I’m building a Python script to manage my movie watchlist by pulling data from another site. I want to assign different categories to each movie using tags. According to the Notion documentation, multi-select properties need an array of option values in the multi_select field. I’m confused about the proper way to add these tags through the API. Should I create the tag options first when setting up the database, or can I add them dynamically when creating entries? What’s the correct structure for the API request when working with multi-select properties?
The API auto-creates tags when you reference ones that don’t exist in your multi-select array. I’ve used this for content management - it works great. Just structure your multi_select field as an array of objects with name properties when posting to the pages endpoint. Notion creates missing tags on the fly. Watch out though - sloppy string formatting can create messy duplicates with slight variations. I recommend keeping a standardized tag list in your Python script to avoid that headache.
notion’s multi-select can be a bit tricky, but u can add options on the fly. just ensure ur option object has ‘name’ and ‘color’ (color is optional). i usually send tag names in an array, and notion creates them auto if they don’t exist. great for movie genres!
I ran into the same issues automating my book database. Notion creates tags automatically, but you’ll get cleaner results by setting up your main categories in the schema first. This way you control colors and avoid typos creating duplicate tags. For dynamic tags, normalize them in your Python script before sending - I use .strip().lower() to clean everything up. The API response shows all available options for multi-select properties, so cache those locally and validate against them before making requests. This prevents your database from getting cluttered with “Action”, “action”, and "Action " as separate tags.
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