seo/get-indexing-status reports whether Yoast has built its indexables, when it last ran and why.
An empty index is the usual explanation for archive titles, breadcrumbs and internal-link reporting returning nothing.
At a glance
| Ability | seo/get-indexing-status |
| Toolset | Yoast SEO — toolset/yoast-seo |
| Group | Yoast SEO › Indexation |
| Requires | Yoast SEO, active on the site |
| Capability | manage_options |
| Safety | Read-only — changes nothing |
| Repeatable | Idempotent — running it twice leaves the same result |
| Ships in | AcrossAI Abilities Manager 0.0.34 and later |
How it works
Yoast keeps a table of indexables — one row per post, term, author, archive and system page — and that table is what archive titles, breadcrumbs and the internal-link reporting are read from. It is built by a background process, and an empty index is the usual reason those features return nothing.
Yoast refuses to build indexables outside a production environment. On a staging site, a local install, or anywhere WordPress reports a non-production environment type, indexation simply does not run — and nothing in the admin explains why the button does nothing.
That is reported here plainly, because otherwise it looks like a bug. A developer debugging missing breadcrumbs on a staging site can lose an afternoon to it.
The last-run time and reason together tell you whether indexation is working, stalled, or has never been attempted. Those are three different situations with three different next steps.
Indexation runs in the background across many requests. It is not instant on a large site, and a partially built index produces partially working features rather than an error.
Input
This ability takes no input.
What comes back
| Name | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|
built | boolean | Whether indexables have been built. |
last_run | string | When indexation last ran. |
reason | string | Why it is in its current state. |
environment_type | string | The WordPress environment type. Non-production means indexation will not run. |
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:
Why are breadcrumbs and archive titles empty?
It resolves to one call:
{
"ability": "seo/get-indexing-status",
"parameters": {}
}Worth knowing
- Yoast will not index outside a production environment. That alone explains most staging problems.
- A partial index produces partially working features, not errors.
- Never run, stalled and working are three different states.
- Read-only.
Related abilities
- Request Indexation — ask it to run
- Get Indexation Counts — how much is indexed
- Get Yoast Status — the wider orientation read
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