WordPress SEO Abilities

The MainWP WordPress SEO Extension registers two read-only abilities in the mainwp-wordpress-seo category. Both use the mainwp/ namespace on your MainWP Dashboard. Use them to audit the Yoast SEO settings templates saved in the extension, check which sites a template was applied to, and review a fixed set of key settings without opening the Settings Templates tab.

What You’ll Learn

List saved Yoast SEO settings templates with pagination
Read one template’s recorded site applications and settings summary
Understand which settings are returned and which text is masked

Prerequisites

WordPress 6.9 or later on the MainWP Dashboard site
MainWP Dashboard with Abilities API support; use version 6.2 or later for the input_json examples below
An Abilities-enabled release of the WordPress SEO Extension, active on MainWP Dashboard
At least one settings template imported in MainWP > Add-ons > Content Operations > WordPress SEO > Settings Templates
An authenticated user with manage_options and access to the WordPress SEO Extension

Team Control restrictions apply. The extension permission is checked on every call. Site entries appear only for sites the user can access. Use an Application Password or the authentication methods in the Abilities API overview. The examples use an Application Password.

Available Abilities

Ability	Method	Purpose
`mainwp/list-wordpress-seo-templates-v1`	GET	List saved templates with site counts and the last recorded application time
`mainwp/get-wordpress-seo-template-v1`	GET	Read one template, its accessible site applications, and a settings summary

Discover the abilities and their schemas:

curl -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  'https://your-dashboard.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities?category=mainwp-wordpress-seo'

Both abilities are marked readonly: true, destructive: false, and idempotent: true. They read data stored on MainWP Dashboard only. They do not apply templates, sync sites, or contact Child sites.

List Templates

Ability: mainwp/list-wordpress-seo-templates-v1
Method: GET

curl -G -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  --data-urlencode 'input_json={"page":1,"per_page":20}' \
  'https://your-dashboard.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities/mainwp/list-wordpress-seo-templates-v1/run'

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`page`	integer	No	`1`	Page number, starting at `1`
`per_page`	integer	No	`20`	Templates per page, from `1` to `100`

Both parameters are optional. Extra input properties are rejected. Example response:

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "id": 3,
      "title": "Agency default",
      "description": "Standard Yoast SEO setup for client sites",
      "site_count": 4,
      "hidden_site_count": 1,
      "last_applied": "2026-10-20T14:32:10Z"
    }
  ],
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20,
  "total": 1
}

Field	Description
`templates`	Templates on the requested page
`total`	Total number of saved templates
`id`	Template ID; pass it to the get ability
`title`, `description`	Template title and description as plain text
`site_count`	Number of sites you can access that have a recorded application of this template
`hidden_site_count`	Number of sites with a recorded application that you cannot access
`last_applied`	Latest recorded application time across the sites you can access, in UTC ISO 8601 format, or `null`

Get a Template

Ability: mainwp/get-wordpress-seo-template-v1
Method: GET The only input is the required id, a positive integer template ID from the list ability.

curl -G -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  --data-urlencode 'input_json={"id":3}' \
  'https://your-dashboard.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities/mainwp/get-wordpress-seo-template-v1/run'

Example response:

{
  "id": 3,
  "title": "Agency default",
  "description": "Standard Yoast SEO setup for client sites",
  "site_count": 1,
  "hidden_site_count": 0,
  "last_applied": "2026-10-20T14:32:10Z",
  "sites": [
    {
      "site_id": 1,
      "name": "Client Site",
      "applied": "2026-10-20T14:32:10Z"
    }
  ],
  "settings_summary": [
    { "group": "wpseo", "key": "enable_xml_sitemap", "value": "1" },
    { "group": "wpseo_titles", "key": "separator", "value": "sc-dash" },
    { "group": "wpseo_social", "key": "opengraph", "value": "1" }
  ]
}

The response includes the list fields plus:

Field	Description
`sites`	One entry per accessible site with a recorded application: `site_id`, site `name`, and the latest `applied` time in UTC or `null`
`settings_summary`	Selected settings from the stored template as `group`, `key`, and string `value` entries

Application times record when MainWP Dashboard applied the template to a site. They do not confirm the site’s current Yoast SEO settings, which may have changed since.

Settings summary

The summary never returns the full imported settings. It includes only these settings when they are present in the template:

Group	Keys
`wpseo`	`enable_xml_sitemap`, `enable_admin_bar_menu`, `enable_text_link_counter`
`wpseo_titles`	`title-home-wpseo`, `metadesc-home-wpseo`, `noindex-author-wpseo`, `noindex-date-wpseo`, `breadcrumbs-enable`, `separator`
`wpseo_social`	`opengraph`, `twitter`, `twitter_card_type`

All values are returned as strings exactly as stored in the template, such as "1" or "on". Yoast variables such as %%sitename%% stay readable. settings_summary is an empty array when the template contains none of these keys. It is null when the stored settings cannot be read, for example when they are malformed or larger than 1 MB.

Masked Values

Both abilities mask sensitive-looking text in every returned string, including titles, descriptions, site names, and setting values. Masked text is replaced with [redacted]. This applies to:

Credentials, such as passwords, tokens, API keys, and Bearer or Basic authorization values
URLs, domain names, and file paths
Email addresses

Webmaster verification codes and other settings outside the summary list are never returned. Open the template in the extension to view its full content.

Error Handling

Standard authentication, schema, and method errors follow the Abilities API error reference. WordPress SEO can also return:

Code	HTTP	Meaning
`mainwp_permission_denied`	403	The user lacks `manage_options` or access to the WordPress SEO Extension
`mainwp_template_not_found`	404	No saved template matches the requested `id`

Yoast SEO - Import and apply Yoast SEO settings templates
Abilities API Overview - Authentication, input formats, discovery, and errors
Sites Abilities - Look up site details by site ID

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Resources

What You’ll Learn

Prerequisites

Available Abilities

List Templates

Get a Template

Settings summary

Masked Values

Error Handling

​What You’ll Learn

​Prerequisites

​Available Abilities

​List Templates

​Get a Template

​Settings summary

​Masked Values

​Error Handling

​Related Resources

What You’ll Learn

Prerequisites

Available Abilities

List Templates

Get a Template

Settings summary

Masked Values

Error Handling

Related Resources