Auto-build SEO blog drafts with n8n: keyword → AI article + branded visuals → WordPress draft

Submit a target keyword via n8n form → OpenAI writes an SEO article with summary → Canvora generates featured & OG images → poll until ready → embed image and create WordPress draft

Who

Content operators, SEO specialists, teams that need batch blog draft generation

You get

After submitting one keyword, get a WordPress draft with on-brand featured image and OG card, ready for review and publish

You need

n8n · canvora · wordpress

Steps

1. Configure form trigger and base credentials

   Import template 17737 in n8n. Open the 'When Keyword Submitted' node (Form Trigger) and confirm the form title is 'Generate an SEO article' with fields 'Target keyword' (required) and 'Brand ID (optional)' (optional). Save and copy the form URL for later testing. Ensure your n8n instance can reach OpenAI, Canvora (api.canvora.ai), and your WordPress site.

2. Configure the OpenAI article generation node

   Open the 'Write SEO Article' node and add your OpenAI API credential. Select model gpt-5-mini (or swap to Claude/Gemini, which requires changing the node type). Keep the following prompt in the Messages field to ensure strict JSON output:

   Execution prompt · Source text。OpenAI node Messages → values[0].content field; n8n expression resolves to the actual keyword at runtime

   Copy prompt

   =You are an SEO content writer. Write a complete, publish-ready blog article optimized for the keyword "{{ $('When Keyword Submitted').item.json['Target keyword'] }}". Return STRICT JSON only: {"title": "...", "body_html": "<p>...</p>", "summary": "one-sentence summary for the featured image"}. No preamble, no markdown fences.

3. Parse JSON and call Canvora to generate visuals

   The 'Parse Article JSON' node uses JS to extract JSON from the OpenAI response. No changes needed, but test with a sample first to ensure stable parsing. Then the 'Post Article to Canvora' node sends a POST to https://api.canvora.ai/api/generations. Configure HTTP Header Auth credential: header name X-API-Key, value your Canvora API key (vd_… format). The body includes inputType='text', inputContent (from summary or title), title, outputFormats=['blog_featured','og_image'], and optional brandId.

4. Poll generation status and handle timeout or failure

   The 'Wait 30s' node pauses 30 seconds, then 'Fetch Generation Status' queries Canvora (GET /api/generations/{generation.id}) with the same X-API-Key. 'If Generation Done' checks for completed/failed/partial/cancelled; if not done and fewer than 20 polls, loop back to Wait. 'If Timed Out' triggers after 20 iterations and routes to 'Generation Failed'. On success (completed/partial), proceed; on failure, Canvora auto-refunds credits.

5. Assemble content and create WordPress draft

   The 'Build WordPress Post' node runs JS to pick the blog_featured image URL from Canvora outputs, embeds it at the top of the article HTML (figure/img tag), and appends body_html. The 'Create WordPress Draft' node uses WordPress credentials to create a post with status=draft, title and content from the previous step. After execution, check WordPress admin for a draft with the featured image embedded.

Please help me set up the n8n template 17737 for SEO blog drafts. Prerequisites: 1) Confirm you have access to an n8n instance; 2) Prepare an OpenAI API key, a Canvora API key (get a vd_… key from Integrations → API Keys), and WordPress site credentials; 3) After importing the template in n8n, check the Form Trigger fields (Target keyword required, Brand ID optional) and the OpenAI node model selection. Test once with a sample keyword to verify the JSON output is parsed correctly by the Parse Article JSON node, then observe whether the Canvora polling loop and WordPress draft creation complete successfully.