Skip to main content

Get Support
Have a question? Let's get you an answer!

How Do I...? Troubleshooting Code & Webhooks Developer Zone

Other Help Resources
Wait, there's more! Check out these Community sourced spaces for additional resources.

Zapier Help Center Hire an Expert

Learning Resources
All of our best learning resources can be found here.

Featured Articles Show & Tell Zapier's products AI Hub Zapier Tools Hub

Share your knowledge
Give back to the Community by sharing your automation wins and helping to answer questions.

Share your success See unanswered questions User Groups

Other Learning Resources
Some of our favorite additional ways to upskill your Zapier knowledge.

Zapier Learn Zapier Blog Zapier Webinars

Product Updates
Check out what is new and upcoming with Zapier with our regular product updates.

Product Updates

Early Access Program
Want to join Early Access? Learn more here.

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to connect my WordPress site to Zapier using the official Zapier for WordPress plugin, but I keep getting this error:

authentication failed: Error parsing response. We got: <!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head>...

Which suggests Zapier is receiving an unexpected HTML page instead of the expected JSON.

This seems similar to the issue described here:
https://community.zapier.com/troubleshooting-99/trying-to-connect-wordpress-to-zapier-getting-an-error-parsing-response-error-4438/index7.html

🔍 What I’ve tried so far:

  • Confirmed wp-json loads correctly in the browser with a valid JSON response

  • Disabled Wordfence, cPGuard, and all other security plugins

  • Turned off the Yoast REST API endpoint toggle

  • Set permalinks to “Post name”

  • Created a fresh admin user for Zapier

  • No coming soon/maintenance mode active

  • Site is public and not behind HTTP auth

⚠️ Suspected cause:

  • Possibly Cloudflare is interfering(?)

🔧 What I'm looking for:

  • Has anyone found a Cloudflare configuration that allows Zapier to authenticate reliably?

  • Is there a way to use application passwords or bypass OAuth with this plugin?

  • Or should I drop the official plugin and switch to something like WP Webhooks or Uncanny Automator for more reliable integrations?

Any insight would be appreciated — I’ve tried every obvious fix and would love to hear from someone who resolved this.

Thanks in advance!

Hi ​@dev flo glass lambagency,

 

Welcome to the Community.

 

Thanks for reaching out to the Zapier Community! Cloudflare might be interfering with your WordPress-Zapier connection. Here are some steps to try:

  • Cloudflare Settings:
    • Disable HTML Minification to prevent altered response formats.
    • Create a page rule to bypass cache for /wp-json/*.
    • Temporarily turn off WAF/security features to test impact.
  • Authentication Options:
    • Use Application Passwords (supported in recent WordPress versions).
    • Try Basic Authentication if supported.
  • Plugin Alternatives:
    • Consider WP Webhooks or Uncanny Automator for more reliable integrations.
  • Debugging Tips:
    • Enable WordPress debugging and check logs.
    • Review Cloudflare logs for blocked or modified requests.
  • Cloudflare Support:
    • If all else fails, contact their support team with detailed information.

 

Let us know if you need help with any of these steps. We're here to support you.

Terms & Conditions