DataForSEO Backlinks API

Provenance

This is an experimental project to test how OpenCode, plugged into frontier LLMs (OpenAI GPT-5.2), can help generate high-fidelity agent skill files for API integrations.

When to Apply

• "get backlinks for domain/url", "referring domains", "anchors report"

• "monitor new and lost backlinks", "link velocity", "timeseries backlinks"

• "bulk backlink checks", "bulk ranks", "spam score checks"

• "competitor backlink research", "link gap analysis"

Integration Contract (Language-Agnostic)

See references/REFERENCE.md for the shared DataForSEO integration contract (auth, status handling, task lifecycle, sandbox, and .ai responses).

Live-first Endpoints

• Backlinks endpoints are typically Live-first and support pagination-like controls (e.g., result limits) and filtering/sorting.

• The Index endpoint provides up-to-the-moment information about the backlinks database.

Steps

• Identify the exact endpoint(s) in the official docs for this use case.

• Choose execution mode:

• Live (single request) for interactive queries

• Task-based (post + poll/webhook) for scheduled or high-volume jobs

• Build the HTTP request:

• Base URL: https://api.dataforseo.com/

• Auth: HTTP Basic (Authorization: Basic base64(login:password) ) from https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/auth/

• JSON body exactly as specified in the endpoint docs

• Execute and validate the response:

• Check top-level status_code and each tasks[] item status

• Treat any status_code != 20000 as a failure; surface status_message

• For task-based endpoints:

• Store tasks[].id

• Poll tasks_ready then fetch results with task_get (or use postback_url /pingback_url if supported)

• Return results:

• Provide a normalized summary for the user

• Include the raw response payload for debugging

Inputs Checklist

• Credentials: DataForSEO API login + password (HTTP Basic Auth)

• Target: keyword(s) / domain(s) / URL(s) / query string (depends on endpoint)

• Targeting (if applicable): location + language, device, depth/limit

• Time window (if applicable): date range, trend period, historical flags

• Output preference: regular vs advanced vs html (if the endpoint supports it)

Example (cURL)

curl -u "${DATAFORSEO_LOGIN}:${DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD}" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST "https://api.dataforseo.com/v3/&#x3C;group>/&#x3C;path>/live" -d '[ { "<param>": "<value>" } ]'

Notes:

• Replace <group>/<path> with the exact endpoint path from the official docs.

• For task-based flows, use the corresponding task_post , tasks_ready , and task_get endpoints.

Docs Map (Official)

• Overview: https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/overview/

• Index: https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/index/

Core endpoints:

• Summary (Live): https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/summary/live/

• Backlinks (Live): https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/backlinks/live/

• Referring Domains (Live): https://docs.dataforseo.com/v3/backlinks/referring_domains/live/

Business & Product Use Cases

• Link monitoring: alerts for new/lost backlinks and anchor shifts.

• Link building: find competitor links and prioritize outreach targets.

• Risk management: detect suspicious patterns and possible negative SEO.

• Agency reporting: monthly link growth and top referring domains.

• M&A diligence: evaluate a domain's authority/link profile before acquisition.

• Publisher partnerships: identify strong referring networks for co-marketing.

Examples (User Prompts)

• "If you don't have the skill installed, install dataforseo-backlinks-api and then continue."

• "Install the Backlinks skill and audit our backlink profile: top ref domains, anchors, and spam risks."

• "Track new and lost backlinks weekly and alert me to big drops."

• "Find competitor backlinks we don't have and suggest outreach targets."

• "Run a bulk check of these 200 domains: ranks + referring domains count."

• "Analyze anchor distribution and flag over-optimized patterns."