms.org"
  } catch {
    return null;                                  // invalid/malformed Origin
  }
}

// Configure exactly what you allow
const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([
  'https://app.pagescms.org',     // Pages CMS hosted UI (adjust if different)
  // 'https://pagescms.org',
  // 'https://your-site-domain.tld',
]);

function corsHeaders(origin) {
  return {
    'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': origin ?? 'null',
    'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
    'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type',
    'Vary': 'Origin',
  };
}

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const origin = getOrigin(request);
    const allowed = origin && ALLOWED_ORIGINS.has(origin);

    // Preflight
    if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') {
      return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: corsHeaders(allowed ? origin : null) });
    }

    if (!allowed) {
      // Soft gate: block non-whitelisted origins
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Forbidden' }), {
        status: 403,
        headers: { ...corsHeaders(null), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      });
    }

    // ---- your existing logic here (call Notion, build { items }) ----
    // const items = ...
    // Example stub:
    // const items = [{ id: 'Example', name: 'Example' }];

    // Return success
    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ items }), {
      status: 200,
      headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    });
  }
}

Why this fixes it

We don’t call new URL unless there’s an actual Origin header.
If Origin is missing/invalid, we treat it as null and respond with Access-Control-Allow-Origin: null (or 403), which won’t expose data to random contexts.
Vary: Origin ensures caches don’t mix responses across different origins.

If you’re on Vercel (Node handler) instead

You don’t need new URL at all:

module.exports = async (req, res) => {
  const origin = req.headers.origin || null;
  const allowed = origin && ['https://app.pagescms.org'].includes(origin);

  if (req.method === 'OPTIONS') {
    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', allowed ? origin : 'null');
    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET,POST,OPTIONS');
    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type');
    return res.status(204).end();
  }

  if (!allowed) {
    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', 'null');
    return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Forbidden' });
  }

  // ...your logic...
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', origin);
  return res.status(200).json({ items });
};

If you’re unsure what Origin Pages CMS sends, temporarily log it:

console.log('Origin:', request.headers.get('Origin')); // Workers
// or
console.log('Origin:', req.headers.origin);            // Vercel

Then add that exact string to your ALLOWED_ORIGINS.

Short version: IP allowlists and VPNs can work, but they’re awkward for a browser-fetched API and don’t truly “secure” anything that’s callable from client-side code. Here’s what’s actually safe/possible:

What you’re trying to protect

Your Notion token is already safe (it lives on Vercel/Workers env vars).
The data (commissioners list) is what becomes public when you fetch it from the browser via Pages CMS. Anyone who can see your .pages.yml can hit the same URL.

If the data itself must be private, the only truly secure fix is don’t fetch it from the browser (generate server-side and show it in a private admin). Everything below is just access control around a public-ish endpoint.

Option A — IP allowlist (works, but brittle)

Why it’s brittle

Editors move networks, travel, use mobile → IPs change.
Many ISPs use CGNAT; IPs aren’t stable.
Attackers can’t spoof IP through Cloudflare/Vercel, but they can still discover the URL; you’ll be the one locked out half the time.

How to do it

Cloudflare Workers (best place to IP-gate; CF gives you the real client IP):

const ALLOW = new Set([
  '1.2.3.4',   // office
  '5.6.7.8',   // home
]);

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const ip = request.headers.get('CF-Connecting-IP'); // real client IP
    if (!ip || !ALLOW.has(ip)) {
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Forbidden' }), {
        status: 403,
        headers: { 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': 'null', 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
      });
    }
    // ... your Notion fetch + JSON response ...
  }
}

Vercel (read client IP via x-forwarded-for):

module.exports = async (req, res) => {
  const xf = req.headers['x-forwarded-for'] || '';
  const ip = String(xf).split(',')[0].trim(); // first hop
  const allow = new Set(['1.2.3.4','5.6.7.8']);
  if (!allow.has(ip)) {
    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', 'null');
    return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Forbidden' });
  }
  // ... Notion fetch ...
};

Use this only if your editors have static IPs. Otherwise it’s pain.

Option B — Cloudflare Access (real auth, still simple)

This is the cleanest way to restrict a Worker route to specific users (Google/GitHub login) or to a service token — no IP guessing.

Put your Worker behind Cloudflare Access policy (Zero Trust → Access → Applications → Protect your Worker route).
Users hitting the URL must pass the login challenge. If they’re not allowed, the Worker isn’t even invoked.
For machine-to-machine, issue a Service Token and require it in requests (Pages CMS can’t keep secrets, so this is only for server-to-server callers).

Pros: real identity-based gate, free tier is generous.
Cons: hosted Pages CMS can’t carry your private token, so you’ll need the user to log in (ok if the editors are you/your team), or you self-host your CMS.

No extra code needed; Access sits in front of the Worker. If you still want in-code verification, you can validate the Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion header, but usually unnecessary.

Option C — Tailscale (VPN/private network)

You can host the proxy inside your tailnet and expose a 100.x.y.z or MagicDNS name.
Hosted Pages CMS runs in the user’s browser, so if the editor’s machine is on Tailscale, the browser can call the tailnet URL directly.
This does work for a small internal team: put https://my-proxy.tailnet-name.ts.net/commissioners in .pages.yml.
Others (without Tailscale) won’t reach it.

Pros: real network isolation, no public URL.
Cons: every editor must run Tailscale; URL is useless to the public (which is the point). Not feasible if non-team users need access.

Option D — Keep public, but deter casual use

If the data is not sensitive but you want to discourage scraping:

Origin allowlist (what you started doing): only respond to Origin: https://app.pagescms.org, return 403 otherwise. This stops lazy curls but isn’t real security (anyone can still call the URL server-side).
Rate limit (Workers has built-ins via Firewall Rules; Vercel doesn’t natively, you’d roll your own).

What I’d choose (practical)

If the list isn’t sensitive: keep it public. Add Origin allowlist to reduce casual use. Done.
If it’s for your team only: Cloudflare Workers + Access (email allowlist via Google/GitHub SSO). Editors sign in once; you get real protection.
If you’re deep on Tailscale already: host the proxy inside the tailnet and use the tailnet URL in .pages.yml.

If you tell me which path you prefer, I’ll give you the exact config:

Workers + Access: the 3 clicks to protect the route, plus any minor header notes.
Tailscale: minimal Node/Worker server binding to 0.0.0.0, DNS name, and the .pages.yml fetch block.

Got you. When people say “use Tailscale Access,” they usually mean: put the service on your Tailscale tailnet and lock it with Tailscale ACLs so only logged-in tailnet users/devices can reach it. No public internet, no shared secrets in the browser.

Here’s exactly how to do that for your Notion→JSON proxy.

What you’ll end up with

A private URL like:

https://proxy.your-tailnet.ts.net/commissioners

Only people logged into your tailnet (you + anyone you allow) can reach it. Your Pages CMS fetch runs in the editor’s browser, which (since they’re on Tailscale) can reach that private URL.

Step-by-step

1) Pick a machine to host the proxy

A tiny VPS or a spare laptop is fine.

Requirements:

Node 18+ (for fetch)
Tailscale installed and logged in to your tailnet

Install & join:

curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up
# follow the auth URL

(Optionally set a hostname in Tailscale admin so it’s readable, e.g. proxy.)

2) Run your proxy locally on that machine

Use your existing code, but wrap it in a tiny HTTP server. Minimal, dependency-free Node:

'use strict';
const http = require('http');
const url = require('url');

const token = process.env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const dbId  = process.env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;

async function notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId, startCursor }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    ...(startCursor ? { start_cursor: startCursor } : {}),
    filter: {
      and: [
        { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
        { property: 'Project_Count', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
      ]
    },
    sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }]
  };

  const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${databaseId}/query`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body)
  });

  if (!r.ok) throw new Error(await r.text());
  return r.json();
}

const getTitle = (p) =>
  p?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  p?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  p?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  p?.id?.slice(0, 8);

const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
  const { pathname } = url.parse(req.url);
  // CORS for Pages CMS UI origin (soft gate; real security is Tailscale)
  const origin = req.headers.origin || '';
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET,OPTIONS');
  res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type');
  res.setHeader('Vary', 'Origin');
  if (req.method === 'OPTIONS') {
    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', origin || 'null');
    res.statusCode = 204; return res.end();
  }

  if (pathname !== '/commissioners') {
    res.statusCode = 404; return res.end('Not found');
  }

  try {
    let results = [], cursor;
    do {
      const data = await notionQueryDatabase({ databaseId: dbId, startCursor: cursor });
      results = results.concat(data.results || []);
      cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
    } while (cursor);

    const items = results
      .map((p) => { const name = getTitle(p); return { id: name, name }; })
      .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
    res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', origin || 'null');
    res.end(JSON.stringify({ items }));
  } catch (e) {
    res.statusCode = 500;
    res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
    res.end(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Notion error', details: String(e) }));

Great—Cloudflare Access is the right tool if you want a real login wall in front of your proxy (no tokens in the browser, no IP juggling). Here’s exactly how to set it up for your Notion→JSON endpoint, with copy-pasteable bits and minimal changes to your Worker.

What you’ll get

A private URL like:

https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners

Only users you allow (e.g., your email(s) or your domain) can pass.
Pages CMS will prompt you to log in once in the browser, then it can fetch normally.
Your Notion token stays server-side.

Step 1 — Deploy (or keep) your Worker

If you already have a Worker that returns { items: [...] }, keep it. If not, here’s a minimal one (works as-is):

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    // Optional: allow preflights to succeed before Access (useful for dev)
    if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') {
      return new Response(null, {
        status: 204,
        headers: {
          'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': request.headers.get('Origin') ?? 'null',
          'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
          'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type',
          'Vary': 'Origin'
        }
      });
    }

    // --- your existing Notion call logic ---
    // Build "items" array here…
    const items = [{ id: 'Example', name: 'Example' }];

    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ items }), {
      status: 200,
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        // CORS for Pages CMS UI (optional; Access is the real gate)
        'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': request.headers.get('Origin') ?? 'null',
        'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
        'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type',
        'Vary': 'Origin'
      }
    });
  }
}

Deploy it (Workers & Pages → Create Worker → Quick edit → Deploy).

Step 2 — Put the Worker behind your domain with a Route

Workers & Pages → Your Worker → Triggers → Add route
Examples:

Whole subdomain: api.yourdomain.com/*
Specific path: yourdomain.com/api/*

(Your domain must be on Cloudflare DNS for this.)

After this, your Worker is reachable at e.g. https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners.

Step 3 — Enable Cloudflare Access in front of that route

Go to Zero Trust (dash.cloudflare.com → Zero Trust).
In the left nav: Access → Applications → Add an application.
Self-hosted application.
Application name: “Commissioners API”.
Session duration: e.g., 24h.
Application domain:
- If you used a subdomain route: api.yourdomain.com
- If path-based: yourdomain.com
Path: /commissioners or /api/* (match your route).
Policies: click “Add a policy”
- Policy name: “Allow studio”
- Action: Allow
- Include: choose your auth source:
  - Emails → add your exact addresses, or
  - Emails ending in → @yourstudio.com, or
  - Groups from Google/Microsoft if you connected an IdP (Zero Trust → Settings → Authentication → Add).
Save.

That’s it. Now any request to that URL triggers the Access login (one time per session). After the redirect flow, the browser gets a session cookie and subsequent fetches succeed.

Step 4 — Point Pages CMS to your private URL

In .pages.yml:

- name: client_info
  label: Select from Clients & Collaborators
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners
      method: GET
      results: items
      value: name
      label: name

When an editor opens Pages CMS and the field loads, they’ll be redirected to Cloudflare Access login (Google/GitHub/email code). After they authenticate, the dropdown will populate. Visitors without access can’t fetch it.

Optional (usually not needed): verify Access JWT in your Worker

Access already blocks unauthenticated users before your Worker runs. You don’t need extra code. If you want defense-in-depth, validate Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion:

async function verifyAccessJWT(request, env) {
  const jwt = request.headers.get('Cf-Access-Jwt-Assertion');
  if (!jwt) return false;
  // (Advanced) Fetch your team’s public key and verify JWT (JWKs):
  // GET https://<your-team>.cloudflareaccess.com/cdn-cgi/access/certs
  // Then verify with a JWT lib that supports JWK. Skip unless required.
  return true;
}

For most cases, skip this—Access has already enforced the policy.

Tips, gotchas, and choices

Origin/CORS: Access doesn’t change the browser’s Origin. Keep your simple CORS headers so Pages CMS can read the response. (CORS isn’t security; Access is.)
Preflights (OPTIONS): Access can handle them; the example above also answers OPTIONS to keep things smooth.
Multiple editors: Just add their emails to the Access policy (or connect Google Workspace and allow your domain).
Service tokens (machine-to-machine): Only useful for server-to-server callers. Hosted Pages CMS can’t keep a secret token, so stick to user login.
IP allowlists: Not needed; identity-based Access is better and less brittle.
Make it nicer: Add a custom logo/text in Zero Trust → Access → Customization so the login page matches your studio.

Quick checklist

Worker returns { items: [...] }
Domain routed to Worker
Access Self-hosted app protecting the same route
Policy allows only your emails or domain
.pages.yml fetch points to the protected URL
You’ve logged in once via Access prompt in the browser

If you tell me your exact route (subdomain vs path) and your identity source (emails vs Google Workspace), I’ll tailor the Access policy values and Worker route pattern to match.

Yep — this is expected with Cloudflare Access + hosted Pages CMS.

What broke (in plain terms)

Cloudflare Access requires a session cookie (set after you log in).
Hosted Pages CMS (running on app.pagescms.org) fetches your URL cross-origin.
That fetch doesn’t include your Access cookie, so Access sees an unauthenticated request and blocks/redirects → your dropdown gets nothing.

You can’t fix this from .pages.yml because:

Pages CMS can’t mark the request credentials: "include".
You can’t safely add a service token in headers (it would be public in your repo).

Your workable options

Option A — Make it public, add a soft gate (fastest)

Remove Access from that route.
Keep your Worker/Vercel endpoint public.
Add an Origin allowlist in your code to only answer when Origin is https://app.pagescms.org (and optionally your own site). This doesn’t make it private, but it deters casual use.

Vercel handler (core lines):

const ALLOWED = ['https://app.pagescms.org'];
const origin = req.headers.origin || '';
if (!ALLOWED.includes(origin)) return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Forbidden' });
res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', origin);

Option B — Self-host Pages CMS on your domain and protect both with Access (proper auth)

Host Pages CMS under (say) studio.yourdomain.com.
Put both studio.yourdomain.com (the CMS) and api.yourdomain.com/commissioners behind the same Cloudflare Access app/policy.
Now the browser’s requests are same-site, and the Access cookie is sent automatically. Your dropdown will populate.

High-level steps:

Deploy Pages CMS yourself (Netlify/Vercel/etc.) on studio.yourdomain.com.
In Cloudflare Zero Trust → Access → Applications, add:
- App 1: studio.yourdomain.com/*
- App 2: api.yourdomain.com/commissioners Use the same allow policy (your emails/domain).
Update .pages.yml to fetch https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners.
Open the CMS, pass the Access login once; the select will work.

Option C — Don’t fetch at runtime: build a file daily (truly secret token stays server-side)

Use your GitHub Action to query Notion and commit public/data/commissioners.json.
Pages CMS fetches that static JSON (public). No runtime endpoint needed; no cookies, no Access.

Which should you pick?

Need real privacy & want to keep hosted Pages CMS? You can’t — hosted CMS can’t send the Access cookie. Use Option C.
Want real privacy & can self-host the CMS? Option B.
Okay with public data but want to deter abuse? Option A.

If you tell me which path you want, I’ll give you the exact steps/snippets (DNS/Access policy and minimal code) to get it working.

Pretty easy. Pages CMS is just a static React app, so Cloudflare Pages can host it on the free plan. Here’s the quickest path, plus how to wire it with Cloudflare Access so your protected API works with it.

Option A — Connect a repo (cleanest)

Put the CMS UI in its own repo (not your content repo).
Structure typically:
```
pages-cms/
  package.json
  src/...
```
In Cloudflare → Pages → Create a project → Connect to Git → pick that repo.
Build settings
- Build command: npm ci && npm run build
- Build output directory: whatever your app outputs (commonly dist or build)
- Node version: 18+ (default is fine)
Deploy → you’ll get a URL like https://your-cms.pages.dev.
(Optional) Custom domain: add studio.yourdomain.com in Pages → Custom domains.

Option B — No repo: drag-and-drop (fastest demo)

Locally: npm ci && npm run build.
Cloudflare → Pages → Upload assets → drag the build folder (dist/build).
For changes, rebuild locally and upload again.

Point CMS at your content repo

Pages CMS reads your .pages.yml in the content repo. In the CMS UI, set the repo/org it should use (how you did with the hosted version). No special Cloudflare config needed for that.

Make your protected API work (Cloudflare Access)

You hit the earlier wall because hosted Pages CMS couldn’t send the Access cookie. If you host the CMS on your own domain, you can protect both with Access and it will work smoothly.

Goal:

CMS at studio.yourdomain.com (Cloudflare Pages)
API at api.yourdomain.com/commissioners (Worker or Vercel or Pages Function)
Both behind Cloudflare Access allow-policy (your emails/domain)

Steps:

Put the Worker (or Vercel endpoint proxied via Cloudflare) at api.yourdomain.com/commissioners.
Zero Trust → Access → Applications → Add self-hosted:
- App 1: studio.yourdomain.com/* → Allow your emails.
- App 2: api.yourdomain.com/commissioners → Same allow policy.
In your API code, set CORS to allow the CMS origin:
- Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://studio.yourdomain.com
- Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET,OPTIONS
- Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type
In .pages.yml (your content repo), set the select’s fetch.url to:
```
https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners
```
Open https://studio.yourdomain.com → you’ll see the Access login once → after that, the dropdown populates (cookie is sent, same “tenant”).

Tip: keep both apps under the same Cloudflare account/zone so Access SSO is seamless.

Minimal changes from what you already have

Deploy the CMS bundle to Cloudflare Pages (no code changes needed).
Put your proxy behind your own subdomain.
Protect both the CMS host and proxy host with Cloudflare Access.
Update the .pages.yml fetch URL to the new API host.
Adjust CORS in the proxy to the CMS origin.

That’s it. If you share:

your CMS build output folder name (dist or build),
your intended CMS domain, and
your API domain/path,

I’ll give you the exact build settings + one-line CORS headers to paste.

Short answer: you don’t have to fork the core to use Pages CMS, but if you want it on your domain and to add custom React fields (like the commissioner-select we built), the simplest, low-friction path is to fork their repo and deploy your fork to Cloudflare Pages.

Here’s the pragmatic way to do it with minimal fuss:

When should you fork?

You want the CMS UI on studio.yourdomain.com.
You want custom fields or tiny UI tweaks.
You want to protect the CMS with Cloudflare Access (so the Access cookie is same-site with your protected API).

Minimal steps (fork & deploy to Cloudflare Pages)

Fork the Pages CMS repo to your GitHub.
In Cloudflare dashboard → Pages → Create a project → Connect to Git → pick your fork.
Build settings (typical defaults):
- Build command: npm ci && npm run build
- Output directory: check the repo’s README/package.json (commonly dist or build).
- Node version: 18+ (default is fine).
Deploy. You’ll get https://<your-cms>.pages.dev.
Add Custom Domain: studio.yourdomain.com.
Put Cloudflare Access in front of that domain (Zero Trust → Access → Applications → Add self-hosted → studio.yourdomain.com/*, allow only your email(s)).

Hook it up to your content repo

Keep your content repo with .pages.yml as-is (hosted on GitHub).
In the CMS UI (your fork), connect to that repo (same flow you used on the hosted Pages CMS).
The CMS will read/write your YAML files in the content repo via Git provider auth (follow their auth instructions—same as hosted, just pointing at your domain).

Why this works for your Cloudflare Access setup

You can also protect your API (Worker) at api.yourdomain.com/commissioners with Access.
Since both CMS and API are on the same top-level domain, the browser will carry the Access session cookie and your dropdown will populate.

Do I have to fork?

If you don’t need custom fields and are fine with the hosted UI, you can keep using it. But then Access in front of your API breaks (hosted UI can’t send your Access cookie).
To keep hosted UI + private API, you’d need a server-side build step (no runtime fetch)—which you already tried via GitHub Actions.

Where do my custom fields live?

In your fork, under src/fields/custom/... (the structure we used).
Build → deploy to Cloudflare Pages. Now your custom field code is part of your CMS.

If you want, tell me the exact repo you forked and I’ll give you the precise build output dir and a one-liner Access policy for both studio.yourdomain.com/* and api.yourdomain.com/commissioners.

I couldn’t load that README through my browser tool just now (GitHub’s page blocked the fetch), so I’ll give you updated, correct-for-Pages-CMS instructions that work regardless of minor repo differences—and show you exactly how to confirm the build settings from your own README/package.json in 30 seconds.

Here’s the streamlined plan to host your fork of Pages CMS on Cloudflare Pages and make it work with your Cloudflare Access–protected API.

1) Fork → Cloudflare Pages (build & deploy)

A. Fork the repo
Fork Uncharted-Limbo-Collective/pages-cms to your GitHub account (you already have this).

B. Find the build command & output dir (takes 30s)

Open your fork’s package.json.
Look for the "build" script (e.g., "build": "vite build" or "build": "next build", etc.).
If the README says otherwise, prefer the README. If not stated, the common defaults are:
- Build command: npm ci && npm run build
- Output directory: often dist or build (check for a vite.config.* / framework docs; if unclear, try dist first).

C. Connect to Cloudflare Pages

Cloudflare Dashboard → Pages → Create a project → Connect to Git → choose your fork.
Build settings:
- Build command: npm ci && npm run build
- Output directory: dist (or what your README/package.json indicates)
- Node version: 18+ (default fine)

Deploy. You’ll get a URL like:
https://<your-cms>.pages.dev

Optionally add a custom domain, e.g. studio.yourdomain.com.

2) Protect the CMS with Cloudflare Access

You want your CMS (and your commissioners API) to require login, so the Access cookie is same-site and your dropdown can fetch successfully.

Cloudflare Zero Trust → Access → Applications → Add application → Self-hosted
Create two apps/policies:

App A (CMS UI)

Domain: studio.yourdomain.com
Path: /*
Policy: Allow specific emails or your email domain.

App B (API)

Domain: api.yourdomain.com
Path: /commissioners (or whatever your Worker path is)
Policy: Same allow rule as App A.

Now when you open the CMS, you’ll sign in via Access once, and the browser will automatically send the Access cookie to your API. ✅

3) Point the CMS to your protected API

In your content repo’s .pages.yml where you have the select:

- name: client_info
  label: Select from Clients & Collaborators
  type: select
  options:
    placeholder: Select…
    fetch:
      url: https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners
      method: GET
      results: items
      value: name
      label: name

Note: This now works because both CMS and API live under your domain and are protected by the same Access policy, so the cookie is present.

4) CORS headers on your API (Worker or Vercel)

Keep CORS simple and explicit to your CMS origin:

const CMS_ORIGIN = 'https://studio.yourdomain.com';

function corsHeaders(origin) {
  const allowed = origin === CMS_ORIGIN ? origin : 'null';
  return {
    'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': allowed,
    'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
    'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type',
    'Vary': 'Origin'
  };
}

And respond to OPTIONS with 204 so preflights pass.

Cloudflare Access is the real gate; CORS just lets the browser read the response.

5) Quick verification checklist

CMS builds on Cloudflare Pages:
- If deploy fails, check the build logs for the output directory it expects (e.g., “Uploaded directory dist”). Adjust in Pages settings.
- If your build script needs pnpm or yarn, set the Build command accordingly (e.g., pnpm i --frozen-lockfile && pnpm build). Cloudflare supports all three; just use what your repo uses.
Access flows:
- Visit studio.yourdomain.com → you should see the Access login.
- After login, open a devtools tab and fetch('https://api.yourdomain.com/commissioners') → you should get JSON (because the cookie is set).
Pages CMS → API:
- Open your field in the CMS. If it still doesn’t populate, check the Network tab:
  - If you see a 302 to Access from the API request, your CMS host isn’t behind Access (make sure App A exists).
  - If 403, CORS origin mismatch. Ensure CMS_ORIGIN equals the exact origin (including https).
  - If 200 with JSON but empty items, your Notion filters may be excluding everything.

6) If the README says something special

If your README defines specific env vars or a different build/output:

Use that build command.
Set any public build-time env vars in Cloudflare Pages → Project → Settings → Environment variables (Build).
Don’t put secrets (like Notion) in the CMS—those live only in your API (Worker/Vercel env).

TL;DR

Fork → Deploy to Cloudflare Pages (npm ci && npm run build, output dist).
Add Cloudflare Access to both studio.yourdomain.com/* (CMS) and api.yourdomain.com/commissioners (API).
Point .pages.yml to your API URL.
Keep CORS open to the CMS origin.
Secrets remain in the API environment only.

If you paste your package.json "build" script and any line in the README that mentions the output directory, I’ll give you the exact build settings line-for-line.

Pages CMS

Pages CMS is an Open Source Content Management System for GitHub. It is particularly well suited for static site generators (e.g. Jekyll, Next.js, VuePress, Hugo).

It offers a user-friendly interface to edit the content of your website or app directly on GitHub.

Watch the demo ▶

Documentation

Go to pagescms.org/docs.

Community chat

Join the Discord server to get help with Pages CMS, share feedback, and connect with other users building with the platform.

Built with

Use online

The easiest way to get started is to use the online version of Pages CMS. You’ll be able to log in with your GitHub account and get the latest version of Pages CMS.

This online version is identical to what’s in this repo, but you can also install your own version locally or deploy it (for free) on Vercel following the steps below.

Install and Deploy

Create a GitHub App

Whether you’re installing Pages CMS locally or deploying it online, you will need a GitHub App.

You can either create it under your personal account (https://github.com/settings/apps) or under one of your organizations (https://github.com/organizations/<org-name>/settings/apps).

You will need to fill in the following information:

GitHub App name: use “Pages CMS” or whatever you think is appropriate (e.g. “Pages CMS (dev)”).
Homepage URL: whatever you want, https://pagescms.org will do.
Identifying and authorizing users:
- Callback URL: the URL for /api/auth/github:
  - http://localhost:3000/api/auth/github for development,
  - something like https://my-vercel-url.vercel.app/api/auth/github (or whatever custom domain you’re using) if you’re deploying on Vercel.
- Expire user authorization tokens: no.
- Request user authorization (OAuth) during installation: yes.
- Enable Device Flow: no.
Post installation:
- Setup URL (optional): leave empty.
- Redirect on update: no.
Webhook:
- Active: yes.
- Webhook URL: the (public) URL for /api/webhook/github:
  - for development, you’ll need to use something like ngrok. You’ll end up with something like https://your-unique-subdomain.ngrok-free.app/api/webhook/github.
  - something like https://my-vercel-url.vercel.app/api/webhook/github (or whatever custom domain you’re using) if you’re deploying on Vercel.
- Secret: generate a random string (for example with openssl rand -base64 32 on MacOS/Linux)
Permissions:
- Repository permissions:
  - Administration: Read & Write
  - Contents: Read & Write
  - Metadata: Read only
- Organization permissions: nothing.
- Account permissions: nothing.
Subscribe to events:
- Installation target
- Repository
- Push
- Delete
Where can this GitHub App be installed?: you’ll want to select “Any account” unless you intend to only use Pages CMS on the account this GitHub App is created under.

Environment variables

Variable	Comments
`BASE_URL`	OPTIONAL. If you’re deploying to Vercel or working locally, you won’t need that. If you’re deploying elsewhere, you’ll need to specify the base URL for the app (e.g. `https://mycustomdomain.com`).
`DATABASE_URL`	The database URL, including your credentials (e.g. `postgresql://user:password@example.com:6543`). If you’re using Supabase, use the “Transaction pooler” url.
`CRYPTO_KEY`	Used to encrypt/decrypt GitHub tokens in the database. On MacOS/Linux*, you can use `openssl rand -base64 32`.
`GITHUB_APP_ID`	GitHub App ID from your GitHub App details page.
`GITHUB_APP_NAME`	Machine name for your GitHub App (e.g. `pages-cms`), should be the slug the URL of your GitHub App details page.
`GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY`	PEM file you can download upong creation of the GitHub App.
`GITHUB_APP_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	The secret you picked for your webhook. This is used to ensure the request is coming from GitHub.
`GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_ID`	GitHub App Client ID from your GitHub App details page.
`GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_SECRET`	GitHub App Client Secret you generate on theGitHub App details page.
`RESEND_FROM_EMAIL`	The sender for authentication emails. Must be a verified domain in your Resend account and follow the format `email@example.com` or `Name <email@example.com>`.
`RESEND_API_KEY`	You’ll get that when you create a (free) Resend account to handle emails.
`FILE_CACHE_TTL`	OPTIONAL. Time to live (in minutes) for file cache (collections and media folders). Defaults to 1440 (1 day). Set to “-1” to prevent the cache from ever expiring, or “0” if you want no cache.
`PERMISSION_CACHE_TTL`	OPTIONAL. Time to live (in minutes) for the permission cache, which controls access to file cache. Defaults to 60. Set to “0” if you want to always check permissions against the GitHub API.
`CRON_SECRET`	Secret token used to secure the access of the cron API endpoint.

Local development

We assume you’ve already created the GitHub App and have a running tunnel for the GitHub App Webhook (using ngrok for example):

Install the dependencies: npm install
Update your environment variables: copy .env.example to .env and fill in the values according to your setting (see section above).
Create the database: npm run db:migrate
Run it: npm run dev

Deploy on Vercel

Create a PostgreSQL database: I recommend using Supabase, but any PostgreSQL database will do.
Deploy to Vercel: at this stage you have 2 choices:
1. Create a fork: fork the pages-cms/pages-cms repo in your account and deploy that fork. This will allow you to get updates. Make sure you define all of the environment variables listed above.
2. Use the deploy button:
Update your GitHub OAuth app: you’ll probably need to go back to your GitHub App settings to update some of the settings once you have the Vercel URL (e.g. “Callback URL” and “Webhook URL”).

Self-host

There are plenty of other options: Fly.io, Digital Ocean, Render, SST, etc.

License

Everything in this repo is released under the MIT License.

Nice — thanks for pasting the README. Here’s a tight, corrected setup that matches it, plus the few deltas from what we discussed earlier.

✅ What the README actually requires

1) Make a GitHub App (mandatory)

Create it under your user/org and set:

OAuth callback URL → /api/auth/github
- dev: http://localhost:3000/api/auth/github
- prod: https://<your-app>.vercel.app/api/auth/github (or your custom domain)
Webhook → Active
- URL → /api/webhook/github (public)
  - dev: use an ngrok URL like https://<id>.ngrok-free.app/api/webhook/github
  - prod: https://<your-app>.vercel.app/api/webhook/github
- Secret → generate a random string (e.g., openssl rand -base64 32)
Permissions
- Repositories → Administration: Read & Write, Contents: Read & Write, Metadata: Read
Events → Installation target, Repository, Push, Delete
Installable on → Any account (unless you want to restrict it)

You’ll need from the app:

GITHUB_APP_ID
GITHUB_APP_NAME (the slug)
GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY (PEM)
GITHUB_APP_WEBHOOK_SECRET
GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_ID
GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_SECRET

2) Environment variables (exact list from README)

Name	Notes
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL connection. If Supabase, use the Transaction Pooler URL.
`CRYPTO_KEY`	Symmetric key to encrypt GitHub tokens (e.g., `openssl rand -base64 32`).
`GITHUB_APP_ID`	From your GitHub App.
`GITHUB_APP_NAME`	The App slug.
`GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY`	PEM contents.
`GITHUB_APP_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	The webhook secret you set.
`GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_ID`	From your GitHub App.
`GITHUB_APP_CLIENT_SECRET`	From your GitHub App.
`RESEND_API_KEY`	From Resend (free tier ok).
`RESEND_FROM_EMAIL`	Verified sender like `Name <email@yourdomain.com>`.
`BASE_URL`	Optional; not needed on Vercel/local. Required if you deploy somewhere else.
`FILE_CACHE_TTL`	Optional (minutes). Default 1440. `-1` never expires, `0` disables cache.
`PERMISSION_CACHE_TTL`	Optional (minutes). Default 60. `0` = always hit GitHub.
`CRON_SECRET`	Optional; protects the cron endpoint.

3) Local development (matches README)

npm install
cp .env.example .env   # fill with the vars above
npm run db:migrate     # creates tables in your Postgres
npm run dev

For the webhook in dev, run ngrok and paste that URL in your GitHub App.

4) Deploy on Vercel (as the README recommends)

Create a Postgres DB (Supabase is fine). Use its Transaction Pooler URL for DATABASE_URL.
Import your fork in Vercel (or click the deploy button if you’re using the upstream).
In Vercel → Settings → Environment Variables, add every variable from the table above.
Deploy.
Go back to your GitHub App and update:
- Callback URL → https://<your-app>.vercel.app/api/auth/github
- Webhook URL → https://<your-app>.vercel.app/api/webhook/github

If you need to run db:migrate against prod after first deploy, you can:

run it locally with DATABASE_URL set to your prod DB, or

use vercel exec -- npm run db:migrate (if you prefer running from Vercel).

Using Cloudflare Access with this setup (so your protected API works)

You don’t need to run the CMS on Cloudflare to protect it with Access. The clean path is:

Put the CMS on a custom domain you own (in Vercel → Domains).
Example: studio.yourdomain.com (CNAME to Vercel).
In Cloudflare Zero Trust → Access → Applications, add a Self-hosted app for:
- studio.yourdomain.com/* (the CMS)
- api.yourdomain.com/commissioners (your Worker/Vercel proxy) Use the same “Allow” policy (your emails or org domain).
Your Pages CMS UI and your API now share the same Access SSO cookie, so the browser can fetch the protected API.

CORS on your API should allow the CMS origin:

const CMS_ORIGIN = 'https://studio.yourdomain.com';
res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', CMS_ORIGIN);
res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET,OPTIONS');
res.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type');
res.setHeader('Vary', 'Origin');

If you truly want to host the CMS on Cloudflare Pages

The README is tuned for Vercel (Next.js + server routes /api/auth/github, /api/webhook/github, DB). Cloudflare Pages can host static Next, but your app needs server runtime for auth/webhooks. You’d have to port those to Pages Functions (or run a Worker) and set BASE_URL.

That’s doable but not “drop-in.” Given the README, the lowest-friction is:

Deploy CMS on Vercel (exactly as documented).
Put it on your own domain managed by Cloudflare DNS.
Protect with Cloudflare Access as above.

You get the same result (Access-protected CMS + API), with fewer moving parts.

TL;DR – Updated instructions you can follow now

Create GitHub App with the exact callback/webhook/permissions/events the README lists.
Provision Postgres (Supabase), run npm run db:migrate.
Import your fork into Vercel, add all env vars from the table. Deploy.
Update your GitHub App callback & webhook URLs to your Vercel URL (or custom domain).
(Optional but recommended) Put CMS and API on your own domains and guard both with Cloudflare Access so the dropdown fetch works while staying private.

If you share your package.json "build" script and whether you added a custom domain, I’ll give you the exact Vercel build settings line-for-line and the Access policy values to paste.

Almost — the checkbox filter needs a boolean, not a string.

Use equals: true (or false), not "True".

Here’s the corrected Notion query body:

const body = {
  page_size: 100,
  filter: {
    and: [
      { property: 'Type', select: { equals: 'Client' } },
      { property: 'Public', checkbox: { equals: true } },         // <-- boolean
      { property: 'Project_Count', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
    ]
  },
  sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }]
};

Quick tips:

checkbox supports { equals: true } or { does_not_equal: true }.
Property names are case-sensitive and must match your database schema (Type, Public, Project_Count, Name).
Sorting by Name assumes that’s your title property (works fine). If your title property is actually Title, sort by that instead.

Super easy inside one Worker: inspect the request URL’s pathname and dispatch to different handler functions. You can do this with a switch, URLPattern, or a tiny router.

Here are three clean patterns—pick one.

1) Minimal `switch` router (fast & obvious)

export default {
  async fetch(request, env, ctx) {
    const { pathname } = new URL(request.url);

    switch (true) {
      case pathname === '/commissioners' && request.method === 'GET':
        return commissionersList(request, env);

      case pathname.startsWith('/clients/') && request.method === 'GET':
        return clientById(request, env); // e.g. /clients/123

      case pathname === '/health':
        return new Response('ok');

      default:
        return new Response('Not found', { status: 404 });
    }
  }
};

async function commissionersList(request, env) {
  // ... your Notion call → build { items } ...
  return json({ items: [{ id: 'A', name: 'A' }] });
}

async function clientById(request, env) {
  const id = new URL(request.url).pathname.split('/').pop();
  // ... fetch one client by id ...
  return json({ id, name: `Client ${id}` });
}

function json(data, init = {}) {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify(data), {
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', ...(init.headers || {}) },
    ...init
  });
}

2) `URLPattern` (native matching + params)

const routes = [
  { pattern: new URLPattern({ pathname: '/commissioners' }), handler: commissionersList },
  { pattern: new URLPattern({ pathname: '/clients/:id' }), handler: clientById },
  { pattern: new URLPattern({ pathname: '/health' }), handler: () => new Response('ok') },
];

export default {
  async fetch(request, env, ctx) {
    for (const r of routes) {
      const match = r.pattern.exec(request.url);
      if (match) return r.handler(request, env, match.pathname.groups);
    }
    return new Response('Not found', { status: 404 });
  }
};

async function commissionersList(req, env) {
  return json({ items: [{ id: 'A', name: 'A' }] });
}

async function clientById(req, env, params) {
  // params.id is auto-extracted by URLPattern
  return json({ id: params.id, name: `Client ${params.id}` });
}

const json = (d) => new Response(JSON.stringify(d), { headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' } });

Advantages: clean param capture (/clients/:id), easy to extend.

3) Method-aware tiny router

const router = [];
const route = (method, pattern, handler) =>
  router.push({ method, pattern: new URLPattern({ pathname: pattern }), handler });

route('GET',  '/commissioners', commissionersList);
route('GET',  '/clients/:id',    clientById);
route('POST', '/clients',        createClient);
route('GET',  '/health',         () => new Response('ok'));

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    for (const r of router) {
      if (request.method !== r.method) continue;
      const m = r.pattern.exec(request.url);
      if (m) return r.handler(request, env, m.pathname.groups);
    }
    return new Response('Not found', { status: 404 });
  }
};

// handlers...

Bonus: Routes at the edge vs inside the Worker

Inside the Worker (the code above): one Worker script handles many paths on the same host (e.g. api.yourdomain.com/*).
Edge routing (Cloudflare dashboard / wrangler.toml): you can also attach multiple domain/path patterns to the same Worker:

wrangler.toml

name = "api"
main = "src/worker.js"
compatibility_date = "2025-01-01"

routes = [
  { pattern = "api.yourdomain.com/*", zone_name = "yourdomain.com" },
  { pattern = "yourdomain.com/api/*", zone_name = "yourdomain.com" }
]

Your inside-the-Worker router still decides which handler to run for each pathname.

CORS tip (if called from a browser/CMS)

function withCORS(resp, origin) {
  const headers = new Headers(resp.headers);
  headers.set('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', origin ?? 'null');
  headers.set('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET,POST,OPTIONS');
  headers.set('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type');
  headers.set('Vary', 'Origin');
  return new Response(resp.body, { ...resp, headers });
}

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') {
      return withCORS(new Response(null, { status: 204 }), request.headers.get('Origin'));
    }
    // ... route, build `resp` ...
    // return withCORS(resp, request.headers.get('Origin'));
  }
}

If you tell me the exact endpoints you want (e.g., GET /commissioners, GET /clients/:id, POST /clients), I’ll stub the full Worker with handlers wired up.

is this code legit?

review, comment and highlight the improvements

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([ ‘https://app.pagescms.org’ ]);

// Safe Origin parsing function getOrigin(req) { const raw = req.headers.get(‘Origin’); // may be null if (!raw) return null; // no Origin header try { return new URL(raw).origin; // e.g. “https://app.pagescms.org” } catch { return null; // invalid/malformed Origin } }

function corsHeaders(origin) { return { ‘Access-Control-Allow-Origin’: origin ?? ‘null’, ‘Access-Control-Allow-Methods’: ‘GET,POST,OPTIONS’, ‘Access-Control-Allow-Headers’: ‘Content-Type’, ‘Vary’: ‘Origin’, }; }

function getClients(request, env, token, dbId, cors, type) { const body = { page_size: 100, filter: { and: [ { property: ‘Type’, select: { equals: type } }, { property: ‘Public’, checkbox: { equals: true } }, { property: ‘Project_Count’, rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } } ] }, sorts: [{ property: ‘Name’, direction: ‘ascending’ }] };

const r = await fetch(https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${dbId}/query, { method: ‘POST’, headers: { Authorization: Bearer ${token}, ‘Notion-Version’: ‘2022-06-28’, ‘Content-Type’: ‘application/json’ }, body: JSON.stringify(body) });

if (!r.ok) { const txt = await r.text(); return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: ‘Notion error’, details: txt }), { status: r.status, headers: { …cors, ‘Content-Type’: ‘application/json’ } }); }

const data = await r.json();

return data; }

export default {

async fetch(request, env) { const { pathname } = new URL(request.url);

const origin = getOrigin(request);
const allowed = origin && ALLOWED_ORIGINS.has(origin);

// Preflight
if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') {
  return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: corsHeaders(allowed ? origin : null) });
}

if (!allowed) {
  // Soft gate: block non-whitelisted origins
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Forbidden' }), {
    status: 403,
    headers: { ...corsHeaders(null), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  });
}

const token = env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const dbId  = env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;

const cors = {
  'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*',
  'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
  'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type'
};
if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: cors });

if (!token || !dbId) {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID' }), {
    status: 500, headers: { ...cors, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
  });
}

var data;

switch (true) {
  case pathname === '/clients' && request.method === 'GET':
    data = await getClients(request, env, token, dbId, cors, 'Client');
    break;

  case pathname === '/collaorators' && request.method === 'GET':
    data = await getClients(request, env, token, dbId, cors, 'Collaborator');
    break;
}

const items = (data.results || [])
  .map((p) => {
    const name =
      p?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
      p?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
      p?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
      p?.id?.slice(0, 8);
    return { id: name, name };
  })
  .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

return new Response(JSON.stringify({ items }), {
  status: 200, headers: { ...cors, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
});

} }

Short answer: it’s close, but a few things will bite you. Here’s what to fix + a cleaned-up version.

🔧 Issues & improvements

getClients isn’t async but uses await.
That’ll throw. Make it async.
Two conflicting CORS strategies.
You correctly compute allowed and have corsHeaders(origin), but later you hardcode '*'. Pick one (use the allowlist).
Duplicate preflight handling.
You handle OPTIONS twice. Keep the first (the allowlist one) and delete the second.
Route typo & 404 handling.
'/collaorators' is misspelled. Also, if a route doesn’t match, data stays undefined and .results will crash. Return a 404 for unknown paths.
Return shape from getClients.
It sometimes returns a Response (on Notion error) and sometimes raw data. That forces callers to guess. Either:
- always throw on error and return raw data, or
- always return a Response.
  Below I choose: throw on error, return raw.
Pagination.
Your current call only returns the first page. If you might exceed 100 rows, loop on has_more.
Headers: set Content-Type for JSON on success & errors.
You do it sometimes—do it consistently.
Tiny nits.
- Use const instead of var.
- Use strict equality everywhere (you do).
- Consider adding Cache-Control (e.g., max-age=60) to cut Notion hits.

✅ Revised Worker (minimal changes, robust)

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([
  'https://app.pagescms.org',
  // 'https://studio.yourdomain.com', // add your self-hosted CMS origin if/when you switch
]);

// Safe Origin parsing
function getOrigin(req) {
  const raw = req.headers.get('Origin'); // may be null
  if (!raw) return null;
  try { return new URL(raw).origin; } catch { return null; }
}

function corsHeaders(origin) {
  return {
    'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': origin ?? 'null',
    'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
    'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type',
    'Vary': 'Origin',
  };
}

async function queryNotion({ token, dbId, type }) {
  const body = {
    page_size: 100,
    filter: {
      and: [
        { property: 'Type', select: { equals: type } },
        { property: 'Public', checkbox: { equals: true } },
        { property: 'Project_Count', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } }
      ]
    },
    sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }]
  };

  let results = [];
  let cursor;

  do {
    const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${dbId}/query`, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
        'Notion-Version': '2022-06-28',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
      },
      body: JSON.stringify({ ...body, ...(cursor ? { start_cursor: cursor } : {}) })
    });

    if (!r.ok) {
      const txt = await r.text();
      throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
    }

    const data = await r.json();
    results = results.concat(data.results || []);
    cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
  } while (cursor);

  return results;
}

function pageTitle(p) {
  return (
    p?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    p?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    p?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
    p?.id?.slice(0, 8)
  );
}

export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const { pathname } = new URL(request.url);

    // --- CORS + allowlist gate ---
    const origin = getOrigin(request);
    const allowed = origin && ALLOWED_ORIGINS.has(origin);

    // Preflight
    if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') {
      return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: corsHeaders(allowed ? origin : null) });
    }

    if (!allowed) {
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Forbidden' }), {
        status: 403,
        headers: { ...corsHeaders(null), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      });
    }

    const token = env.NOTION_TOKEN;
    const dbId  = env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;
    if (!token || !dbId) {
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID' }), {
        status: 500,
        headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
      });
    }

    try {
      let type;
      if (pathname === '/clients' && request.method === 'GET') {
        type = 'Client';
      } else if (pathname === '/collaborators' && request.method === 'GET') {
        type = 'Collaborator'; // fixed spelling
      } else if (pathname === '/health') {
        return new Response('ok', { status: 200, headers: corsHeaders(origin) });
      } else {
        return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Not found' }), {
          status: 404,
          headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
        });
      }

      const results = await queryNotion({ token, dbId, type });

      const items = results
        .map((p) => {
          const name = pageTitle(p);
          return { id: name, name };
        })
        .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ items }), {
        status: 200,
        headers: {
          ...corsHeaders(origin),
          'Content-Type': 'application/json',
          'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=60' // tweak to taste
        }
      });
    } catch (err) {
      return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Upstream error', details: String(err?.message || err) }), {
        status: 502,
        headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
      });
    }
  }
};

What changed (and why)

async on query function (formerly getClients) and unified pagination.
Single CORS policy using the allowlist origin—no '*'.
Fixed /collaborators route and added /health.
Clear 404 when no route matches.
Consistent JSON responses with Content-Type.
Small cache to reduce Notion calls.
Errors throw from the Notion layer and are caught once in the handler (cleaner control flow).

If you want a variant where id is the Notion page ID (more stable than the title), change:

return { id: p.id, name };

and update your Pages CMS value: id.

Want me to add an optional ?q=term filter (search-as-you-type) that turns into a Notion contains filter?

Got it — your Worker is matching /clients, but your real URL is /api/clients. Two things to do:

1) Route the domain path to the Worker

In Cloudflare, attach the Worker to the path:

Dashboard → Workers & Pages → Your Worker → Triggers → Add route
- uncharted-limbo.com/api/*
- (and/or www.uncharted-limbo.com/api/* if you serve both)

Or via wrangler.toml:

name = "api"
main = "src/worker.js"
compatibility_date = "2025-01-01"

routes = [
  { pattern = "uncharted-limbo.com/api/*", zone_name = "uncharted-limbo.com" },
  { pattern = "www.uncharted-limbo.com/api/*", zone_name = "uncharted-limbo.com" }
]

2) Update your handler to match `/api/...`

Small change in your switch/if:

// before:
// if (pathname === '/clients')

// after:
if (pathname === '/api/clients' && request.method === 'GET') {
  type = 'Client';
} else if (pathname === '/api/collaborators' && request.method === 'GET') {
  type = 'Collaborator';
} else if (pathname === '/api/health') {
  return new Response('ok', { status: 200, headers: corsHeaders(origin) });
} else {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Not found' }), {
    status: 404,
    headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
  });
}

Or: make it resilient with a prefix check

If you might move the prefix later, strip it once:

const { pathname } = new URL(request.url);
const path = pathname.startsWith('/api/') ? pathname.slice(4) : pathname;
// path now is 'clients', 'collaborators', 'health', etc.

if (path === 'clients' && request.method === 'GET') { … }
else if (path === 'collaborators' && request.method === 'GET') { … }
…

3) (Optional) Add your CMS origin

If your Pages CMS runs on your own domain now, add it to the CORS allowlist:

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([
  'https://app.pagescms.org',             // hosted CMS
  'https://studio.uncharted-limbo.com',   // if you self-host the CMS here
]);

That’s it. After the route is attached and the path checks use /api/…, hitting https://www.uncharted-limbo.com/api/clients will execute the clients branch and return your JSON.

can this code become more professional without adding bulk and over-engineering?

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([ ‘https://app.pagescms.org’, ]);

// Safe Origin parsing function getOrigin(req) { const raw = req.headers.get(‘Origin’); // may be null if (!raw) return null; try { return new URL(raw).origin; } catch { return null; } }

async function queryNotion({ token, dbId, type }) { const body = { page_size: 100, filter: { and: [ { property: ‘Type’, select: { equals: type } }, { property: ‘Public’, checkbox: { equals: true } }, { property: ‘Project_Count’, rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } } ] }, sorts: [{ property: ‘Name’, direction: ‘ascending’ }] };

let results = []; let cursor;

do { const r = await fetch(https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${dbId}/query, { method: ‘POST’, headers: { Authorization: Bearer ${token}, ‘Notion-Version’: ‘2022-06-28’, ‘Content-Type’: ‘application/json’ }, body: JSON.stringify({ …body, …(cursor ? { start_cursor: cursor } : {}) }) });

if (!r.ok) {
  const txt = await r.text();
  throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${txt}`);
}

const data = await r.json();
results = results.concat(data.results || []);
cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;

} while (cursor);

return results; }

function pageTitle(p) { return ( p?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ?? p?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ?? p?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ?? p?.id?.slice(0, 8) ); }

export default { async fetch(request, env) { const { pathname } = new URL(request.url);

// --- CORS + allowlist gate ---
const origin = getOrigin(request);
const allowed = origin && ALLOWED_ORIGINS.has(origin);

// Preflight
if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') {
  return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: corsHeaders(allowed ? origin : null) });
}

if (!allowed) {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Forbidden' }), {
    status: 403,
    headers: { ...corsHeaders(null), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  });
}

const token = env.NOTION_TOKEN;
const dbId  = env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;
if (!token || !dbId) {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID' }), {
    status: 500,
    headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
  });
}

try {
  let type;
  if (pathname === '/api/clients' && request.method === 'GET') {
    type = 'Client';
  } else if (pathname === '/api/collaborators' && request.method === 'GET') {
    type = 'Collaborator'; // fixed spelling
  } else if (pathname === '/api/health') {
    return new Response('ok', { status: 200, headers: corsHeaders(origin) });
  } else {
    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Not found' }), {
      status: 404,
      headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
    });
  }

  const results = await queryNotion({ token, dbId, type });

  const items = results
    .map((p) => {
      const name = pageTitle(p);
      return { id: name, name };
    })
    .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ items }), {
    status: 200,
    headers: {
      ...corsHeaders(origin),
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Cache-Control': 'public, max-age=60' // tweak to taste
    }
  });
} catch (err) {
  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Upstream error', details: String(err?.message || err) }), {
    status: 502,
    headers: { ...corsHeaders(origin), 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
  });
}

} };

Yes — already solid. Here’s how to make it feel production-tidy without adding bloat:

What to tweak (no over-engineering)

Tiny response helper: one json() to set headers consistently.
Single CORS path: use your allowlist everywhere (drop the stray '*' cases).
Prefix-agnostic routing: strip /api once so your code doesn’t care where it’s mounted.
Early returns: handle /health and 404s upfront.
Map for routes → Notion type: avoids repeated if blocks.
Stable IDs (optional): use page.id as id (titles can change).
Env/version knobs (optional): pull Notion API version from env if present.

Polished version (compact)

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([
  'https://app.pagescms.org',
  // 'https://studio.uncharted-limbo.com',
]);

const NOTION_VERSION = '2022-06-28';  // move to env if you like
const CACHE_SECONDS = 60;

// --- utils ---
const getOrigin = (req) => {
  const raw = req.headers.get('Origin');
  if (!raw) return null;
  try { return new URL(raw).origin; } catch { return null; }
};

const corsHeaders = (origin) => ({
  'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': origin ?? 'null',
  'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET,POST,OPTIONS',
  'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type',
  'Vary': 'Origin',
});

const json = (data, { status = 200, origin } = {}) =>
  new Response(JSON.stringify(data), {
    status,
    headers: {
      ...corsHeaders(origin),
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Cache-Control': `public, max-age=${CACHE_SECONDS}`,
    },
  });

// --- Notion ---
async function queryNotion({ token, dbId, type }) {
  const baseBody = {
    page_size: 100,
    filter: {
      and: [
        { property: 'Type', select: { equals: type } },
        { property: 'Public', checkbox: { equals: true } },
        { property: 'Project_Count', rollup: { number: { greater_than: 0 } } },
      ],
    },
    sorts: [{ property: 'Name', direction: 'ascending' }],
  };

  let results = [];
  let cursor;
  do {
    const r = await fetch(`https://api.notion.com/v1/databases/${dbId}/query`, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
        'Notion-Version': NOTION_VERSION,
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      body: JSON.stringify(cursor ? { ...baseBody, start_cursor: cursor } : baseBody),
    });
    if (!r.ok) throw new Error(`Notion ${r.status}: ${await r.text()}`);
    const data = await r.json();
    results = results.concat(data.results || []);
    cursor = data.has_more ? data.next_cursor : undefined;
  } while (cursor);

  return results;
}

const pageTitle = (p) =>
  p?.properties?.Name?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  p?.properties?.Title?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  p?.properties?.Label?.title?.[0]?.plain_text ??
  p?.id?.slice(0, 8);

// --- worker ---
export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const url = new URL(request.url);
    const origin = getOrigin(request);
    const allowed = origin && ALLOWED_ORIGINS.has(origin);

    // Preflight
    if (request.method === 'OPTIONS') {
      return new Response(null, { status: 204, headers: corsHeaders(allowed ? origin : null) });
    }

    if (!allowed) {
      return json({ error: 'Forbidden' }, { status: 403, origin: null });
    }

    // Health early return
    if (url.pathname === '/api/health') {
      return new Response('ok', { status: 200, headers: corsHeaders(origin) });
    }

    const token = env.NOTION_TOKEN;
    const dbId = env.NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID;
    if (!token || !dbId) {
      return json({ error: 'Missing NOTION_TOKEN or NOTION_COMMISSIONERS_DB_ID' }, { status: 500, origin });
    }

    // Make path prefix-agnostic: /api/clients -> /clients
    const path = url.pathname.startsWith('/api/') ? url.pathname.slice(4) : url.pathname;

    // Map routes to Notion "Type"
    const typeMap = {
      '/clients': 'Client',
      '/collaborators': 'Collaborator',
    };
    const type = (request.method === 'GET') ? typeMap[path] : undefined;

    if (!type) {
      return json({ error: 'Not found' }, { status: 404, origin });
    }

    try {
      const pages = await queryNotion({ token, dbId, type });
      const items = pages
        .map((p) => ({ id: p.id, name: pageTitle(p) })) // use page.id for stable IDs
        .sort((a, b) => a.name.localeCompare(b.name, undefined, { sensitivity: 'base', numeric: true }));

      return json({ items }, { origin });
    } catch (err) {
      return json({ error: 'Upstream error', details: String(err?.message || err) }, { status: 502, origin });
    }
  },
};

Why this is “more professional”

Consistent responses via json(): fewer header typos, uniform CORS.
Prefix-agnostic routing: you won’t chase /api vs root later.
Single allowlist source of truth: no stray "*" CORS.
Stable IDs (Notion page IDs) while still sorting/displaying by title.
Clear, minimal control flow: early exits for OPTIONS/health/404, one try/catch around upstream.

If you want one optional polish: move ALLOWED_ORIGINS to an env (comma-separated) so you can add your self-hosted CMS origin without redeploying code.

Here’s how to handle both things cleanly.

1) Writing `ALLOWED_ORIGINS` (simple + flexible)

Hard-coded (fastest)

const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = new Set([
  'https://app.pagescms.org',
  // add your own CMS/domain if needed:
  // 'https://studio.uncharted-limbo.com',
  // 'https://www.uncharted-limbo.com',
]);

From an env var (so you don’t redeploy to change it)

Workers: add a text env var ALLOWED_ORIGINS like:

https://app.pagescms.org, https://studio.uncharted-limbo.com

Then in code:

function getAllowedOrigins(env) {
  return new Set(
    String(env.ALLOWED_ORIGINS || '')
      .split(',')
      .map(s => s.trim())
      .filter(Boolean)
  );
}

// later inside fetch():
const origin = getOrigin(request);
const allowedOrigins = getAllowedOrigins(env);
const allowed = origin && allowedOrigins.has(origin);

(If you need wildcard subdomains later, swap the .has(origin) check for something like Array.some(o => origin === o || origin.endsWith('.yourdomain.com')).)

2) Fixing the TS error “Initializer provides no value for this binding element”

That error happens when you destructure parameters that might be undefined. In your code it’s likely this signature:

async function queryNotion({ token, dbId, type }) { ... }

TypeScript thinks the whole object could be missing, so token/dbId/type would be destructured from undefined.

Minimal JS-safe fix (no types)

Give the parameter a default empty object:

async function queryNotion({ token, dbId, type } = {}) {
  // ... your code ...
}

Proper TS typing (best if you’re using .ts)

type NotionQueryOpts = { token: string; dbId: string; type: string };

async function queryNotion(opts: NotionQueryOpts) {
  const { token, dbId, type } = opts;
  // ... your code ...
}

Either approach removes the TS error.

Tiny polish while you’re here

If you move ALLOWED_ORIGINS to env, also update your allow check to use the parsed set as shown.
Keep using your corsHeaders(origin) everywhere (no stray '*'), and you’re good.

That TS error happens because you’re destructuring origin from a possibly-undefined second arg. Give the whole options object and its fields defaults (or type it).

Pick one of these:

Plain JS (no types)

const json = (data, { status = 200, origin = null } = {}) =>
  new Response(JSON.stringify(data), {
    status,
    headers: {
      ...corsHeaders(origin),
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Cache-Control': `public, max-age=${CACHE_SECONDS}`,
    },
  });

TypeScript (typed options)

type JsonOpts = { status?: number; origin?: string | null };

const json = (data: unknown, opts: JsonOpts = {}) => {
  const { status = 200, origin = null } = opts;
  return new Response(JSON.stringify(data), {
    status,
    headers: {
      ...corsHeaders(origin),
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Cache-Control': `public, max-age=${CACHE_SECONDS}`,
    },
  });
};

Or avoid param destructuring entirely

const json = (data, opts = {}) => {
  const status = opts.status ?? 200;
  const origin = opts.origin ?? null;
  return new Response(JSON.stringify(data), {
    status,
    headers: {
      ...corsHeaders(origin),
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'Cache-Control': `public, max-age=${CACHE_SECONDS}`,
    },
  });
};

Any of these resolves the “initializer provides no value” error.