README

A native blog extension for Magento 2 with full RequestDesk integration. Create AI-powered blog content in RequestDesk and automatically sync it to your Magento store, or sync your product catalog to RequestDesk for AI-assisted content creation.

Get Started with RequestDesk for Magento →

Why This Extension?

Unlike Shopify or WordPress, Magento has no built-in blog functionality. This extension provides:

Complete Blog System - Posts, categories, SEO metadata, and frontend templates
Product-to-Post Linking - A critical Magento feature for e-commerce SEO
Bidirectional Sync - Push products to RequestDesk, pull blog posts back
AI Content Integration - Leverage RequestDesk's AI to generate product-focused blog content
Multi-Store Support - Full store scoping for Magento multi-store setups

Features

Blog Management

Full CRUD for blog posts via admin panel
Category management with hierarchical support
SEO fields: meta title, meta description, URL keys
Featured images and media support
Draft/Published status workflow
Store-scoped content

RequestDesk Integration

Product Export: Sync your Magento product catalog to RequestDesk's knowledge base
Post Import: Pull AI-generated blog posts from RequestDesk
Sync Status Tracking: Monitor which posts are synced, pending, or failed
Automated Import: Hourly cron job for automatic post imports
API Key Authentication: Secure communication via X-RequestDesk-Key header

Product Linking

Link blog posts to related products
Display related posts on product pages
Show related products within blog posts
Semantic search via RequestDesk RAG for smart product-post matching

REST API

Complete API for headless/PWA implementations and RequestDesk communication.

Frontend Templates

Responsive blog listing page
Individual post view
Category filtering
Hyvä Theme Support: Optimized templates for Hyvä-based stores

Requirements

Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce 2.4.7+
PHP 8.1 or later
RequestDesk account with API key

Installation

Via Composer (Recommended)

composer require requestdesk/magento-blog
bin/magento module:enable RequestDesk_Blog
bin/magento setup:upgrade
bin/magento setup:di:compile
bin/magento cache:clean

Manual Installation

Create the directory structure:

mkdir -p app/code/RequestDesk/Blog

Copy the module files to app/code/RequestDesk/Blog/
Enable and install:

bin/magento module:enable RequestDesk_Blog
bin/magento setup:upgrade
bin/magento setup:di:compile
bin/magento cache:clean

Verify Installation

bin/magento module:status RequestDesk_Blog
# Should output: Module is enabled

Configuration

Navigate to Stores > Configuration > RequestDesk > Blog

General Settings

Setting	Description
Enable Blog	Enable/disable blog functionality on frontend
Blog Title	Title displayed on blog listing page
Posts Per Page	Number of posts per page (default: 10)

RequestDesk API Configuration

Setting	Description
API Key	Your RequestDesk API key (encrypted in database)
RequestDesk API Endpoint	API URL (default: `https://app.requestdesk.ai`)
Test Connection	Button to verify API connectivity

Automated Import

Setting	Description
Enable Automatic Import	Import published posts from RequestDesk every hour

SEO Settings

Setting	Description
Blog URL Prefix	URL prefix for blog pages (default: `blog`)
Default Meta Title	Default meta title for blog listing
Default Meta Description	Default meta description for blog listing

Admin Panel

Content > RequestDesk Blog > Posts

Manage all blog posts with:

Grid view with filtering and sorting
Edit/View/Delete actions
Sync status indicators
RequestDesk Post ID tracking

Content > RequestDesk Blog > Import Posts

Manual import interface:

Test API connection
Import posts by status (published/draft)
View import results

Content > RequestDesk Blog > Sync Products

Export products to RequestDesk:

Test API connection
Sync all products or limited batches
View sync statistics

REST API Endpoints

Blog Post Management (JWT Auth)

Method	Endpoint	Description
`POST`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/posts`	Create or update post
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/posts`	List all posts
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/posts/:postId`	Get single post
`DELETE`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/posts/:postId`	Delete post
`PUT`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/posts/:postId/sync-status`	Update sync status

Product Linking (JWT Auth)

Method	Endpoint	Description
`POST`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/posts/:postId/products`	Link products to post
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/posts/:postId/products`	Get linked products
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/blog/products/:productId/posts`	Get posts for product

Data Export (API Key Auth via `X-RequestDesk-Key`)

Method	Endpoint	Description
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/export/test`	Test connection
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/export/products`	Export products
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/export/categories`	Export categories
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/export/cms-pages`	Export CMS pages

External Blog API (API Key Auth via `X-RequestDesk-Key`)

These endpoints allow RequestDesk to push content to Magento:

Method	Endpoint	Description
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/external/blog/test`	Test connection
`POST`	`/V1/requestdesk/external/blog/posts`	Create blog post
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/external/blog/posts`	List blog posts
`GET`	`/V1/requestdesk/external/blog/posts/:postId`	Get single post
`PUT`	`/V1/requestdesk/external/blog/posts/:postId`	Update post
`DELETE`	`/V1/requestdesk/external/blog/posts/:postId`	Delete post

Database Schema

`requestdesk_blog_post`

Main blog posts table with RequestDesk sync tracking.

Column	Type	Description
`post_id`	int	Primary key
`title`	varchar(255)	Post title
`content`	mediumtext	Post content (HTML)
`url_key`	varchar(255)	SEO-friendly URL slug
`meta_title`	varchar(255)	SEO meta title
`meta_description`	text	SEO meta description
`featured_image`	varchar(255)	Featured image path
`status`	smallint	0=Draft, 1=Published
`author`	varchar(255)	Author name
`store_id`	int	Magento store ID
`requestdesk_post_id`	varchar(50)	RequestDesk post ID
`requestdesk_sync_status`	varchar(20)	synced/pending/failed
`requestdesk_last_sync`	timestamp	Last sync timestamp
`created_at`	timestamp	Creation date
`updated_at`	timestamp	Last update date

`requestdesk_blog_category`

Blog categories with store scoping.

Column	Type	Description
`category_id`	int	Primary key
`name`	varchar(255)	Category name
`url_key`	varchar(255)	SEO-friendly URL slug
`description`	text	Category description
`status`	smallint	0=Disabled, 1=Enabled
`sort_order`	int	Display order
`store_id`	int	Magento store ID

`requestdesk_blog_post_category`

Many-to-many relationship between posts and categories.

`requestdesk_blog_product`

Product-to-post linking (critical for Magento e-commerce SEO).

Column	Type	Description
`id`	int	Primary key
`post_id`	int	Blog post ID
`product_id`	int	Magento product entity ID
`position`	int	Display position

Cron Jobs

Job	Schedule	Description
`requestdesk_blog_import_posts`	Every hour (`0 * * * *`)	Imports published posts from RequestDesk

Enable/disable via Stores > Configuration > RequestDesk > Blog > Automated Import.

Frontend URLs

Route	Description
`/blog`	Blog listing page
`/blog/post/view/id/:postId`	Single post view
`/blog/category/:urlKey`	Category listing

ACL Permissions

Resource	Description
`RequestDesk_Blog::blog`	Access RequestDesk Blog section
`RequestDesk_Blog::view`	View blog posts
`RequestDesk_Blog::manage`	Create/edit/delete blog posts
`RequestDesk_Blog::sync`	Sync products to RequestDesk
`RequestDesk_Blog::import`	Import posts from RequestDesk
`RequestDesk_Blog::config`	Access configuration

How It Works

Product Sync Flow (Magento → RequestDesk)

1. Admin clicks "Sync Products" in Magento
2. Extension collects visible products with:
   - Name, SKU, price, description
   - Categories, images, attributes
3. Products sent to RequestDesk API
4. RequestDesk stores in knowledge base
5. AI can now generate content about your products

Post Import Flow (RequestDesk → Magento)

1. Create blog post in RequestDesk (manually or AI-generated)
2. Set post status to "Published"
3. Hourly cron job runs OR admin clicks "Import Posts"
4. Extension fetches posts via RequestDesk API
5. Posts created/updated in Magento
6. Sync status reported back to RequestDesk

API Key Authentication

External API endpoints use header-based authentication:

curl -X GET "https://your-store.com/rest/V1/requestdesk/export/products" \
  -H "X-RequestDesk-Key: your-api-key"

Hyvä Theme Support

The extension includes optimized templates for Hyvä Theme:

view/frontend/templates/hyva/list.phtml - Blog listing
view/frontend/templates/hyva/post/view.phtml - Post detail
view/frontend/layout/hyva_blog_*.xml - Layout handles

These templates use Alpine.js and Tailwind CSS patterns consistent with Hyvä.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid security or form key" Error

Admin URLs require form keys. Always navigate via the admin menu: Content > RequestDesk Blog > Posts

API Connection Failed

Verify API key in configuration
Check endpoint URL (default: https://app.requestdesk.ai)
Use "Test Connection" button to diagnose
Check var/log/system.log for detailed errors

Posts Not Importing

Ensure cron is running: bin/magento cron:run
Check "Enable Automatic Import" is set to Yes
Verify posts are "Published" status in RequestDesk
Check var/log/system.log for import errors

Products Not Syncing

Verify products are enabled and visible
Check API key permissions in RequestDesk
Review var/log/system.log for sync errors

Development

Running Tests

# Unit tests
vendor/bin/phpunit -c dev/tests/unit/phpunit.xml.dist \
  app/code/RequestDesk/Blog/Test/Unit

# Integration tests
vendor/bin/phpunit -c dev/tests/integration/phpunit.xml.dist \
  app/code/RequestDesk/Blog/Test/Integration

Code Quality

This extension follows Magento coding standards:

PSR-4 autoloading
Proper dependency injection (no ObjectManager anti-pattern)
Service contracts via interfaces
Declarative schema

Support

Magento Integration Guide: requestdesk.ai/magento
Documentation: docs.requestdesk.ai
Issues: GitHub Issues
Email: support@requestdesk.ai

License

This extension is licensed under the Open Software License 3.0 (OSL-3.0).

Roadmap

WYSIWYG Editor (Planned)

Full rich-text editing for blog posts directly in the Magento admin.

TinyMCE integration (Magento native)
Image upload and media gallery integration
Product widget insertion
HTML source editing
Responsive preview

Brand Analyzer & Content Scoring (Planned)

A comprehensive brand consistency and content quality analyzer for your entire Magento store.

Content Types Analyzed:

CMS Pages
Category Descriptions
Product Descriptions
Blog Posts

Scoring Dimensions:

Dimension	Description
Brand Voice	Consistency with defined brand tone and messaging
SEO Quality	Meta tags, keyword usage, heading structure
Readability	Reading level, sentence complexity, clarity
Completeness	Required fields, content length, media presence
Uniqueness	Duplicate content detection across pages

Features:

Dashboard with store-wide content health score
Individual page scores with improvement suggestions
Brand voice guidelines integration from RequestDesk personas
Bulk analysis via cron for large catalogs
Score history tracking over time
Export reports for stakeholders

Integration with RequestDesk:

Pull brand guidelines from your RequestDesk persona
AI-powered suggestions for content improvements
One-click content regeneration for low-scoring pages

AEO Score - AI Search Optimization (Planned)

Optimize your content to be found and cited by AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews).

What is AEO? Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so AI systems can easily understand, extract, and cite it in responses. As more users search via AI, traditional SEO alone isn't enough.

AEO Scoring Dimensions:

Dimension	Description
Question Targeting	Content answers specific questions users ask AI
Structured Data	Schema.org markup for AI comprehension
Concise Answers	Clear, quotable statements AI can extract
Authority Signals	E-E-A-T factors that make AI trust your content
Source Attribution	Proper citations and references
Content Freshness	Recent updates that AI systems prefer