Webhooks | RankYak

A webhook delivers each finished article to an HTTP endpoint you control, rather than to a CMS that RankYak knows how to publish to. This is the building block for custom publishing pipelines, internal tools, and platforms without a native integration; the Make integration is built on it as well. If you would rather pull articles than receive them, look at the API or the RSS feed instead.

Enabling webhooks

Go to Settings, then Integrations, and open the Developer zone.
Click Enable next to the webhook.
Enter the URL where you would like to receive the articles, and click Enable.

You may change the URL at any time with the Change URL button in the same section.

When webhooks fire

Typically, a webhook fires when a new article finishes generating in the early morning of its scheduled date. RankYak sends a POST request to your URL with the article as a JSON body. When your project allows updated articles to be republished automatically, the webhook is also sent again after an article refresh or rewrite, so your platform may pick up the new content.

Your endpoint should respond with a success status to acknowledge receipt. If the endpoint is unreachable or responds with an error, RankYak tries the delivery again later, so a temporary problem does not lose the article.

The payload

The JSON body contains the following fields.

Field	Contents
`id`	The article's ID in RankYak.
`slug`	The URL slug.
`title`	The article title.
`excerpt`	A short excerpt.
`meta_title`	The meta title.
`meta_description`	The meta description.
`html`	The full article as HTML.
`markdown`	The full article as raw Markdown.
`header_image_url`	The header image URL, when the article has one.
`publish_at`	The article's scheduled publish date.
`published_at`	When the article was published, when known.
`updated_at`	The most recent refresh or rewrite, when there has been one.

Publishing state and the live URL

When the webhook is your only connection, RankYak marks an article as published once the delivery succeeds. However, RankYak cannot know where the article ended up on your site, so you should report the live URL back: open the article, choose Set external URL from the actions menu, or submit it through the API. RankYak uses the URL to locate and verify your articles when your project takes part in the backlink exchange.

Resending a webhook

Sometimes you may wish to test your endpoint or run an article through your pipeline again. On any finished article's page, open the actions menu next to the publishing controls and choose Send webhook (or Resend webhook once the article is published). The article is delivered immediately, and repeating this is harmless.

Disabling webhooks

To turn webhooks off, return to the same Developer zone section and click Disable. Deliveries stop immediately. Of course, you may enable webhooks again at any time.

Still need help?

Ask the copilot inside RankYak for an instant answer about your own account, or send us an email and a human will get back to you.