An SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) server connection lets you automate review generation by having Yext pick up invitation data from a file on your own server on a schedule you define. This keeps sensitive customer contact information on your infrastructure while still sending invitations through Yext.
Requirements
To set up an SFTP server connection, you need the following permissions: Send Invites, Select Templates, Manage SFTP Connection, and Full Account access scope.
Maximum Contact Frequency must also be enabled in Reviews > Generation > Settings before you can run any SFTP connections. This prevents duplicate invitations from being sent to the same contact across scheduled runs. If Maximum Contact Frequency is disabled, you can create a connection but it will save in a disabled state and cannot run until the setting is enabled.
If you want to disable Maximum Contact Frequency while SFTP connections exist in your account, you must disable or delete all SFTP connections first.
Prepare Your File
Your file must be a comma-delimited CSV. Only the first sheet is used — multiple sheets are not supported. The file must include all required columns and valid entity IDs and contact information.
Required columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
entityId | Entity ID of the location to be reviewed |
firstName | Contact's first name |
lastName | Contact's last name |
contact | Contact's email address or phone number (not both) |
Set Up a Connection
- Navigate to Reviews > Generation > Send Invites.
- Under SFTP Server Connection, click Add New Connection.
- Enter a name for the connection.
- Select a schedule for how often Yext should pick up the file. If you select None, the connection must be run manually.
- Enter your server details:
- Host address: enter the address without the protocol (sftp://)
- Port: enter the port to connect to. The default port for SFTP is 22.
- Select an authentication method:
- Basic Authentication: enter your username and password
- SSH Private Key: enter your username and SSH private key. Only RSA keys are supported, not OpenSSH keys. For AWS SFTP servers, the security policy must be set to TransferSecurityPolicy-2018-11 or TransferSecurityPolicy-Restricted-2018-11.
- Select a lookup strategy to specify which file to pick up:
- Exact File Path: enter the full path including the file name and extension, for example root/folder1/myfile.csv. Use this when the file name is stable.
- Search by Criteria: use this when the file name changes, for example when it includes a date. Specify the folder path and optionally filter by file name using starts with, ends with, contains, or regex. Set Last Modified to Newest or Oldest to determine which matching file to use.
- Click Save.
Manage Existing Connections
Navigate to Reviews > Generation > Send Invites and click Manage Connections under SFTP Server Connection to view all existing connections. For each connection you can do the following:
- View: see the configuration settings and connection logs
- Edit: update any configuration settings
- Run Now: trigger an immediate run
- Enable or Disable: pause or resume the connection
- Delete: permanently remove the connection
View Connection Logs
Click View next to a connection and select the Logs tab to see a history of all runs, including the date and time, status, number of invitations sent, and number of failures. Click Download Details on any log entry to see which rows succeeded and which failed.
Note: To satisfy GDPR requirements, logs are deleted after 60 days. If HIPAA is enabled on your account, log details cannot be downloaded.