WordPress VPS SEO automation
Autonomous SEO for WordPress on VPS
Your WordPress runs on a VPS — not managed hosting. That means you have full control, and effectly.ai can go deeper. Via a scoped SSH keypair, effectly.ai writes directly to your theme files, functions.php, templates, and server configs. No open shell. Path-restricted to `/var/www/site/`. Every change is a real file write — not a database overlay.
WordPress VPS SEO automation · SSH SEO automation · WordPress server SEO · automated SEO VPS · WordPress theme SEO changes
How it works
01
Add our public key
Generate a scoped SSH keypair. Add the public key to `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` with a `command=` restriction that limits execution to our wrapper script only. No open shell access — ever.
02
Path-restricted access
effectly.ai operates exclusively within `/var/www/site/`. No sudo. No access outside your web root. The MCP server mediates all operations via JSON-RPC: `read_file`, `write_file`, `git_commit`, `run_wp_cli`.
03
Deep theme-level writes
Beyond meta tags and content, effectly.ai modifies theme templates, adds structured data to your theme's `<head>`, optimizes `functions.php`, and fixes template-level SEO issues that REST API tools cannot touch.
What effectly.ai writes
| Element | Example |
|---|---|
| Theme header.php | Schema JSON-LD injection into <head> |
| functions.php | Performance optimizations, canonical logic, redirect rules |
| Template files | H1 structure fixes, breadcrumb markup, internal link blocks |
| .htaccess | Redirect chains cleanup, caching headers, HSTS |
| wp-config.php | Performance constants (read-only analysis, writes only with approval) |
| WP-CLI commands | wp rewrite flush, wp cache flush, wp search-replace |
| robots.txt | Crawl directives, sitemap references |
| XML sitemaps | Regeneration via WP-CLI after structural changes |
SSH vs. REST-only WordPress SEO
REST API-only tools
- Cannot modify theme files
- Cannot fix functions.php issues
- Cannot update .htaccess rules
- Limited to database-level changes
effectly.ai via SSH
- Full theme file access — header.php, footer.php, templates
- functions.php modifications with git-tracked history
- .htaccess and server config optimization
- WP-CLI access for cache, rewrites, search-replace
Technical details
Auth method
Scoped SSH keypair with `command=` restriction in `authorized_keys`.
Permission scope
No sudo. Path-restricted to `/var/www/site/`. Cannot access other directories, cannot install system packages, cannot modify SSH config.
MCP tools
`read_file`, `write_file`, `git_commit`, `run_wp_cli`, `list_directory`, `file_diff`.
What Claude reads
All files within web root — theme files, plugins, configs, logs.
What Claude writes
Theme files, functions.php, .htaccess, robots.txt, template files, new content files.
Rollback
Full file snapshot before every write (stored in Supabase). Git commit per change session. One-click revert restores exact previous file state. Auto-revert on ranking drop.
FAQ
Does effectly.ai get a full SSH shell on my server?
No. The SSH key is scoped with a `command=` restriction that only allows execution of our wrapper script. effectly.ai cannot run arbitrary commands, cannot access other directories, and has no sudo privileges.
What's the difference between this and the WordPress REST API integration?
The REST API integration writes to your WordPress database (meta fields, post content). The SSH integration writes to your actual files — theme templates, functions.php, .htaccess, server configs. Use SSH when you need deeper technical SEO fixes that live in code, not just content.
Can effectly.ai break my site via SSH?
Every file is snapshotted before modification. Changes are git-committed with descriptive messages. If anything goes wrong, one-click rollback restores the exact previous state. Auto-revert triggers within 48h if rankings drop.
Do I need to be a developer to set up SSH access?
The setup takes 5 minutes: generate a keypair in our dashboard, copy the public key to your server's `authorized_keys` file with the provided restriction line. We provide step-by-step instructions for Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, and cPanel.
Can I use both REST API and SSH together?
Yes. Many customers use REST API for content and meta tag writes + SSH for theme-level and server config changes. effectly.ai automatically routes each action to the appropriate connection model.