Seekmodo for WordPress

AI-powered site search, typeahead, and indexing for WordPress 6.2+

Version v0.11.7

Overview

The Seekmodo connector routes your WordPress site's search, indexer cron, click beacon, and type-ahead autocomplete through the Seekmodo platform at mcp.seekmodo.com, while keeping native WP_Query search permanently armed as a graceful fallback.

Enhanced Native (v0.8.0+) improves multi-field retrieval, popularity ranking, cached synonyms/pins, and local typeahead on the merchant server without a subscription. Pairing unlocks AI search, LTR, analytics, and the admin console — the connector is not a permanent free tier of Seekmodo.

What the plugin swaps

Verticals

Requirements

RequirementVersion
WordPress6.2+
PHP8.0+
PHP extensionsext-json, ext-hash (bundled in stock PHP)
Seekmodo subscriptionseekmodo.com/pricing
WooCommerceOptional — ≥ 8.0 for commerce vertical

Operating modes

ModeStorefront behaviour
offBypass Seekmodo entirely. Native search only.
shadow / LearningGateway called for observation; native result still served to shoppers.
active (recommended)Auto-promotes shadow → enforce based on gateway health; auto-demotes on failures.
enforceGateway primary; native fallback only when the circuit breaker is open.
Drop-in on stock WordPressThe four swap-points wire themselves on a stock theme — no template edits required. Settings live on admin.seekmodo.com once paired.

Installation

This guide assumes you have a Seekmodo subscription, WordPress 6.2+, and admin access to your site.

Download and verify

Always download the signed zip from seekmodo.com. Replace the version in the commands below with your target release.

curl -fLO https://seekmodo.com/plugins/seekmodo-wordpress-{{VERSION}}.zip
curl -fLO https://seekmodo.com/plugins/seekmodo-wordpress-{{VERSION}}.zip.sha256
sha256sum -c seekmodo-wordpress-{{VERSION}}.zip.sha256
# expected: seekmodo-wordpress-{{VERSION}}.zip: OK
Download from seekmodo.com onlyDo not use third-party mirrors. The latest version pointer is at seekmodo.com/plugins/manifest.json.

Install through WordPress admin

  1. Open Plugins

    Log in to /wp-admin and go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
  2. Upload the zip

    Select the downloaded seekmodo-wordpress-v0.11.7.zip and click Install Now.
  3. Activate

    Click Activate Plugin. Safe defaults are seeded (seekmodo_wp_mode=off until you pair).

Install via WP-CLI (headless / CI)

wp plugin install seekmodo-wordpress-{{VERSION}}.zip --activate

Pair with your Seekmodo tenant

  1. Open Seekmodo Search settings

    Go to Settings → Seekmodo Search in WordPress admin.
  2. Start pairing

    Click Connect to Seekmodo. You are redirected to seekmodo.com/connect with a one-time token.
  3. Approve the tenant

    Sign in to seekmodo.com, pick the tenant to bind, and approve.
  4. Verify pairing

    On success, tenant ID and HMAC secret are written to wp_options automatically.

CLI alternative (idempotent — re-running rotates credentials):

wp seekmodo connect --tenant=<tenant_id> --secret=<shared_secret>
Clock skewPairing fails if your server clock is more than 5 minutes off from the gateway. Ensure NTP/chrony is active.

Index your content

wp seekmodo index --full

After the full reindex, seekmodo_wp_index_tick keeps the index fresh via delta hooks on save, publish, and delete (plus WooCommerce hooks when commerce mode is active).

Activate Seekmodo

Open admin.seekmodo.com and switch Mode from Disabled to Learning or Active. Recommended progression: off → shadow → active.

Verify installation

  1. Plugins list — Seekmodo Search v0.11.7 is active.
  2. Dashboard → Seekmodo health — shows mode, breaker state, last indexer run, and gateway p95.
  3. CLI checkswp seekmodo shadow-report --window=7d and wp seekmodo cutover-readiness.

Configuration

Every connector option is a WordPress option. Most settings are managed remotely from admin.seekmodo.com and pulled via tenant.snapshot every 5 minutes.

Options reference

OptionDefaultNotes
seekmodo_wp_gateway_urlhttps://mcp.seekmodo.comGateway base URL
seekmodo_wp_tenant_idemptySet by Connect flow
seekmodo_wp_shared_secretemptyHMAC key — treat as secret
seekmodo_wp_modeoffoff | shadow | active | enforce
seekmodo_wp_auto_promotetrueAuto-promoter for active mode
seekmodo_wp_indexable_post_typesautoPosts + pages + public CPTs
seekmodo_wp_storefront_hosthome_url() hostCanonical storefront host (domain lock)
seekmodo_wp_breaker_stateclosedCircuit breaker — opens after 5× 5xx in 30s

Filters

FilterPurpose
seekmodo_indexable_post_typesMutate post types searched and indexed
seekmodo_search_paramsMutate gateway search params before send
seekmodo_indexer_docMutate document shape per post/product
seekmodo_disable_storefront_host_lockBypass domain lock (CDN blue/green only)

wp-config.php constants (advanced)

define('SEEKMODO_WP_GATEWAY_URL', 'https://mcp.seekmodo.test');
define('SEEKMODO_WP_DISABLE', true);  // kill switch — survives updates

Connectors documentation on seekmodo.com

Usage

After pairing, indexing, and activating, the connector runs with minimal day-to-day maintenance. Policy updates from admin.seekmodo.com propagate automatically.

Search and modes

Start with Active mode on admin.seekmodo.com. The auto-promoter observes gateway health and manages shadow ↔ enforce transitions. On sustained failures it auto-demotes.

Content indexing

The scheduled seekmodo_wp_index_tick cron walks indexable post types in batches. Run wp seekmodo index --full after major content migrations.

WooCommerce vertical

When WooCommerce ≥ 8.0 is detected, the commerce vertical indexes products, variations, stock, visibility, price, SKU, and attributes. Product search at /?s=…&post_type=product routes through the gateway with native Woo fallback.

Type-ahead and click attribution

WordPress troubleshooting guide

Upgrade

Download the latest signed zip from seekmodo.com/plugins and replace the plugin, or use the in-plugin update check when configured.

  1. Flip to off (optional safety)

    wp option update seekmodo_wp_mode off — visitors immediately use native search during the upgrade.
  2. Download and verify

    Fetch the new zip + SHA-256 sidecar from seekmodo.com and verify with sha256sum -c.
  3. Replace the plugin

    Upload via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, or wp plugin install … --force --activate.
  4. Reindex if prompted

    If seekmodo_wp_schema_version bumped, run wp seekmodo index --full or wait for the next cron tick to auto-promote.
SDK migration (v0.7.0+)v0.7.0+ adopts the shared numinix/seekmodo-connector PHP SDK vendored at build time. Storefront swap-points are unchanged; see MIGRATION.md in the plugin directory for adapter details.
Rollback recipeFor incident response, wp option update seekmodo_wp_mode off alone restores native search. Roll back the plugin zip only if the upgrade introduced a fatal admin or storefront error.

Troubleshooting

Common issues and quick fixes. For deeper help, see the full troubleshooting guide or contact support@seekmodo.com.

Connect to Seekmodo fails

Search returns nothing

Run wp seekmodo health. Force native with wp option update seekmodo_wp_mode off to confirm WP search still works. Check wp-content/uploads/seekmodo-shadow.log for breaker-open events.

Index never updates

wp seekmodo index --status
wp cli event list | grep seekmodo
wp seekmodo index --full

Domain lock / staging clone

Each tenant locks to one canonical storefront host. Staging clones need their own tenant or a preview subdomain on admin.seekmodo.com. Run wp seekmodo refresh-config after fixing the host.

Breaker stuck open

Clear with wp option delete seekmodo_wp_breaker_state after fixing the gateway-side issue.

Full troubleshooting guide

Support

Need help? Our team and documentation are available on seekmodo.com.