seo/update-general-settings turns Yoast features on or off site-wide: the SEO and readability analysis, inclusive-language analysis, XML sitemaps, the admin bar menu, usage tracking, and the advanced meta box for non-admins.
These are master switches, and they behave like switches rather than like resets.
At a glance
| Ability | seo/update-general-settings |
| Toolset | Yoast SEO — toolset/yoast-seo |
| Group | Yoast SEO › Settings |
| Requires | Yoast 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
Turning the analysis off hides the scores everywhere rather than resetting them. The stored scores remain and reappear the moment it is turned back on, which means switching it off to “start fresh” does not.
That is usually what people want — the analysis is noisy for some teams and the scores are still there when anybody wants them — but it is worth knowing before expecting a clean slate.
The advanced meta box switch decides whether non-administrators can set per-post canonicals and robots directives. Opening that up is a real delegation: a canonical set wrongly by an editor removes a page from search, and nothing warns anybody.
Usage tracking sends data to Yoast. Whether that is acceptable is a decision for the site owner rather than something to switch on helpfully.
Yoast’s settings are one flat namespace spread across several option groups, and each group has its own validation. This suite divides the writable keys into areas, one writing ability per area, so a patch passes through the right validation. seo/list-settings-areas is the map.
Idempotent.
Input
| Name | Type | Required | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
settings | object | Yes | A map of setting key to new value. Keys outside this area are refused. |
What comes back
| Name | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|
updated | array | The keys that changed. |
settings | object | The area 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:
Turn off the readability analysis.
It resolves to one call:
{
"ability": "seo/update-general-settings",
"parameters": {
"settings": { "keyword_analysis_active": false }
}
}Worth knowing
- Turning analysis off hides scores; it does not reset them.
- The advanced meta box switch delegates canonical and robots control to editors.
- Usage tracking is the site owner’s decision.
- Idempotent.
Related abilities
- Get SEO Settings — read the current switches
- Get Yoast Status — what is on right now
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