Use Surfer in Zapier

Add Surfer as an action step in a Zap, and any trigger can create a Content Editor or an AI article and read the result once Surfer has finished. Every action works on a Content Editor, the document Surfer builds around your target keywords, holding the guidelines and the Content Score. The actions run through the Surfer API with your organization’s API key; check the requirements below before you build the Zap.

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Availability

You need a Zapier account, API access on your Surfer plan, and an API key issued by support. Authentication lists the plans that include API access and how the key is issued.

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Connect Surfer in a Zap

Surfer is added like any other Zapier app: pick it as an action step, connect an account with your API key, and test the step. Zapier’s own guides cover the editor: Set up your Zap action and Connect your app accounts to Zapier.

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Actions

The Surfer app has four actions and no triggers. A Zap starts from another app’s trigger or from a schedule and calls Surfer from there. Two actions create and spend credits (Credits and limits). Two actions read. Their answers are only useful once Surfer has finished (Wait for Surfer to finish). The guidelines read answers an error until then. The content read answers whatever the document holds at that moment.

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Create Content Editor

Creates a Content Editor for your keywords and starts building its guidelines.

• Keywords (required): the keywords the Content Editor targets.
• Location (required): the country or region whose search results Surfer analyzes, for example United States.
• Import Content From URL (optional): the address of a page. Surfer fills the new editor’s document with that page’s content.

The step’s output holds ID (the Content Editor’s id), State (scheduled at first), Workspace Id, and Permalink Hash.

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Create Surfer AI Article

Creates a Content Editor for your keywords and has Surfer write the article into it, in one step. No Create Content Editor step goes before it.

• Keywords (required): the keywords the article targets.
• Location - Language (required): the country or region whose search results Surfer analyzes, paired with the language the article is written in.
• Skip “Review Outline” Step? is optional. While it is off, generation pauses at the outline until someone reviews it in the Surfer app. Zapier cannot approve the outline. Turn it on to let Surfer write the article without the pause.

The step’s output holds the same four fields as Create Content Editor, plus Ai Article Status (new at first).

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Get Surfer Article’s Content

Returns the Content Editor’s document as it stands, as HTML, whether or not Surfer has finished. After Create Surfer AI Article, the document is empty until Surfer has written the article. An editor created with Import Content From URL holds that page’s content from the start.

• Content Editor ID is required. Use the ID field from the create step or the Content Editor’s URL in Surfer.

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Get Content Editor Structural Guidelines

Returns the recommended word, character, heading, paragraph, and image counts for the Content Editor, each as a range. A range without a maximum has no upper limit. While the Content Editor is not yet finished, or after its analysis failed, the underlying API answers 404 Not found. The same answer comes back for an ID that does not exist or that your key cannot reach.

• Content Editor ID is required. Use the ID field from the create step or the Content Editor’s URL in Surfer.

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Wait for Surfer to finish

Both create actions return as soon as Surfer has queued the work. A read step in the same Zap runs before Surfer has finished unless you hold it back. What runs in the background describes what Surfer does after each create step returns. Three ways to wait:

• Add a Delay step between the create step and the read step. About 12 minutes is usually enough, with about 2 for the Content Editor and about 10 for the article. Surfer’s official estimate for an article is 20 minutes. Peak traffic or an AI provider outage can make it take longer.
• Split the work into two Zaps. The first Zap runs the create step. A second Zap, started on a schedule, runs the read step.
• Use the API’s webhooks. They do not depend on how long Surfer takes. Set up a webhook covers registration. Point the URL at your server or a second Zap. With two Zaps, the second handles finished editors while the first runs the create step.

A Content Editor whose analysis failed cannot be repaired from Zapier. Create a new one. Content Editor states lists the states and what a failed one means.

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Credits and limits

Creating a Content Editor or an AI article through Zapier spends the same credits as in the app. The two read actions spend none. Credits lists what each create action costs on your plan. Every action counts toward the API’s request limits. A Zap that runs many Surfer steps in a burst can reach them. Rate limits and credits lists the limits and what to do when you reach them.

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Verify it is working

A passing test on a create step confirms that Surfer created the Content Editor during the test.

1. Use the Content Editor your setup test created. If you have none, test a Create Content Editor step now. The test spends a credit to create the editor. Its output shows the editor’s ID and State scheduled.
2. In Surfer, find that Content Editor by the keywords you sent. An editor created from Zapier lands in your organization’s oldest active workspace; no action field names a workspace.
3. Once the editor has finished, test a Get Content Editor Structural Guidelines step with that ID. The recommended counts come back.

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Troubleshooting

Check two things first: the key the account was connected with, and whether the read step ran before Surfer finished.