DirectRelay Automation Bridge for n8n

DirectRelay Automation Bridge for n8n turns any WordPress site into a first-class REST API target that n8n workflows, Make scenarios, Zapier zaps, custom AI agents and your own scripts can talk to — with the keys, scopes and security model that production automation actually demands.

It is the only free WordPress automation plugin that ships all four at once: a scoped REST API surface (32 endpoints under /wp-json/directrelay-automation-bridge-for-n8n/v1/), HMAC-signed outgoing webhooks with retry, native reads of Rank Math and Yoast SEO fields, and a self-describing OpenAPI 3.0 spec that lets the n8n HTTP Request node auto-fill every request shape. No purchase code. No license key. No trial period. No feature lock. Every feature listed on this page is fully functional in the free build and always will be.

Why n8n users pick DirectRelay

• OpenAPI 3.0 spec at /wp-json/directrelay-automation-bridge-for-n8n/v1/openapi.json — paste it into n8n’s HTTP Request node and every field, scope and response shape fills itself. No manual mapping.
• Rank Math + Yoast SEO reads in one call — GET /posts/{id}/seo returns focus keyword, SEO title, meta description, canonical URL and OpenGraph fields from whichever SEO plugin you have active. The community n8n-nodes-wordpress node can’t do this.
• Scoped API keys, not WordPress Application Passwords — generate a key that can only read posts, only publish to a specific CPT, or only fire webhooks. Per-key IP allowlist, expiry and rotation are built in. Revoke one key without touching the others.
• Bidirectional, not one-way — REST reads and HMAC-SHA256 signed outgoing webhooks on the same install. Most alternatives do only one direction.
• 100% GPL, no telemetry, no license server — what you install is what runs. No phone-home, no purchase-code check, no usage caps.

Everything in the free plugin

REST API endpoints (32 routes)
* Posts — list, get, publish, bulk publish (single call writes post + featured image + SEO + categories + tags).
* Pages — list and get.
* Media — list, sideload from URL, get.
* Taxonomies — categories and tags.
* Custom meta — list all, get/delete by key (works with ACF, Pods, custom fields).
* SEO read — GET /{type}/{id}/seo returns Rank Math or Yoast fields automatically.
* Discovery — /discovery/fields and /discovery/post-types for schema reflection.
* Webhooks — CRUD + test + delivery log + usage stats + ready-made presets.
* API keys — list, rotate, revoke.
* System — /status, /ping, /cron-health, /blocked-ips.
* Fleet — /fleet/health and /fleet/keys/provision for multi-site monitoring.
* OpenAPI — /openapi.json and /openapi for self-describing discovery.

Security and production hardening
* Scoped API keys with 16+ scope types (posts:read, posts:write, posts:publish, posts:delete, media:write, webhooks:write, etc.).
* Five preset roles (readonly, writer, editor, publisher, full_access) plus custom scope bundles.
* Per-key IP allowlist (single IP or CIDR ranges).
* Per-key expiration date (auto-revoke after).
* Automatic key rotation policy (configurable days; n8n-friendly grace period).
* Keys are stored as salted hashes — the database leak cannot expose live keys.
* Timing-safe comparison (hash_equals) — immune to timing side channels.
* Sliding-window rate limiter — configurable per-IP + per-key, prevents burst abuse.
* Brute-force protection with escalating IP block (5 min → 30 min → 2 hr → 24 hr).
* HMAC-SHA256 signed outgoing webhooks with X-DirectRelay-Signature header and replay protection via timestamp window.

Outgoing webhooks
* Dispatch signed JSON to any HTTP endpoint — n8n webhook, Make hook, Zapier catch hook, custom AI agent.
* Event filtering by post type, status transition, taxonomy.
* Automatic retry with exponential backoff.
* Last 50 deliveries per webhook (status code, response time, request body).
* Built-in “Send test event” button from the admin UI.
* Ready-made presets for post.published, post.updated, post.deleted, page.published.

AI and SEO integrations
* Rank Math field reads: focus keyword, SEO title, description, canonical URL, pillar content flag, robots flags.
* Yoast SEO field reads: focus keyword, SEO title, meta description, canonical URL, OpenGraph title and description.
* IndexNow auto-ping on every publish/update — instant indexing on Bing, Yandex, Naver and Seznam. No cron job needed.
* OpenAI-compatible response shape — all endpoints return JSON that the n8n OpenAI/HTTP nodes parse without transformation.

Operations
* Activity log — last 100 API calls and webhook deliveries, plain text, filterable by event type.
* Email notifications — admin gets pinged on every webhook failure with the failed payload attached.
* Compatibility checker — verifies permalinks, REST API, SSL, Rank Math / Yoast presence, PHP version, WP-Cron health.
* Cron health monitor — alerts if WP-Cron is more than 15 min behind.
* n8n starter template — one copy-paste workflow that proves the connection in under 60 seconds.
* Side-load media from URL — POST /media/sideload with an image URL and DirectRelay downloads, attaches and returns the WP media ID.
* Custom Post Type support — auto-discovered, no extra config.
* GDPR-friendly — zero outbound traffic by default. Every external service is an explicit opt-in.

Real workflows you can build today

• AI writer pipeline — n8n fires on a schedule → calls OpenAI to draft an article → POST /posts with title, content, Rank Math SEO and a featured image URL in a single request → IndexNow auto-pings Bing → webhook back to n8n notifies your Slack.
• Multi-site fleet manager — Central n8n instance pings /fleet/health on 20 WordPress sites every 5 min. If any return cron_degraded, n8n opens a PagerDuty incident.
• Headless CMS front-end — Next.js or Astro reads posts via GET /posts?per_page=100&status=publish, renders the site. Writers use the regular WP admin to edit.
• Lead-magnet auto-publisher — Webflow form submits → n8n reads the data → POST /posts with a draft pre-filled with the lead’s company name → editorial team gets a Slack notification with a one-click approve link.

DirectRelay vs the alternatives

Rank Math / Yoast SEO field reads
* DirectRelay: Yes, both (Rank Math + Yoast auto-detected)
* WP REST + Application Password: No
* n8n-nodes-wordpress (community): No
* WP Webhooks: No

Per-route API scopes
* DirectRelay: Yes, 16+ scopes (posts:read, posts:write, media:write, etc.)
* WP REST + Application Password: No (always full account access)
* n8n-nodes-wordpress (community): No
* WP Webhooks: No

HMAC-signed outgoing webhooks
* DirectRelay: Yes (HMAC-SHA256, replay-protection timestamp)
* WP REST + Application Password: No
* n8n-nodes-wordpress (community): No
* WP Webhooks: Yes (basic)

OpenAPI 3.0 auto-discovery
* DirectRelay: Yes (/openapi.json so the n8n HTTP Request node auto-fills request shapes)
* WP REST + Application Password: No
* n8n-nodes-wordpress (community): No
* WP Webhooks: No

Outgoing webhooks with retry
* DirectRelay: Yes (exponential backoff, delivery log, test event)
* WP REST + Application Password: No
* n8n-nodes-wordpress (community): No
* WP Webhooks: Yes

Per-credential IP allowlist
* DirectRelay: Yes (single IP or CIDR)
* WP REST + Application Password: No
* n8n-nodes-wordpress (community): No
* WP Webhooks: No

Pricing model
* DirectRelay: 100% free, GPL, no upsell, no trial
* WP REST + Application Password: 100% free (core WordPress)
* n8n-nodes-wordpress (community): 100% free (community node)
* WP Webhooks: Freemium (paid add-ons)

Privacy and licence — no trialware, ever

DirectRelay is free software released under the GPL-2.0+ licence. You can use it, study it, modify it and redistribute it under the same terms.

The free plugin distributed on WordPress.org does not perform purchase-code validation, license-server activation, or any third-party license check. There is no purchase code, license key or activation token collected, stored, transmitted or required to use any feature of the free plugin. License management for the optional add-on is provided by the separate DirectRelay Pro add-on plugin distributed from directrelay.wikiofautomation.com/directrelay-pro — Pro is never distributed via WordPress.org and is never required.

Pro Features (separate add-on plugin)

The following features are provided by the DirectRelay Pro add-on plugin, distributed from https://directrelay.wikiofautomation.com/directrelay-pro. None of this code ships in the WordPress.org zip.

• SEO Metadata Write (focus keyword, title, description for Rank Math and Yoast SEO).
• Bulk Publish Endpoint (up to 50 items per request).
• Universal Schema Publish (schema-driven publish from any JSON shape).
• One-Shot Publish (atomic single-call create with media and SEO).
• Human Approval Portal (signed review URLs, approve/reject workflow, multi-reviewer chains).
• AI Guardrails (duplicate-title detection, AI-leakage scrubbing, blocked-phrase filter).
• Full Debugger (50-entry replay, payload inspection, dry-run mode).
• Chart.js Analytics Dashboard (call volume, error rate, latency trends, per-key breakdown).
• n8n Template Library (AI writer, multilingual publisher, research approval pipelines).
• Dark Mode for the plugin admin screens.

External services

This plugin supports optional integrations with external services. The services and their data handling policies are outlined below. All transmissions are initiated by the plugin only when the administrator has explicitly enabled the relevant feature; no data is sent silently or by default.

The free plugin distributed on WordPress.org does NOT use the following services: Envato/CodeCanyon purchase-code validation, license-server activation, or any third-party license check. There is no purchase code, license key, or activation token collected, stored, transmitted, or required to use any feature of the free plugin. (License management is provided by the separate DirectRelay Pro add-on plugin distributed from directrelay.wikiofautomation.com/directrelay-pro.)

n8n Webhooks (outgoing)

• What it is and what it is used for: DirectRelay dispatches signed JSON payloads to user-configured webhook URLs when WordPress post events occur. The webhook receiver can be n8n, Make, an AI agent, or any other HTTP endpoint the administrator chooses.
• What data is sent and when: The configured webhook target URL receives the post ID, title, content excerpt, status, taxonomies, and read-only SEO fields. Transmission only happens when the administrator has created an active webhook rule and the corresponding post event fires.
• Service Terms & Privacy:
  • The webhook receiver is the user’s choice; DirectRelay itself does not transmit data to any third party by default.
  • n8n (optional) Terms: https://n8n.io/legal/self-serve-terms/
  • n8n (optional) Privacy: https://n8n.io/legal/

IndexNow

• What it is and what it is used for: Submits updated post URLs directly to search engines (Bing, Yandex, Seznam) for instant indexing when content is published or updated.
• What data is sent and when: Sends the site hostname, the API key the administrator configured, and the modified post URL. Transmitted only when the administrator enables IndexNow in plugin settings and a post is published or updated.
• Service Terms & Privacy:
  • IndexNow Terms: https://www.indexnow.org/
  • IndexNow Privacy: https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement

Cloudflare API (optional)

• What it is and what it is used for: When a site administrator has configured a Cloudflare integration, the plugin can purge the Cloudflare edge cache for specific URLs after a WordPress post event.
• What data is sent and when: Sends the user-configured Cloudflare Zone ID, the user-provided API bearer token, and the specific post URLs to purge. Transmitted only when configured by the site administrator in outgoing webhook actions.
• Service Terms & Privacy:
  • Cloudflare Terms: https://www.cloudflare.com/website-terms/
  • Cloudflare Privacy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/

Third-Party AI APIs in n8n Workflow Templates (DeepSeek, Moonshot AI / Kimi, Alibaba Qwen)

• What it is and what it is used for: The Pro add-on plugin (separate download) ships copyable n8n workflow templates that demonstrate external AI models feeding WordPress via n8n. The free plugin itself does not call any third-party AI service directly; it only provides the REST endpoints that the n8n workflow calls.
• What data is sent and when: No data is transmitted directly by the WordPress plugin to these AI APIs. The workflow templates run entirely inside the user’s self-hosted or cloud n8n instance using the user’s own API credentials. The WordPress plugin only receives the AI-generated result via the n8n HTTP request back into the REST API.
• Service Terms & Privacy:
  • DeepSeek Terms: https://cdn.deepseek.com/policies/en-US/deepseek-privacy-policy.html
  • DeepSeek Privacy: https://cdn.deepseek.com/policies/en-US/deepseek-privacy-policy.html
  • Moonshot AI Terms: https://www.moonshot.cn/
  • Moonshot AI Privacy: https://www.moonshot.cn/privacy
  • Alibaba DashScope / Qwen: https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/terms-of-use