An editor update system with a human approval gate on every write

A visual editor stores each page as structured template data behind an API. Changing that data in bulk is powerful, and also easy to get catastrophically wrong. I built an editor update system around one rule: reads are free, writes are never automatic.

Safe change workflow

Every mutating call passes through the same gate. Nothing is batched under one approval.

UNDERSTAND
      API catalog  (Every endpoint recorded with a verified response shape)
  ──▶ GET and inspect  (Reads run freely to see the real data)
  ──▶ Plan the change  (Exact request body, reviewed before it is sent)

CHANGE
      Approval gate  (A person confirms each POST, PUT, PATCH or DELETE)
  ──▶ Backup first  (For deletes, save the full template JSON to disk)
  ──▶ Mutate  (One call at a time)
  ──▶ Verify with GET  (Confirm the saved shape matches the plan)

The design decisions

• An isolated workspace with its own instructions, so nothing bleeds into other projects and the rules are impossible to miss.
• A growing, append-only API catalog. Each endpoint is recorded with its method, whether it mutates, a working request and the response shape I actually observed.
• Backup before delete is mandatory. A deleted template is saved with a timestamp, and restoring it is a single PUT of the saved page configuration.
• Approvals do not carry over: a similar call approved earlier in the session does not authorise the next one.

The goal is speed without fear. Automation does the tedious inspection and bookkeeping, and a person keeps the final say on anything that changes live data.

Originally published on my portfolio.