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Integrations

Zapier Integration

Overview

The Zapier integration lets you send generated articles to any of Zapier's 5,000+ app integrations. Publish Owl sends article data to a Zapier webhook, and your Zap handles the rest — whether that's publishing to a CMS, sending an email, adding to a spreadsheet, or any other action.

Requirements

  • A Zapier account (free or paid)
  • A Zap configured with "Webhooks by Zapier" as the trigger

Setup

In Zapier:

  1. Create a new Zap
  2. Choose Webhooks by Zapier as the trigger
  3. Select Catch Hook as the trigger event
  4. Click Continue — Zapier will generate a webhook URL
  5. Copy the webhook URL (e.g., https://hooks.zapier.com/hooks/catch/...)
  6. Add your desired action steps (e.g., create WordPress post, send email, etc.)

In Publish Owl:

  1. Go to Sites
  2. Click + Add Site
  3. Enter a name and select Zapier as the CMS type
  4. Paste the Zapier Webhook URL
  5. Click Save Site
Tip: After saving, run a test job in Publish Owl so Zapier can detect the data structure. Then go back to your Zap and click "Test trigger" to see the sample data and map fields to your action steps.

Payload Format

Publish Owl sends a JSON payload to your Zapier webhook with the following fields: 

{
  "action": "create",
  "source": "publish-owl",
  "timestamp": "2026-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "data": {
    "title": "Article Title",
    "content": "<h2>...</h2><p>...</p>",
    "slug": "article-title",
    "status": "publish",
    "publishDate": "2026-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
    "categories": ["Technology"],
    "tags": ["AI", "automation"],
    "excerpt": "A brief summary...",
    "featuredImage": "https://...",
    "metadata": { ... }
  }
}

The action field is "create" for new articles and "update" for content refreshes. Use this in Zapier to route to different actions.

Supported Features

  • All article fields — Title, content, slug, excerpt, tags, categories, featured image, metadata
  • Status — Draft or publish (pass through to your Zap logic)
  • Scheduling — Publish date is included in the payload for your Zap to handle
  • Updates — Content refreshes send an "update" action with the post ID

Troubleshooting

Webhook URL validation fails

Ensure the URL contains hooks.zapier.com. Publish Owl validates the URL format before saving.

Zap not triggering

Make sure your Zap is turned on in Zapier. Zaps in draft or paused state won't receive webhooks.

Fields not appearing in Zapier

Run a test job in Publish Owl first, then click "Test trigger" in your Zap to pick up the data structure. Zapier needs to receive at least one webhook to detect available fields.

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