SEOPress & WP-CLI

Manage SEOPress from the command line with WP-CLI. Run commands in the correct WordPress installation, or pass WP-CLI’s --path option. Back up the database before imports, deletions or migrations. Replace the example IDs and server paths with your own values.

The custom settings, AI, content-analysis, license and redirection commands require SEOPress PRO and SEOPress Free. The wp post meta, wp term meta and wp option commands are provided by WordPress WP-CLI. Insights commands require SEOPress Insights.

Export settings to a private JSON file

wp seopress settings export --destination='/home/example/private/seopress-settings.json' --exclude=license,api_keys

Create the private destination directory first and make it writable by the command’s user. --destination accepts a JSON filename or a directory. A directory uses seopress-settings.json. Without this option, the current working directory is used. Public destinations, including the web root and uploads, and symbolic-link destinations are refused. An existing export at the same path is overwritten.

Without exclusions, exports can contain the license key and API credentials. Use --exclude=license,api_keys for a reusable configuration without these categories. Other categories include knowledge_graph, social_profiles, analytics_ids and verification_codes. Running wp seopress settings export --exclude displays the available category names as a validation error and does not export a file. Extensions can add categories.

Import global settings

wp seopress settings import --from='/home/example/private/seopress-settings.json'

--from accepts a JSON file or a directory containing seopress-settings.json. Without it, the command looks in the current directory, then the uploads directory for compatibility with older exports. Prefer an explicit private path. Import applies global settings; review the destination configuration afterwards. It is not a complete WordPress database or post-metadata backup.

Read, update and delete SEO metadata

These examples read a post title, replace it and delete the custom value. Deletion lets the usual SEOPress defaults apply. Run only the operation you need.

wp post meta get 123 _seopress_titles_title
wp post meta update 123 _seopress_titles_title "Example SEO title"
wp post meta delete 123 _seopress_titles_title

For taxonomy terms, use the term ID with the same metadata key:

wp term meta get 45 _seopress_titles_title
wp term meta update 45 _seopress_titles_title "Example category title"
wp term meta delete 45 _seopress_titles_title

Generate titles, descriptions and alternative text

Configure an AI provider in SEOPress PRO before running generation. Metadata commands use post IDs; alt-text commands use media attachment IDs. Results are printed for each ID. Generation can consume provider credits and is saved by default.

wp seopress ai metadata --id=123,124 --meta=desc --language=en_US
wp seopress ai alt_text --id=456,457 --language=en_US

For metadata, --meta=title generates the title, --meta=desc the description; omit --meta to generate both. --language defaults to en_US; use a locale such as fr_FR or es_ES. For metadata, omit --autosave to keep the default saving behavior; --autosave=0 generates without saving. Treat alt_text as a writing command: its --autosave argument does not provide a reliable preview mode. It can also generate and save the attachment caption and description. By default it can replace existing values. Use --update_empty_alt_text=0 to restrict updates to empty fields. Test on a backed-up attachment before processing a list.

wp seopress ai metadata --id=123 --meta=title --autosave=0
wp seopress ai alt_text --id=456 --update_empty_alt_text=0

Read and change global options

wp option get seopress_titles_option_name --format=json
wp option patch update seopress_titles_option_name seopress_titles_home_site_title "Example homepage title"

The first command reads the option; the second changes only the nested homepage-title field. To delete the entire Titles and metas option, use the following command deliberately after a backup. This removes the whole option, not only the homepage title.

wp option delete seopress_titles_option_name

Manage the PRO license

Import redirections in batches

Put the export on the server in a readable location. List the formats supported by the installed version, then run a dry run before the actual import. A dry run prepares and checks the file without creating redirections.

wp seopress-pro redirections sources
wp seopress-pro redirections import '/home/example/private/redirects.csv' --dry-run
wp seopress-pro redirections import '/home/example/private/redirects.csv' --batch=1000
wp seopress-pro redirections import '/home/example/private/rankmath.json' --source=rankmath

--source accepts csv, redirections_plugin, yoast, rankmath, rankmath_csv, slimseo, aioseo and smartcrawl. A CSV without an explicit source is treated as SEOPress CSV. A JSON file requires its source because the extension alone cannot identify the exporter.

--separator accepts auto (default), comma, semicolon, tab or pipe. --batch controls the number of redirections written per slice. If an import is interrupted, resume the saved job without starting a new file:

wp seopress-pro redirections import --resume

Refresh content analysis in the background

wp seopress content-analysis run
wp seopress content-analysis status
wp seopress content-analysis cancel

Enable Site Audit first. The run command queues background batches and returns before completion. WP-Cron, or a system scheduler executing due WordPress events, must work. The configured batch size and exclusions apply. Check status for progress and the last worker error. Cancel stops the shared Site Audit queue and keeps stored scores.

Without --post_type, the existing audit scope is preserved. Supplying the option changes the saved Site Audit post-type setting; it is not a temporary override. Use registered public post types supported by the audit. Only one audit can run at a time.

wp seopress content-analysis run --post_type=post,page

Migrate SEOPress Insights data

With SEOPress Insights 3.0, migration moves historical rankings and backlinks from post metadata to dedicated tables. These commands belong to Insights, not Free or PRO. Without --full, each command processes one batch.

wp seopress-insights migrate-backlinks
wp seopress-insights migrate-backlinks --full
wp seopress-insights migrate-rankings
wp seopress-insights migrate-rankings --full

For rankings, --force resets the saved offset and status and restarts migration. Use it only to abandon the saved migration state after a database backup.

wp seopress-insights migrate-rankings --full --force

Troubleshooting commands

If a custom command is unknown, confirm the correct site and required plugins are loaded and check the installed version’s help with wp help seopress or wp help seopress-pro. An export needs direct WordPress filesystem access and a writable private destination. A queued audit with no progress requires checking scheduled events and its status error. For core command syntax, see the WP-CLI command reference.

See the SEOPress metadata reference for additional post and term keys.