Creating Documents Programmatically with TV Values in MODX Revo

The old code example already showed how to create a resource programmatically in MODX Revo, but it stopped at the point where many developers get confused: TVs are not saved with a simple set() call like normal resource fields.

The Base Resource Creation Example

$document = $modx->newObject('modResource');
$document->set('createdby', $modx->user->get('id'));
$document->set('template', 3);
$document->set('isfolder', 0);
$document->set('published', 1);
$document->set('createdon', time());
$document->set('pagetitle', 'Artificial document');
$document->set('alias', 'artificial-document');
$document->set('description', '<p>Short article description.</p>');
$document->set('introtext', '<p>Short article intro.</p>');
$document->setContent('<p>Full article text</p>');
$document->set('parent', 21);
$document->save();

Why TVs Need a Separate Step

TVs are stored through a related table, not as direct columns on the resource. That means this will not work reliably:

$document->set('my_tv', 'value');

Instead, save the resource first and then assign TVs explicitly.

The Correct Pattern

$document->save();
$document->setTVValue('my_tv', 'value');
$document->setTVValue('color', 'blue');
$document->setTVValue('price', '199');

Why This Matters

Programmatic resource creation is often used for imports, catalog synchronization, CRM-driven content, or frontend submission flows. In all of those cases, forgetting the extra TV save step leads to resources that look complete in code but arrive in the manager without the expected custom field data.

The safe rule is simple: create the resource, save it, then write TVs through setTVValue().