Webhooks
Receive each finished article as a POST request to a URL of your choice.
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 site is set to republish updated articles automatically, the webhook is also sent again after an optimization, so your platform may pick up the new content. However, an article with an edit you have not published yet is only sent again when you publish it.
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 for three days, so a temporary problem does not lose the article. The first retry follows after ten minutes, and the pause grows with every failed attempt, up to twice a day. The article shows the failure in RankYak in the meantime.
However, when your endpoint has not accepted a single delivery for three days in a row, RankYak turns the webhook off and emails you once. Once you have fixed your endpoint, you may enable the webhook again in the Developer zone.
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 optimization, 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 site 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.