rank-math/update-instant-indexing-settings writes the Instant Indexing settings: which post types are auto-submitted on publish, and the IndexNow API key.
The key location URL is derived from the site address and cannot be set.
At a glance
| Ability | rank-math/update-instant-indexing-settings |
| Toolset | Rank Math — toolset/rank-math |
| Group | Rank Math › Settings |
| Requires | Rank Math SEO, active on the site |
| Capability | manage_options |
| Safety | Writes data |
| Repeatable | Idempotent — running it twice leaves the same result |
| Ships in | AcrossAI Abilities Manager 0.0.34 and later |
How it works
The derived key URL is the part that constrains everything else. IndexNow verifies ownership by fetching a file named after the key from the site root, and Rank Math computes that location from the site address — so a key set here only works if a file at the derived location is reachable and contains it.
Setting a key manually is therefore a two-part operation, and only one part happens here. If you have no reason to use a specific key, rank-math/reset-indexing-key generates one and handles the file.
The auto-submit post types are the more common change. Submitting every post type is usually wrong — an attachment or a reusable block has no business being announced to search engines — and submitting none means the feature does nothing.
Auto-submissions are throttled; manual ones through rank-math/submit-urls are not.
Idempotent.
Input
| Name | Type | Required | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
settings | object | Yes | A map of field ID to value: the auto-submit post types and the API key. |
What comes back
| Name | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|
updated | array | The fields that changed. |
settings | object | The settings after the write. |
success | boolean | Whether the call completed. |
message | string | A one-line summary of what happened, suitable for showing a human. |
error_code | string | Present only on failure — a stable machine-readable reason, such as a missing field, a wrong field type or an unmet confirmation. |
Example
Ask your assistant:
Only auto-submit posts and pages to IndexNow.
It resolves to one call:
{
"ability": "rank-math/update-instant-indexing-settings",
"parameters": {
"settings": { "indexnow_post_types": ["post", "page"] }
}
}Worth knowing
- The key file location is derived from the site URL and cannot be changed.
- A manually set key needs a matching file at that location, which this does not create.
- Auto-submitting every post type is usually wrong.
- Idempotent.
Related abilities
- Reset IndexNow API Key — generate a key and its file
- Submit URLs to IndexNow — the manual path
- Get IndexNow Submission Log — confirm auto-submission works
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