Your first guest post in five minutes

Your first guest post in five minutes (self-serve, with an agent)

What you need: a Linkio account on self-serve billing, an API key from https://www.linkio.com/account/api-keys, and Claude Code (or Claude.ai / ChatGPT with the Linkio connector; see the keys page). The agent does the work; you answer one question at a time. It asks you before anything that spends or sends; "The rules it keeps" says what enforces that.

0. Money first (30 seconds)

No account yet? Sign up from the API: POST /api/signup, read the code from the mail, POST /api/signup/verify, and the answer carries your first key (Sign up as an agent). Either add your own provider keys at https://www.linkio.com/account/ai-keys (OpenAI and DataForSEO keys together give the $10 free start; Hunter, MillionVerifier, QuickEnrich and Instantly keys go on the same page), or add money at https://www.linkio.com/shop, or add a card at https://www.linkio.com/billing. Every paid step tells you what it will hold before it runs; a step the account cannot fund answers with those three links instead of running.

1. Connect (1 minute)

export LINKIO_API_KEY=acc_your_key
claude plugin marketplace add ajaypag/linkio-link-building-agent
claude plugin install linkio@linkio

(From a checkout of the Linkio repo, claude --plugin-dir ./plugins/linkio works too. Without the plugin: claude mcp add --transport http linkio https://mcp.linkio.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer acc_your_key".) Use a key that can write (the Automation level on the keys page). A Reporting or Read only key gives the agent read tools only. Then: "I run https://yoursite.com and I want links to my pricing page."

2. What the agent does, and what it asks you

After that it watches: tells you when the publisher replies, when the link is live (it opens the page and checks the link itself, then asks you to pass or fail it: line_item_qa_decision), when an invoice arrives (you pay the publisher directly, at the price you saw; the agent shows the link and the amount, and records the payment when you say you paid), and what the month cost (usage_jobs).

Article creation: what runs

Two paths, both ending in a document the publisher receives:

• Bring your own content: order_byoc_upload attaches an article written outside Linkio to the order item (articleUrl is any http(s) link that opens without a login); every content step marked complete, ready for the publisher. To say so before the article exists, add the site with ownContent: true (line_items_add_to_order) or set it later (line_items_update): nothing starts an AI topic or article on that item until you upload it or clear the choice (ownContent: false, or overrideOwnContent: true on topic_gen_start).
• Linkio's article system: article_gen_start runs topic-generation, article-draft, content-audit, fact-checking, final-polish, formatting-qa, internal-links, client-mention, client-link, images and url-suggestion, then writes a Google Doc; 15-30 minutes, article_gen_status reports progress. On your saved OpenAI key the provider bills you at cost and Linkio charges 3c per completed step plus 2c when the article completes; on Linkio's key the same fees apply plus provider cost plus 20%.
• For a link insertion into an existing article: workflow_generate_listicle drafts a new entry for a "Top N" article; workflow_generate_contextual drafts the one to three sentences that carry your link.

Checking a site before you buy it

A site found by website_search or ai_find_sites_start comes with its keyword overlap and grade. A site you name yourself has none until it is analyzed: DataForSEO keyword overlap with your target pages, an AI grade (high_quality, good_quality, marginal_quality or disqualified) and the best matching target page, 1-3 minutes per site.

• Before an order: bulk_analysis_add_domains (no project needed; the analysis starts at once).
• On an order: line_items_analyze, or qualify: true on line_items_add_to_order. The grades show in line_items_qualification. Each site costs the provider cost plus 20%, plus the per-site compute fee; about 17c a site is held first.

The rules it keeps

• One question per message. Proposal first, question last.
• Before it sends anything to a publisher or records a payment, it shows you the exact text or amount and waits for your yes. That is a rule the agent keeps; the Linkio server does not wait for you. These do enforce it:
  • workflow_send_to_publisher, line_item_message_publisher, line_item_close, line_item_replace_site and account_publisher_invoice_mark_paid are marked destructive, so a client that honours the mark (Claude.ai, ChatGPT) asks you before each call unless you told it to always allow that tool.
  • workflow_send_to_publisher with checkOnly: true shows the mail as it would go out and sends nothing.
  • A Read only key cannot send or record a payment: it can only read.
  • "Ask me before any job over $X" in your spending limits stops a paid job above that amount until you approve it.
• Every number comes from a tool result or a page it opened; it says "my judgment" otherwise.
• A site is described by its numbers, its record and its seller: owner or reseller, proven or not, never a reseller's name. The seller policy decides which seller is booked (section 10 of API for account callers).
• When a tool fails or is missing, it tells Linkio with report_issue and tells you what it sent.

Without an agent

The same steps are buttons in the app: https://www.linkio.com/orders/new. Each paid button shows the hold under it; the billing page shows what you paid for.

API and MCP

Everything above is a tool call: account_me, client_create, target_pages_add, website_search, ai_find_sites_start, order_create, order_byoc_upload or article_gen_start, workflow_send_to_publisher, workflow_verify_publication, line_item_qa_decision, account_seller_policy_set, report_issue, usage_estimate, usage_receipt, usage_jobs. Prices: Billing, limits and receipts.