rank-math/import-settings imports a Rank Math settings payload produced by rank-math/export-settings. It refuses without confirm: true.
Each included panel replaces the current settings for that panel entirely.
Before you run it
Each included panel replaces the current settings for that panel wholesale. It does not merge: any setting absent from the payload reverts to its stored default, including settings somebody tuned deliberately and that the payload simply does not mention. Rank Math creates a backup first and returns its key, so the change can be undone with rank-math/manage-backup.
At a glance
| Ability | rank-math/import-settings |
| Toolset | Rank Math — toolset/rank-math |
| Group | Rank Math › Status, Backups & Tools |
| Requires | Rank Math SEO, active on the site |
| Capability | manage_options |
| Safety | Destructive — deletes stored values, and refuses to run without confirm: true |
| Repeatable | Not idempotent — each call changes the row set, so re-running is not a no-op |
| Ships in | AcrossAI Abilities Manager 0.0.34 and later |
How it works
The replacement semantics are the thing to internalise. Importing a payload containing only the titles panel does not merge titles settings — it replaces every titles setting, and any field the payload does not mention reverts to its default.
So a payload exported from a site with a simpler configuration will flatten the differences rather than leaving them alone. That is usually what you want when copying a configuration deliberately and never what you want when applying a partial payload.
Rank Math creates a backup before the import and this returns its key, which means the undo path exists without anybody having thought about it in advance.
Importing only the panels you mean to change limits the blast radius: an import of general alone cannot disturb the titles templates.
Not idempotent in a useful sense — the second import produces the same settings, but the first one has already discarded what it was going to discard.
Input
| Name | Type | Required | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
payload | object | Yes | A payload from rank-math/export-settings. |
panels | array | No | Restrict the import to these panels. |
confirm | boolean | Yes — must be true | The irreversibility gate. Without it the call is refused before anything is touched. |
What comes back
| Name | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|
imported | array | Which panels were applied. |
backup_key | string | The automatic backup taken first. |
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:
Import this Rank Math settings file.
It resolves to one call:
{
"ability": "rank-math/import-settings",
"parameters": {
"payload": { "titles": { } },
"panels": ["titles"],
"confirm": true
}
}Worth knowing
- Panels are replaced, not merged. Absent settings revert to defaults.
- Note the returned backup key — it is the undo.
- Restrict to the panels you mean to change.
- Verify a few pages afterwards with the rendered-head read.
Related abilities
- Export Rank Math Settings — produce the payload
- Restore or Delete Rank Math Backup — undo it
- Get Rank Math Rendered Head — verify the result
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AcrossAI Abilities Manager · AcrossAI MCP Manager
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