Skip to Main
View .mdAsk ClaudeAsk ChatGPT

Post Creator is a HuxxConnect Pro feature that reads items from an endpoint and creates a WordPress post for each one. In this tutorial you’ll sync product data from the DummyJSON demo API into draft posts.

What you’ll build

You’ll configure Post Creator on the DummyJSON products endpoint and run one sync. When you’re done, your Posts screen will hold 30 new drafts — one per product — each with the product’s name as the title and its description as the content. Running the sync again updates those same posts instead of duplicating them.

Before you start

  • HuxxConnect and HuxxConnect Pro are both installed and active.
  • You have the DummyJSON API set up with a products endpoint. If not, complete Your First API Connection first — this tutorial picks up exactly where it ends.
  • You can reach HuxxConnect in the WordPress admin menu.

Step 1: Open the Post Creator editor

Open your DummyJSON API’s detail page and expand the products endpoint. Below the testing section you’ll see a Post Creator row marked Not configured. Click Configure.

The Post Creator editor opens on its own page. Notice the breadcrumb at the top — it shows the API and endpoint you’re configuring — and a Setup Guide button that replays the built-in tour any time you want it.

Step 2: Point Post Creator at the data

The right-hand API Response panel fetches a live sample from your endpoint. DummyJSON wraps its product list in a products key:

{
  "products": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "title": "Essence Mascara Lash Princess",
      "description": "The Essence Mascara Lash Princess is a popular mascara known for its volumizing and lengthening effects.",
      "category": "beauty",
      "price": 9.99
    }
  ],
  "total": 194,
  "skip": 0,
  "limit": 30
}

Post Creator needs to know where the list of items lives. In the Root Path field, click Detect — it inspects the sample and fills in products for you. A green status appears under the field:

✓ 30 items detected

If you’d rather not type it, click into the Root Path field first, then click the products branch in the API Response tree — tree clicks only fill a field while that field is focused (with nothing focused, a branch click just expands or collapses it).

Step 3: Set the Unique Key

The Unique Key tells Post Creator which field identifies each item, so a second run updates existing posts instead of creating duplicates. Type id into the Unique Key field (or focus the Unique Key field and then click the id leaf in the API Response tree — with no field focused, a leaf click copies the token to the clipboard instead).

The status under the field confirms the key exists in your data:

✓ Found in 30 of 30 items

Leave the rest of the Configuration card alone for now: Post Type stays Posts, Post Status stays Draft, and Sync Mode stays Create & update — the safe default while you’re testing.

Step 4: Map two fields

Switch to the Field Mapping tab. In the Post Data group, click + Add Field and build your first mapping:

  1. In the target dropdown, choose Title.
  2. In the value input, type {title}.

A live preview appears under the row showing the resolved value from the current sample item:

→ Essence Mascara Lash Princess

Click + Add Field again, choose Content, and type {description}. Tokens use the field names from the API Response panel — click any value in the tree while a mapping input is focused and its token is inserted for you.

Step 5: Save and preview

Click Save Configuration, then click Preview. Preview is a dry run — it fetches the API and shows what would happen without writing anything. It details the first 5 items — each row shows the action Post Creator plans for that item — and the panel header shows the total item count:

#1  create
#2  create
...  (30 total items)

Expand any row to see every mapped value exactly as it will be saved. If a title or description looks wrong here, fix the mapping before running.

Step 6: Run the sync

Click Run Now. A confirmation dialog appears — “This will fetch data from the API and create or update posts based on your mapping configuration. This action cannot be undone.” Click Run Now to confirm.

The Run Results panel fills in with the outcome:

Created: 30   Updated: 0   Deleted: 0   Skipped: 0   Errors: 0

Run it a second time and watch the numbers flip: Created: 0, Updated: 30. That’s the Unique Key doing its job — every product already has a post, so each one is updated in place.

Step 7: Check your posts

Go to Posts → All Posts and click the Drafts filter. You’ll see 30 drafts titled after the DummyJSON products, each with the product description as its content. They’re ordinary posts — edit, publish, or delete them like any other.

What just happened

Post Creator fetched the endpoint, used the Root Path to find the array of items, and walked through them one by one. For each item it resolved your token templates ({title}, {description}) against the item’s data and wrote a post, stamping it with the item’s Unique Key so later runs can find it again. The Sync Mode decided what happened on the second run — Create & update updates matches and never deletes. See How HuxxConnect Works for the request pipeline behind the fetch.

If it didn’t work

“No items found — check the path” under Root Path. The path doesn’t point at an array. Click Detect, or focus the Root Path field and click the branch in the API Response panel that contains the numbered items. For DummyJSON the correct value is products.

“Not found in sample data” under Unique Key. The field name doesn’t exist on the items — check spelling and case, and note the key is read from inside each item, so it’s id, not products.id.

Preview and Run Now are grayed out. The configuration isn’t complete yet: Post Creator needs a Unique Key and at least one mapping with a value. Fill in Steps 3 and 4, then save.

Where next