Is this the same as installing Crawl Cove?

No. Crawl Cove is the desktop app that crawls your site and finds the problems; Crawl Cove Connector is a small, separate WordPress plugin that applies the fixes you approve in the app. You need the desktop app to generate fixes and the plugin to push them, and the plugin does nothing without it.

Which fixes can it push?

Titles and meta descriptions for posts, pages, WooCommerce products, the homepage and category and tag archives. Since Connector 0.11 it can also set canonical URLs, index or noindex and Open Graph and Twitter tags, repoint a link that hits a redirect (or remove it), write image alt text, and turn on four hardening switches: XML-RPC off, WordPress version hidden, basic security headers and no upload folder listing. Crawl Cove 1.3.13 or later pushes all of them; earlier versions of the desktop app push titles and meta descriptions only.

Does it work without Yoast, Rank Math, SEOPress or AIOSEO?

Partly. Titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, index or noindex and social tags are written into the fields those plugins own, so they need one of the four. Link fixes, image alt text and the hardening switches work on any WordPress site. The plugin's own status screen reports which SEO plugin it detected.

Does it work on a multilingual site (Polylang or TranslatePress)?

Yes, with one caveat. TranslatePress translated URLs, posts, pages, taxonomy terms and the homepage, resolve and push correctly no matter which of the four SEO plugins above you use. Polylang per-language homepage title and description pushes currently work with Yoast SEO only; with Rank Math, SEOPress or AIOSEO, the plugin reports back that a language-qualified homepage push isn't supported yet rather than failing silently.

Can it change my page content, not just SEO fields?

Only where a fix you approved lives in the content, and only that part. A title, description, canonical, robots or social push writes those SEO fields alone, and the post body and its last-modified date stay exactly as they were. A link fix changes only the matching link URL, and an alt text fix only the matching image's alt attribute; the rest of the page is untouched and never goes back through the editor, so embeds stay. Every change is logged with the previous content and reverts in one click. Each changed post or page has its cache purged so visitors see the new values straight away; the homepage and taxonomy archives get a best-effort purge of the whole page cache instead.

Is it safe to run on a live site?

Every write is capability-checked, length-capped, validated and logged with its previous value, so reverting is one click from Tools → Crawl Cove or from the desktop app. Dry-run mode shows exactly what would change before anything is written. Authentication is core WordPress Application Passwords over HTTPS, not a stored API key.

Does my site need HTTPS?

For the desktop app to log in, yes. WordPress only turns on Application Passwords when the site is served over HTTPS (or WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE is set to local). On a plain http site, or an HTTPS site behind a proxy that does not pass the scheme through, WordPress ignores every password. The desktop app (1.3.9 or later, with Connector 0.10.4 or later) then says Application Passwords are switched off, rather than reporting a wrong password. Tools, then Crawl Cove, shows whether Application Passwords are on and what to change if they are not.

My site is on HTTPS but Application Passwords are off. Why?

A security plugin has switched them off. Wordfence does this by default: untick Firewall, All Firewall Options, Disable WordPress application passwords, then save. On another security plugin, look for a setting with a similar name. Tools, then Crawl Cove, tells you which of the two causes applies to your site.

Is it on the WordPress.org plugin directory yet?

Not yet. The repo is public on GitHub and the code is ready, but the wordpress.org submission is still pending, so for now download the zip from GitHub Releases and upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.

The plugin is free and GPL-licensed, with no external requests and no tracking. Pushing fixes through it needs the Crawl Cove desktop app on a paid plan or the 14-day free trial. The app's Free plan crawls your site and lists the fixes, and you apply those by hand.

WordPress plugin

A WordPress plugin that pushes your SEO fixes live

Crawl Cove Connector is a free WordPress plugin that closes the loop after a crawl. Instead of exporting a spreadsheet of fixes and editing each post by hand, it applies the titles, descriptions, links and alt text you approved in the desktop app, writing SEO fields through Yoast, Rank Math, SEOPress or AIOSEO.

Download the plugin (.zip) Download the desktop app free

Free · GPL-licensed · not yet on wordpress.org · view the source on GitHub

How the WordPress plugin works

1. Connect

Install the plugin, create a WordPress Application Password for your user, then paste your site URL and that password into the site's profile in the desktop app. No API keys stored by the plugin, and access can be revoked any time from your WordPress profile.
2. Crawl and review

Run a crawl as normal. On Findings, one button lists every open title and meta description finding on the site, duplicates included, next to the page's live value. Type the new values, or let the Claude Code app on your own computer draft them with your own Claude account, then preview the whole batch before anything is written.
3. Push and, if needed, revert

Push the rows you ticked in one go. Every change is logged with its previous value under Tools → Crawl Cove. Any single change reverts with one click from WordPress or the app, and the app can undo the whole batch at once.

Works with the SEO plugin you already use

The connector writes each plugin's own native fields, nothing is duplicated or overridden at render time, and it detects which one you have automatically.

Yoast SEO

Writes Yoast's own title and meta description fields, the same ones its metabox saves to.

Rank Math

Writes Rank Math's title and description postmeta directly, so the plugin picks the new values up immediately.

SEOPress

Writes the _seopress_titles_title / _seopress_titles_desc postmeta SEOPress's own admin metabox uses, and deletes it on empty.

AIOSEO

Title and description live in AIOSEO's own database table, not postmeta, and are written through AIOSEO's own Post::savePost() so the rest of a post's AIOSEO settings stay untouched.

The Crawl Cove Connector admin screen under Tools, showing the detected SEO plugin, whether Application Passwords are on, when the desktop app last connected and a change log of alt text, link, Open Graph, title, description and site setting changes, each with a Revert button

Tools → Crawl Cove on a test site running Connector 0.11.1, showing whether Application Passwords are on, when the desktop app last connected and the change log, which names each field in plain words. Post titles shown are placeholder demo content.

Built to be safe on a live site

Dry-run mode shows exactly what would change before anything is written.
Every write is capability-checked, so a connected user can only change posts they are allowed to edit in WordPress.
Nothing is applied unless you approved it in the crawler first.
Every change is logged with its previous value and reverts with one click, from WordPress or the app.
Authentication uses core WordPress Application Passwords over HTTPS: no extra accounts, no API keys stored by the plugin.
A small, auditable codebase: GPL-licensed, no external requests and no tracking.

Note

The plugin is not yet listed on the WordPress.org plugin directory; that submission is pending. Until then, download the zip from GitHub Releases and upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. It requires WordPress 6.2 or later and PHP 7.4 or later.

Related Crawl Cove Connector on GitHub Download the desktop app Managing more than one WordPress client? See Crawl Cove for agencies How Crawl Cove handles your data

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same as installing Crawl Cove?: No. Crawl Cove is the desktop app that crawls your site and finds the problems; Crawl Cove Connector is a small, separate WordPress plugin that applies the fixes you approve in the app. You need the desktop app to generate fixes and the plugin to push them, and the plugin does nothing without it. Get the desktop app
Which fixes can it push?: Titles and meta descriptions for posts, pages, WooCommerce products, the homepage and category and tag archives. Since Connector 0.11 it can also set canonical URLs, index or noindex and Open Graph and Twitter tags, repoint a link that hits a redirect (or remove it), write image alt text, and turn on four hardening switches: XML-RPC off, WordPress version hidden, basic security headers and no upload folder listing. Crawl Cove 1.3.13 or later pushes all of them; earlier versions of the desktop app push titles and meta descriptions only.
Does it work without Yoast, Rank Math, SEOPress or AIOSEO?: Partly. Titles, descriptions, canonical URLs, index or noindex and social tags are written into the fields those plugins own, so they need one of the four. Link fixes, image alt text and the hardening switches work on any WordPress site. The plugin's own status screen reports which SEO plugin it detected.
Does it work on a multilingual site (Polylang or TranslatePress)?: Yes, with one caveat. TranslatePress translated URLs, posts, pages, taxonomy terms and the homepage, resolve and push correctly no matter which of the four SEO plugins above you use. Polylang per-language homepage title and description pushes currently work with Yoast SEO only; with Rank Math, SEOPress or AIOSEO, the plugin reports back that a language-qualified homepage push isn't supported yet rather than failing silently.
Can it change my page content, not just SEO fields?: Only where a fix you approved lives in the content, and only that part. A title, description, canonical, robots or social push writes those SEO fields alone, and the post body and its last-modified date stay exactly as they were. A link fix changes only the matching link URL, and an alt text fix only the matching image's alt attribute; the rest of the page is untouched and never goes back through the editor, so embeds stay. Every change is logged with the previous content and reverts in one click. Each changed post or page has its cache purged so visitors see the new values straight away; the homepage and taxonomy archives get a best-effort purge of the whole page cache instead.
Is it safe to run on a live site?: Every write is capability-checked, length-capped, validated and logged with its previous value, so reverting is one click from Tools → Crawl Cove or from the desktop app. Dry-run mode shows exactly what would change before anything is written. Authentication is core WordPress Application Passwords over HTTPS, not a stored API key.
Does my site need HTTPS?: For the desktop app to log in, yes. WordPress only turns on Application Passwords when the site is served over HTTPS (or WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE is set to local). On a plain http site, or an HTTPS site behind a proxy that does not pass the scheme through, WordPress ignores every password. The desktop app (1.3.9 or later, with Connector 0.10.4 or later) then says Application Passwords are switched off, rather than reporting a wrong password. Tools, then Crawl Cove, shows whether Application Passwords are on and what to change if they are not.
My site is on HTTPS but Application Passwords are off. Why?: A security plugin has switched them off. Wordfence does this by default: untick Firewall, All Firewall Options, Disable WordPress application passwords, then save. On another security plugin, look for a setting with a similar name. Tools, then Crawl Cove, tells you which of the two causes applies to your site.
Is it on the WordPress.org plugin directory yet?: Not yet. The repo is public on GitHub and the code is ready, but the wordpress.org submission is still pending, so for now download the zip from GitHub Releases and upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Download the plugin (.zip)
What does it cost?: The plugin is free and GPL-licensed, with no external requests and no tracking. Pushing fixes through it needs the Crawl Cove desktop app on a paid plan or the 14-day free trial. The app's Free plan crawls your site and lists the fixes, and you apply those by hand.

Find what is wrong with your site
and how to fix it

Crawl Cove runs on your own computer, explains every issue in plain words and puts the most urgent fixes first. Connect Search Console and it weighs each fix by the traffic on that page.

Download free See pricing

Free plan, no account or card needed. Paid plans add exports, reports, scheduling and more, with a 14-day trial. 14-day money-back guarantee once you subscribe.