Automate your digital signage with Zapier, Make, n8n or a webhook

Let the systems you already run change what your screens show. A form submission can update a table on a screen, a ticketing alert can take over the lobby, and a screen going dark can open a ticket. Zapier, Make, n8n, Power Automate and plain HTTP all work.

How it works

There are two ways in.

• Hooks. A secret web address that does one thing when called. It needs no account and no token, so anything that can send an HTTP request can use it: a script, a building system, a Make or n8n HTTP module.
• The Zapier API. Uses a ScreenTinker API token. It lets Zapier start Zaps when something happens here, and run actions from a Zap. Make, n8n and your own code can call the same endpoints.

Alert and playlist actions can target a group, a screen or a tag. A playlist switch never overrides a head office playlist, and an emergency alert always comes first.

Set it up

Zapier

1. Push the app to your Zapier account. The ScreenTinker integration is a private Zapier app in the zapier/ folder of the repository. You push it to your own Zapier account with the Zapier CLI, then invite your team. It is not listed in Zapier’s public app directory.
2. Create an API token in ScreenTinker under Settings → API tokens. Raising alerts, switching playlists and subscribing to triggers need a workspace admin’s token.
3. Connect with your ScreenTinker address and the token, then build Zaps as usual.

Make, n8n, Power Automate or your own code

1. For triggers, use the tool’s custom webhook and subscribe it with POST /api/zapier/subscriptions, or poll GET /api/zapier/events.
2. For actions, call /api/zapier/actions/... with Authorization: Bearer st_..., or call a hook address, which needs no token.

A hook

1. Open the Automation page and choose New hook: emergency alert, mass notification, fire a trigger, update a table, or switch to a playlist.
2. Copy the address it shows. It is shown only once.
3. Point your system at it with a POST.

Every endpoint, field and token scope is in docs/automation.md and the API reference.

Security

• Hook addresses are shown once and stored only as a fingerprint. A wrong address answers 404. Signing with HMAC-SHA256 is optional, and every call is logged.
• Deliveries to your webhooks are signed (X-ScreenTinker-Signature) and must go to a public https address. Failures are retried after 1, 5, 30 and 120 minutes.
• Token scopes. A read token can test the connection and read events. Updating tables needs write. Alerts, playlists and triggers need full.
• Only workspace admins can create hooks or subscribe a webhook to this workspace’s events.

Limits

• The Zapier app is private: someone on your team pushes it once with the Zapier CLI. There is no one-click install from Zapier’s directory.
• Firing a trigger over the internet reaches Raspberry Pi and Windows screens only. Other players listen for triggers on their own network.
• Hooks answer POST. GET is off unless you switch it on for that hook, because link previews and email scanners open any address with GET.
• A hook takes 30 calls a minute, and a table keeps at most 200 rows.

FAQ

Is ScreenTinker in the Zapier app directory?

No. It is a private Zapier app that ships with ScreenTinker. You push it to your own Zapier account once with the Zapier CLI, then invite your team.

Can I use Make or n8n instead of Zapier?

Yes. They use the same API: subscribe a custom webhook for triggers, or poll for events, and call the action endpoints with an API token. You can also call a hook address, which needs no token.

Can a script change what a screen shows without an API token?

Yes. Create a hook on the Automation page and send it a POST. A hook does one thing, such as switching screens to a playlist or updating a table, and its address is the credential.

Can Zapier tell me when a screen goes offline?

Yes. Screen went offline and Screen came back online are Zapier triggers. For a message straight to Slack, Teams or PagerDuty without Zapier, use an alert channel instead.