WordPress Abilities API support

WordPress 6.9 added the Abilities API: a standard way for plugins to describe what they can do, so AI agents and automation tools can discover and run those actions. RankKit SEO registers its tools as WordPress abilities, in addition to serving them from its own MCP server.

You don't need the Abilities API to connect an agent to RankKit SEO. It matters if you use another plugin or framework that works with WordPress abilities, for example an MCP adapter that exposes abilities from several plugins through one server.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.9 or later. On older versions, the Server card on RankKit SEO → AI Agents shows WordPress Abilities API: Needs WordPress 6.9+. On 6.9 and later it shows Registered.
• Agent access on. RankKit SEO registers its abilities only while Allow AI agents to connect is on in RankKit SEO → AI Agents.

What RankKit SEO registers

Item	Value
Ability names	speedrank/ plus the tool name with dashes, for example speedrank/site-overview, speedrank/update-post-seo, speedrank/run-audit.
Category	SEO (RankKit SEO) (speedrank-seo): "Read and improve on-page SEO, redirects, schema and site health."
Which tools	Every tool available on the site: all free tools, plus Pro tools when RankKit SEO Pro is active. Tools that need Google or WooCommerce are included only while those are connected or active.
Annotations	Each ability is marked read-only or not, destructive or not, and idempotent or not, so a client can tell reads from writes.
Visibility	Abilities are marked to show in the REST API and as public for MCP adapters.

Each ability has the same label, description and input schema as the matching tool in the MCP tool reference. Write abilities accept dry_run and reason like the MCP tools.

Permissions and safety

• WordPress capabilities. An ability runs only if the current WordPress user has the capability the tool needs, including the RankKit SEO permissions you set in the role manager.
• No token scopes. Agent token permissions apply to RankKit SEO's own MCP server. A caller using the Abilities API is limited by its WordPress user's capabilities instead.
• Application Passwords. If you turn off Also accept WordPress Application Passwords, abilities refuse requests authenticated with an Application Password too.
• Approval mode and undo. Writes through abilities follow Agents' changes need my approval, site-wide changes always wait for an administrator's approval, and writes are recorded in the Change Log, so you can approve, reject or revert them as usual. See Approval mode, dry runs and undo.
• Locked settings. As with MCP, agent, AI and tracking settings can only be changed by a person in wp-admin.

Changes made through an ability show the source Ability in the Change Log and the Dashboard's Recent changes feed, so you can tell them apart from RankKit SEO's own MCP connections.

For developers

RankKit SEO builds the list of abilities from the speedrank_abilities filter, which also feeds the MCP server. Tools you add through that filter appear in both places. See Hooks and filters.

FAQ

Should I use the Abilities API or RankKit SEO's MCP endpoint?

For Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or VS Code, use RankKit SEO's MCP endpoint: it adds per-token permissions, OAuth sign-in for web apps and ready-made workflows. Use the Abilities API when another tool on your site is built around WordPress abilities.

Does registering abilities slow the site down?

Abilities are registered only while agent access is on, through the Abilities API's own registration hook, and no ability runs until something calls it.