Cockpit

Manage collections, forms, and singletons in Cockpit CMS

Overview

Cockpit CMS is a self-hosted headless content management system. This tool allows you to create and update collection entries, query collection data with filtering/sorting/pagination, submit form data, and retrieve singleton content. Cockpit uses a MongoDB-style query language for filtering and sorting. Authentication is via API access token passed as a query parameter.

Category: Development
Tool Name: cockpit
Version: 1

Appearance: Icon: lucide-LayoutDashboard | Color: #000000

Node Type

Action — processes input items and produces output

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	Input
Output	Output, Error

Credentials

This tool requires Cockpit API credentials. See the Credentials Guide for setup instructions.

Resources

Resource	Value
Collection	collection
Form	form
Singleton	singleton

Operations

Each resource offers its own set of operations.

Resource	Operation	Value	Description
Collection	Create an Entry	create	Create a collection entry
Collection	Get Many Entries	getAll	Get many collection entries
Collection	Update an Entry	update	Update a collection entry
Form	Submit a Form	submit	Store data from a form submission
Singleton	Get	get	Get a singleton

Parameters

Collection: Create an Entry

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Collection	string	Yes	—	Name of the collection to operate on. You can find collection names in your Cockpit CMS admin panel under Collections. Supports expressions.
JSON Data Fields	boolean	No	false	Whether new entry/form fields should be set via the value-key pair UI or JSON.
Entry Data (dataFieldsJson)	json	No	—	Entry/form data to send as JSON. (shown when JSON Data Fields is true)
Entry Data (dataFieldsUi)	fixedCollection	No	{}	Entry/form data to send as field name/value pairs. (shown when JSON Data Fields is false)
— Name	string	No	—	Name of the field. Supports expressions.
— Value	string	No	—	Value of the field. Supports expressions like {{ $json.title }}.

Collection: Get Many Entries

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Collection	string	Yes	—	Name of the collection to operate on. You can find collection names in your Cockpit CMS admin panel under Collections. Supports expressions.
Return All	boolean	No	false	Whether to return all results or only up to a given limit.
Limit	number	No	100	Max number of results to return. (shown when Return All is false)
Options	collection	No	{}	Additional query options for filtering and sorting results.
— Fields	string	No	—	Comma-separated list of fields to include in results. Supports expressions.
— Filter Query	json	No	—	Filter query in MongoDB/Mongolite format (e.g. {“name”: “Jim”}). Supports expressions.
— Language	string	No	—	Return normalized language fields for this locale. Supports expressions.
— Populate	boolean	No	true	Whether to resolve linked collection items.
— RAW Data	boolean	No	false	Whether to return the data exactly as received from the API (non-simplified).
— Skip	number	No	0	Number of entries to skip (for manual pagination).
— Sort Query	json	No	—	Sort query in MongoDB/Mongolite format (e.g. {“price”: -1}). Supports expressions.

Collection: Update an Entry

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Collection	string	Yes	—	Name of the collection to operate on. You can find collection names in your Cockpit CMS admin panel under Collections. Supports expressions.
Entry ID	string	Yes	—	The _id of the entry to update. Supports expressions like {{ $json._id }}.
JSON Data Fields	boolean	No	false	Whether new entry/form fields should be set via the value-key pair UI or JSON.
Entry Data (dataFieldsJson)	json	No	—	Entry/form data to send as JSON. (shown when JSON Data Fields is true)
Entry Data (dataFieldsUi)	fixedCollection	No	{}	Entry/form data to send as field name/value pairs. (shown when JSON Data Fields is false)
— Name	string	No	—	Name of the field. Supports expressions.
— Value	string	No	—	Value of the field. Supports expressions like {{ $json.title }}.

Form: Submit a Form

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Form	string	Yes	—	Name of the form to submit data to. You can find form names in your Cockpit CMS admin panel under Forms. Supports expressions.
JSON Data Fields	boolean	No	false	Whether new entry/form fields should be set via the value-key pair UI or JSON.
Entry Data (dataFieldsJson)	json	No	—	Entry/form data to send as JSON. (shown when JSON Data Fields is true)
Entry Data (dataFieldsUi)	fixedCollection	No	{}	Entry/form data to send as field name/value pairs. (shown when JSON Data Fields is false)
— Name	string	No	—	Name of the field. Supports expressions.
— Value	string	No	—	Value of the field. Supports expressions like {{ $json.email }}.

Singleton: Get

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Singleton	string	Yes	—	Name of the singleton to retrieve. You can find singleton names in your Cockpit CMS admin panel under Singletons. Supports expressions.

All Operations

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Max Concurrency	number	No	10	Maximum number of items to process concurrently.

Output Data

The Cockpit response is merged onto the input item’s JSON — incoming fields pass through and stay addressable downstream, and binary data is forwarded unchanged. Entry and singleton fields sit at the top level of the item, not under a wrapper property.

Resource / Operation	Output
Collection create	One item carrying the saved entry, including the _id Cockpit assigned to it.
Collection update	One item carrying the saved entry.
Collection getAll	Fans out — one output item per entry, each merged onto the input item’s JSON. A query that matches nothing produces no output items at all.
Form submit	One item carrying Cockpit’s response to the submission.
Singleton get	One item carrying the singleton’s content.

getAll is the only operation that changes the item count, so a node downstream of it sees one item per entry rather than one per input item.

Reference the returned fields downstream by expression, e.g. {{ $json._id }} or {{ $json.title }}.

Usage Examples

• Get all entries from a Cockpit collection
• Create a new blog post in the posts collection
• Update an existing collection entry by ID
• Submit data to a Cockpit form
• Retrieve homepage singleton content

Example Configuration

Create an entry, supplying the fields as JSON:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "collection",
    "operation": "create",
    "collection": "products",
    "jsonDataFields": true,
    "dataFieldsJson": "{\"name\": \"{{ $json.name }}\", \"price\": 29.99, \"description\": \"A great product\"}"
  }
}

Create the same entry using name/value field rows instead:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "collection",
    "operation": "create",
    "collection": "products",
    "jsonDataFields": false,
    "dataFieldsUi": {
      "field": [
        { "name": "name", "value": "{{ $json.name }}" },
        { "name": "price", "value": "29.99" },
        { "name": "description", "value": "A great product" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Update an existing entry by its _id:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "collection",
    "operation": "update",
    "collection": "products",
    "id": "{{ $json._id }}",
    "jsonDataFields": true,
    "dataFieldsJson": "{\"price\": 34.99, \"description\": \"Updated description\"}"
  }
}

Query a collection with field selection, a filter and a sort:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "collection",
    "operation": "getAll",
    "collection": "products",
    "returnAll": false,
    "limit": 50,
    "options": {
      "fields": "name,price,description",
      "filter": "{\"published\": true, \"price\": {\"$gt\": 10}}",
      "sort": "{\"created\": -1}",
      "populate": true,
      "rawData": false,
      "skip": 0
    }
  }
}

Submit a form:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "form",
    "operation": "submit",
    "form": "contact",
    "jsonDataFields": true,
    "dataFieldsJson": "{\"name\": \"{{ $json.name }}\", \"email\": \"{{ $json.email }}\", \"message\": \"{{ $json.message }}\"}"
  }
}

Read a singleton:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "singleton",
    "operation": "get",
    "singleton": "site-settings"
  }
}

Pull an entire collection, five input items at a time:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "collection",
    "operation": "getAll",
    "collection": "products",
    "returnAll": true,
    "maxConcurrency": 5
  }
}

Run a multi-condition query over articles:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "collection",
    "operation": "getAll",
    "collection": "articles",
    "returnAll": true,
    "options": {
      "filter": "{\"published\": true, \"category\": \"technology\", \"created\": {\"$gte\": \"2024-01-01\"}}",
      "sort": "{\"created\": -1, \"title\": 1}",
      "fields": "title,excerpt,created,author"
    }
  }
}

Build a newsletter signup from upstream data using field rows:

{
  "type": "cockpit",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "form",
    "operation": "submit",
    "form": "newsletter",
    "jsonDataFields": false,
    "dataFieldsUi": {
      "field": [
        { "name": "email", "value": "{{ $json.email }}" },
        { "name": "interests", "value": "technology,design" },
        { "name": "frequency", "value": "weekly" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Error Handling

Mode	Behavior
stop	Halts workflow on first error
continue	Skips failed items, passes successful ones through
errorPort	Routes failed items to Error output port

Tips

Cockpit CMS tool for managing collections, forms, and singletons in a self-hosted headless CMS.

Behavior notes

• Create and update share one endpoint. Update is a create that carries an _id; supply Entry ID and Cockpit overwrites that entry rather than adding a new one.
• Entry Data comes from one source at a time. With JSON Data Fields on, only the JSON field is read; with it off, only the name/value rows are read. Malformed JSON fails the item with a message naming the field.
• Filter Query and Sort Query use MongoDB syntax, e.g. {"price": {"$gt": 10}} and {"created": -1}. Both must be valid JSON or the item fails.
• Fields is a comma-separated allowlist. Naming fields drops _id from the response unless you list it explicitly.
• RAW Data turns simplification off. By default Cockpit returns a simplified shape; switch RAW Data on to receive the response exactly as the API produced it.
• Skip is manual pagination. Combine it with Limit when you want a specific page; with Return All on, Cockpit returns everything and Limit is ignored.