wp-config constants

Two settings can only be changed by editing wp-config.php. They sit outside WordPress on purpose, so nobody, including an AI app, can switch them from a PowerWP AI screen. The Settings screen shows their state under wp-config.php constants, read-only.

An AI app cannot add, change or remove a WPAI_MCP_* constant either. The file tools refuse a change that touches one: these constants can only be edited by a person working on the files directly.

Add them to wp-config.php above the comment that begins /* That's all.

WPAI_MCP_DISABLED#

An emergency switch. When it is true, AI access is off, whatever the AI access setting says.

define( 'WPAI_MCP_DISABLED', true );

Use it when you cannot log in to wp-admin during an incident. Edit the file over SFTP or in your hosting panel. To switch AI access on again, delete the line or set the value to false.

WPAI_MCP_STORAGE_DIR#

Where PowerWP AI keeps its private files: snapshots for rollback, backups, restore uploads, transfer files, temporary files and state flags.

define( 'WPAI_MCP_STORAGE_DIR', '/home/example/wpai-mcp-private' );

Even in the default location the folder is protected: PowerWP AI writes .htaccess, web.config and index files into it. nginx ignores .htaccess, so on nginx either set this constant to a folder outside the web root or add this rule to the server block and reload nginx:

location ~* /wp-content/wpai-mcp-[a-z0-9]+/ { deny all; }

PowerWP AI › Dashboard › Environment checks tests whether the folder can be requested from outside, with a small test file, and warns you if it can. Settings › wp-config.php constants shows the current storage path with a copy button.

Things to know:

• Set the constant before you start using PowerWP AI. Snapshots and backups are looked up in the current folder. If you change the path later, copy the contents of the old folder to the new one first, or older changes can no longer be rolled back and older backups are not found.
• When the plugin is deleted, PowerWP AI removes the folder it created itself. A folder you set with this constant is left in place.
• Backups and snapshots can be large. Choose a folder on a disk with room for them. By default snapshots may take up to 2,048 MB, and files over 512 MB are left out of backups.

WordPress constants PowerWP AI works with#

These are WordPress's own constants. PowerWP AI does not define them, but some tools read or change them.

• The tool debug_mode switches WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_LOG, WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY, SCRIPT_DEBUG and SAVEQUERIES in wp-config.php. The change is syntax-checked, health-checked and recorded in the change log. Enabling it writes errors to debug.log with display off, and it switches itself off again after 60 minutes by default.
• The Environment checks warn when PHP errors are displayed to visitors on a production site. Set WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY to false.
• Backups and the default storage folder use WP_CONTENT_DIR, and the rescue loader is written to WPMU_PLUGIN_DIR, which is wp-content/mu-plugins unless you moved it.