respira-builder-edits

name	respira-builder-edits
description	Use for any in-page content edit on a WordPress site with a page builder. Covers finding elements, applying surgical edits, duplicating before large changes, and verifying the result. Works across Elementor 3 + 4, Divi 4 + 5, Beaver Builder, Bricks, Oxygen Classic, Oxygen 6, Breakdance, WPBakery, Uncode, and Gutenberg.
license	MIT
metadata	{"short-description":"Safe, builder-native in-page editing across all supported builders","version":"1.2.0","updated_at":"2026-05-17T00:00:00.000Z","respira_min_version":"7.1.0"}

Respira Builder Edits

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Correct approach
Using respira_update_page to change a heading, image, or button	Use respira_find_element then respira_update_element. The page tool replaces the whole body and the builder loses every node.
Calling respira_update_page without checking respira_get_builder_info	Always identify the builder first. Update_page destroys builder JSON on builder-managed pages.
Editing raw builder JSON by guessing field names	Read the current structure with respira_read_page, respira_find_element, or respira_get_builder_inline_schemas before writing.
Making large changes without a snapshot	Always call respira_create_page_duplicate before multi-element edits.
Assuming Divi 5 uses the same field as Divi 4	Divi 4 stores shortcodes in post_content. Divi 5 stores blocks plus a per-node attrs._nodeId minted by the complexifier. By-id matching needs the _nodeId fallback (added in v7.0.30).
Passing nested Divi 5 payloads through children only	Divi 5 also accepts Divi-vocabulary aliases rows / cols / modules (folded in v7.0.32). Pre-v7.0.32 these silently dropped.
Using a non-existent Beaver Builder module type	The content_field_map covers Heading, Text, Button, Image, HTML, Video, Sidebar, and Box (added in v7.0.13). Unknown types fall through without an error.
Passing flat updates like {"button_text": "Go"}	Pass either flat OR {settings: {button_text: "Go"}}. v7.0.16 deep-merges both into the settings object. v7.0.19 extended this through Divi 4. v7.0.29 extended it through update_module and apply_builder_patch.
Skipping respira_get_page_outline for "what is on this page" reads	The outline is lighter than extract_builder_content and ships per-row child counts plus a primary heading. Use it before deciding which element to edit.

Inputs

• The page or post URL, ID, or slug.
• A description of what to change (text, image URL, color, style, link).
• The builder in use, or unknown. Auto-detect with respira_get_builder_info.

Workflow

1. Understand the site. Call respira_get_site_context and respira_get_builder_info if you haven't already.
2. Understand the page. Call respira_get_page_outline for a fast structural read, or respira_find_element if you already know what to target.
3. Create a snapshot. respira_create_page_duplicate before any edit that touches more than one element or that you're not 100% sure of.
4. Find the element. respira_find_element with the most specific selector available: text content, CSS class, widget type, or element ID. Bricks 2.3.x + Divi 5 surface both id and attrs._nodeId; either works.
5. Apply the edit. respira_update_element with only the fields that change. For multi-element edits on the same page, prefer respira_batch_update.
6. Verify. Re-read the element and confirm the change is reflected. For Divi 5, also check the front-end if it's a CSS or style-driven change because the renderer has its own paths.
7. Report. Tell the user what changed and where.

Builder-specific notes

• Elementor 3. Content lives in _elementor_data. Each widget has id, widgetType, and settings. The base path is mature.
• Elementor 4 (Atomic Elements). v7.1 added end-to-end write support across 9 atomic widgets (e-heading, e-paragraph, e-button, e-image, e-svg, e-divider, e-youtube, e-self-hosted-video, e-component) plus 11 atomic layout containers (e-flexbox, e-div-block, e-grid, the e-tabs family, the e-form family). Pre-v7.1 every atomic write returned 422 respira_elementor_atomic_write_unsupported. The v4 normaliser lifts shorthand to the canonical $$type envelopes; the v4 validator catches malformed nodes before they hit the DB. Unsupported atomic types still refuse fast with supported_widgets in the error body.
• Divi 4. Shortcodes in post_content. v7.0.19 + v7.0.29 fixed update_element, batch_update, apply_builder_patch, remove_element, inject_builder_content, and update_module. The kses bypass survives so <script> and <style> inside et_pb_code are preserved. Custom post types are supported.
• Divi 5. Blocks plus attrs._nodeId. v7.0.16 fixed the background overlay key (overlay.enable is what the renderer reads). v7.0.28 fixed the number-counter typed envelope and the button text colour dual-write. v7.0.30 added the _nodeId fallback for id matching. v7.0.32 added the children-aliases fold (rows, cols, modules) plus a hard-error on silent child drops.
• Beaver Builder. v7.0.13 added Box module mappings. v7.0.16 fixed typed-node normalisation ({type:'row', columns:[…]}). v7.0.17 defaults missing column size to "100" so columns render full-width when the agent omits it. v7.0.25 fixed the top-level font-field stdClass fatal. v7.0.26 expanded that to typography containers. Custom HTML in modules survives the kses bypass.
• Bricks. v7.0.23 fixed page-settings deep-merge and the CSS regen API. v7.0.24 closed the file-mode CSS regen gap. v7.0.26 fixed global-class id resolution and the route collision that was clobbering the registry. v7.0.27 unified settings normalisation: null deletes, and string lift to , typography keys migrate into , fans out to + .

Rules

• Never use respira_update_page for content edits. It replaces the entire page body and the builder treats the result as a single text blob.
• Never guess builder JSON field names. Read first, then write.
• Always run respira_get_site_context plus respira_get_builder_info before the first edit on a page you haven't touched in the current session.
• For Divi 5, when matching by id, expect both id and attrs._nodeId to resolve.
• For Bricks file-mode CSS (cssLoading=file), v7.0.24 primes the front-end state so per-element rules emit correctly. No workaround needed.
• When the builder is unknown, call respira_get_builder_info and wait for confirmation before editing.

Verification

After every edit:

1. Call respira_find_element with the same selector used before the edit.
2. Confirm the changed field matches the intended value.
3. If the element is not found or unchanged, check whether respira_update_element returned an error or a structured soft-fail.

For batch edits:

1. Use respira_diff_snapshots to compare the before / after snapshot.
2. Confirm all changed elements are reflected; flag any that are missing.

Escalation

Stop and ask the user if:

• respira_get_builder_info returns an unknown or unsupported builder.
• respira_update_element returns a soft-fail on a Bricks, Oxygen, or Breakdance element after the v7.0.x fixes have been applied.
• The page is protected by a WAF or security plugin that blocks the REST endpoint. respira_diagnose_connection detects Cloudflare-edge write blocks.
• The edit would touch more than 20 elements. Confirm scope before proceeding.

Example

Goal: change the hero heading text from "Welcome" to "Get started today."

1. respira_get_builder_info        → Elementor 3.21, supported
2. respira_get_page_outline        → 4 sections, hero is row 0, primary heading "Welcome"
3. respira_create_page_duplicate   → snapshot ID abc123
4. respira_find_element            → selector: text="Welcome", type: heading
   Result: element ID e7a2, widgetType: heading, settings.title: "Welcome"
5. respira_update_element          → element ID e7a2, settings.title: "Get started today."
6. respira_find_element            → element ID e7a2
   Result: settings.title: "Get started today." ✓