Fillout logo Fillout automation

Build a Fillout form from a brief

A client sends a list of questions in an email, and someone has to open Fillout, create a form, pick a field type for every line and publish it. The same brief arrives again next month for the next event.

Cotlet does it in your own Fillout account with create_form, add_question, get_form and publish_form, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

Sign up free All Fillout tools

Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Can Fillout do this on its own?

Fillout builds forms only in its editor (checked 17 Oct 2026). The Form Agent chat in the editor can create a form, add fields and set up logic, but not payments, calendars, progress bars, integrations or form-level settings. The REST API has no endpoint to create a form, and the Zite MCP documents that creating forms is not supported over MCP.

How you do it in Fillout today

  1. On the Fillout Home page, click New in the lower right and select Form.
  2. Choose how to start: Blank form, Create with AI, Connect to an app, or Import existing forms for a PDF, another builder's form or a Template.
  3. Click or drag a field type from the left-hand panel, enter the question, then open its settings icon to set options and other details.
  4. Click Preview to test the form, then Publish. The first time, a Publish form popover asks where responses go.
  5. For the next event, hover over the form on the dashboard, click the three dots and choose Duplicate, then change the questions one by one.

How to build a Fillout form from a brief

Prompt

Build a Fillout form called "Webinar registration" with four questions: full name, work email, company size as a dropdown (1-10, 11-50, 51+) and what they want to learn. Read it back to me, then publish it with responses saved only in the form.
  1. 01

    Check for a twin

    Your agent runs list_forms first. A form with the same name is reported to you instead of creating a second copy.

  2. 02

    Turn lines into typed questions

    create_form takes one entry per question and the agent picks a field type from the wording: an email line becomes EmailInput, a fixed set of answers becomes Dropdown with its options. A line it cannot type stays ShortAnswer.

  3. 03

    Handle the special fields

    Fields that need more than a label, such as a signature, a file upload or a rating, are added with add_question, so the options and the type are set explicitly.

  4. 04

    Read it back

    get_form returns every question with its type. The agent compares the list with the brief and fixes a mismatch with update_question before anything goes live.

  5. 05

    Publish on your OK

    publish_form asks for your OK by default. On the first publish the agent sets where responses go and uses Just this form unless the brief names a database.

What you get back

Example data

Created "Webinar registration" (form fpj3Kd9xQw2L), 4 questions:
1. Full name: ShortAnswer
2. Work email: EmailInput
3. Company size: Dropdown (1-10, 11-50, 51+)
4. What do you want to learn?: LongAnswer
Published with responses saved only in the form

Other ways to ask

  • Build a feedback survey from this list of 12 questions and use a StarRating for the ones that ask how good something was.
  • Duplicate the questions of "Spring webinar" into a new form called "Autumn webinar" and swap the date question.
  • Create the form but do not publish it, and send me the list of questions to approve.

What Fillout allows, and what to know first

  • Fillout offers over 50 field types, and the REST API names 38 of them in a form's metadata, from ShortAnswer and EmailInput to Signature and Subform.
  • On the first publish, the Publish form popover asks where responses go: a New database, an Existing database or Just this form.
  • Fillout's own import takes one line per question, so a list of questions turns into a form with one question each.
  • Form Agent, the in-editor chat, takes up to 4,000 characters per message and spends monthly credits that reset on the 1st.
  • Fillout keeps an edit history behind the clock icon in the editor, where a past version of a form can be restored.

publish_form asks for your OK by default. To run it on a schedule without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: Fillout Help: Make a form · Fillout Help: Build forms with Form Agent · Fillout Help: Use AI to create forms · Fillout Help: Restore previous form version · Zite Help: Zite MCP overview

Call create_form from a script

curl

curl -X POST https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/fillout/forms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"Webinar registration","questions":[{"label":"Full name","type":"ShortAnswer"},{"label":"Work email","type":"EmailInput"},{"label":"Company size","type":"Dropdown","options":["1-10","11-50","51+"]},{"label":"What do you want to learn?","type":"LongAnswer"}]}'

Example response

{
  "form_id": "fpj3Kd9xQw2L",
  "name": "Webinar registration",
  "published": false,
  "questions": [
    {
      "id": "q_full_name",
      "name": "Full name",
      "type": "ShortAnswer"
    },
    {
      "id": "q_work_email",
      "name": "Work email",
      "type": "EmailInput"
    },
    {
      "id": "q_company_size",
      "name": "Company size",
      "type": "Dropdown"
    },
    {
      "id": "q_learn",
      "name": "What do you want to learn?",
      "type": "LongAnswer"
    }
  ]
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the call is fillout_write → create_form. Example data.

Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron

Fillout tools this automation uses

Cotlet Fillout tools used to build a Fillout form from a brief
Tool Parameters
create_form name, questions
add_question form_id, label, type, options, required, page
get_form form_id
publish_form form_id, responses_go_to
All 15 Fillout tools with descriptions

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to connect Fillout to Cotlet?

Yes. You sign in to Fillout yourself, in your own Cloud Browser in the EU, and we never save your password. Your agents only get Fillout once you enable it, every background request is listed, and the browser profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM, the cipher 1Password uses for its vaults. The AI model never sees a login, posts and messages wait for your OK, and Disable for agents cuts access in one click. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+ on Qualys SSL Labs, securityheaders.com and Mozilla Observatory; live results are on https://cotlet.dev/security.

Give your agent access to Fillout.

Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with Fillout.

Sign up free