Automations - AI Puffer

Overview

Use Automations to create content, rewrite published WordPress content, keep a knowledge base current, or reply to new comments in the background. In WordPress admin, go to AI Puffer > Automations.

Before you begin, configure the AI provider, image provider, vector store, or source connection required by the automation. If the Automations menu is not visible, check AI Puffer > Settings > Modules and confirm that your WordPress role has access to it.

Create Content

Create posts from topics, CSV files, RSS feeds, URLs, or Google Sheets.

Optimize

Rewrite selected fields in published WordPress content.

Content Indexing

Add WordPress content to a vector store and keep it current.

Comment Replies

Generate replies for matching approved comments.

Settings

Configure AI, prompts, SEO, publishing, images, and knowledge.

Queue

Review pending, completed, and failed work.

To create an automation:

Click Create automation on the welcome screen, or New automation above the task list.
Select what you want to automate.
Complete Setup for that automation type.
Click Untitled at the top if you want to name the task.
Continue through the settings shown for the selected automation.
Review Finish and click Save task.

The progress bar shows your position. Use Previous to return to an earlier setting. Completed settings show a summary of their values. After the required setup fields are complete, click Quick create to save with recommended defaults for everything else. If required information is missing, AI Puffer shows it near the setting that needs attention. You can edit the task later to customize any saved default.

The Tasks table shows each automation’s name, type, frequency, status, last run, next run, and actions.

Action	What it does
Edit	Opens the task with its saved settings.
Pause	Stops future scheduled runs. Existing queue items remain.
Resume	Schedules a paused task again.
Run now	Checks an active, configured task immediately.
Delete	Permanently deletes the task after confirmation.

To edit a task, click its edit icon, open any setting you want to change, then open Finish and click Save changes.

How Automations Run

Automations use .

The saved task runs at its selected frequency.
It finds eligible work and adds queue items.
The queue processor handles pending items in batches.
Each item becomes Completed or Failed.

The queue processor handles up to 5 pending items per run. If more items remain, AI Puffer schedules another queue run about 30 seconds later.

WordPress cron depends on site traffic unless you run a real server cron. If traffic is low, tasks can run late. If DISABLE_WP_CRON is enabled, configure a server cron for WordPress.

Create Content

Select Create new content in Setup to create posts, pages, products, or other supported post types. The available settings are Setup, AI, Content, Images, SEO, Knowledge, and Finish. Use Quick create after entering a valid source when you want to keep the recommended defaults. Choose one source under Content source:

Source control	Use it for	Availability
Batch editor	Enter and fine-tune topics in rows.	Free
Quick paste	Paste several topics at once.	Free
Import CSV	Upload a structured topic list.	Free
RSS feed	Watch feeds for new items.	Pro
URL	Create content from extracted web pages.	Pro
Spreadsheet	Read rows from Google Sheets.	Pro

Each saved automation uses the source selected when you save it. Batch editor and Quick paste are synchronized views of the same Manual Entry topic list.

Manual Entry

Use Batch editor or Quick paste for manual entry. Use Batch editor when you want to review each item as a row:

Select Create new content.
Select Batch editor under Content source.
Enter a topic and, if needed, keywords.
Click Details to set a category, author, post type, or schedule for that row.
Click Add another topic for more rows.
Continue to AI, or click Quick create.

Use Quick paste when you want to paste several items at once. Enter one item per line, then switch to Batch editor if you want to review or edit the parsed rows. Basic format:

Topic

Extended format:

Topic | Keywords | Category ID | Author Login | Post Type | Schedule

Example:

How to clean leather boots | leather care, boots | 12 | editor | post | 2026-05-01 09:00

CSV

Use Import CSV to upload a structured topic list. Download the sample CSV

Select Import CSV.
Drop a .csv file into the upload area, or click to browse.
Wait for AI Puffer to show how many topics were found.
Continue to AI, or click Quick create.

Column	Field	Required
1	Topic	Yes
2	Keywords	No
3	Category ID	No
4	Author Login	No
5	Post Type	No
6	Schedule	No

Do not include a header row unless you want it treated as a topic.

RSS Feed

RSS Feed is a Pro feature. Select RSS feed under Content source.

Enter one feed URL per line.
Add Only titles containing keywords if only matching titles should be used.
Add Skip titles containing keywords if matching titles should be ignored.
Click Fetch Feeds to check the sources.
Continue through the remaining settings.
In Finish, choose how often the task should check the feeds.

The task records processed feed items to avoid using the same item again. Run now checks recent items but still skips items already in the task history.

Web Page

Web Page is a Pro feature. Select URL under Content source.

Enter one page URL per line.
Click Test First URL to preview the first page’s extracted content.
Continue through the remaining settings.
In Finish, choose how often the task should check the URLs.

AI Puffer extracts readable page text and makes it available to the content instructions.

Placeholder	Value
`{url_content}`	Extracted page text.
`{source_url}`	Source URL.

Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a Pro feature. Select Spreadsheet under Content source. Open the sample Google Sheet, make a copy, and keep the same column order.

Column	Field	Notes
A	Topic	Required.
B	Keywords	Optional.
C	Category ID	Optional.
D	Author Login	Optional.
E	Post Type	Optional.
F	Schedule	Optional.
G	Status	Leave empty for rows that should be processed.

AI Puffer processes a row only when column A has a topic and column G is empty. After creating the post, it writes Processed on ... to column G.

If you use a header row, put a value such as Status in column G for that row so AI Puffer skips it.

To connect the sheet:

Paste the Sheet ID. It is the value between /d/ and /edit in the sheet URL.
Upload the Google service-account JSON file under Credentials.
Share the sheet with the JSON file’s client_email as an Editor.
Confirm that the sheet and credentials are detected.
Use Lock when you want to keep the saved values visible but read-only.
Continue through the remaining settings.

Keep the service-account JSON file private. Anyone with this file can use the permissions granted to that service account.

For the complete Google Cloud setup, see Google Sheets in Content Writer.

Optimize

Select Rewrite existing content in Setup to update selected fields in published WordPress content. This is a Pro feature.

Rewrite automations update WordPress content directly. Start with a narrow selection and a small test before enabling a broad rewrite.

Rewrite Posts and Pages

The available settings are Setup, AI, Content, optional Knowledge, and Finish.

Select one or more Content types.
Optionally limit the task with Categories or Authors. Use search when an expanded list is long.
Turn on Include existing content if current matches should be queued when the task is saved.
In AI, select the model, writing style, maximum rewrite length, and supported reasoning level.
In Content, enable at least one field and review its Instructions.
Optionally configure Knowledge.
In Finish, set the task frequency and save the task.

Rewrite automations process published content only. When Include existing content is off, scheduled runs process content that becomes eligible later.

Field	What AI Puffer updates
Title	WordPress post title.
Content	WordPress post content.
Excerpt	WordPress post excerpt.
Meta Description	SEO meta description in supported SEO plugins.

Click Instructions and the pencil icon beside an enabled field to edit its rewrite instructions. Common rewrite placeholders:

Placeholder	Value
`{original_title}`	Existing post title.
`{original_content}`	Existing post content without shortcodes and HTML.
`{original_excerpt}`	Existing excerpt.
`{original_meta_description}`	Existing meta description or excerpt fallback.
`{original_focus_keyword}`	Existing focus keyword when available.
`{original_tags}`	Existing tags.
`{categories}`	Existing categories.

WooCommerce Products

Select product under Content types to rewrite WooCommerce product titles, main descriptions, short descriptions, or SEO meta descriptions.

Product prompts can use the normal rewrite placeholders and these WooCommerce values:

Placeholder	Value
`{price}`	Product price.
`{regular_price}`	Regular price.
`{sku}`	SKU.
`{attributes}`	Product attributes.
`{stock_quantity}`	Stock quantity.
`{stock_status}`	Stock status.
`{weight}`	Product weight.
`{length}`	Product length.
`{width}`	Product width.
`{height}`	Product height.
`{purchase_note}`	Purchase note.
`{product_categories}`	Product categories.

AI Puffer uses those values as source data. The rewrite task does not change price, SKU, stock, dimensions, purchase note, categories, or attributes.

Content Indexing

Select Build a knowledge base in Setup to add published WordPress content to OpenAI, Pinecone, Qdrant, or Chroma and keep it current.

Select a Provider.
Select the destination Store / Index.
Select the Embedding Model. The picker includes the embedding provider and model.
Select one or more Content types.
Leave Queue all existing content now on to build the initial knowledge base.
Leave Auto-index new and updated content on to keep it current.
Continue to Finish, choose how often the task should run, and click Save task.

Setting	What it does
Queue all existing content now	Queues current published content, then turns itself off.
Auto-index new and updated content	Checks for selected content changed after the last run.

AI Puffer queues existing content in batches. Run now queues matching published content again.

For Pinecone, Qdrant, and Chroma, the destination vector dimension must match the selected embedding model.

Comment Replies

Select Reply to comments in Setup to generate replies for matching approved WordPress comments.

Under Content types, select the post types to monitor.
Under Action on reply, choose Approve or Hold for moderation.
Select Top-level comments only if AI Puffer should not reply to other replies.
Optionally complete Only reply if comment contains and Do not reply if comment contains.
Click Instructions beside Reply Prompt to review or change the prompt.
Continue to AI and select the text model.
In Finish, choose the task frequency and save the task.

Placeholder	Value
`{comment_content}`	Original comment text.
`{comment_author}`	Original comment author.
`{post_title}`	Title of the commented post.

Scheduled runs avoid queueing a comment that the same task already queued or replied to. Replies are inserted as child comments. AI Puffer uses the post author when possible and falls back to the site administrator.

Settings

The available settings depend on the selected automation type.

Task Schedule

Open Finish to configure the task schedule.

Setting	What it does
Schedule	Starts the automation after it is saved.
How often should it run?	Sets how often a recurring source is checked.

Batch editor and Import CSV are one-time sources, so their frequency row is hidden. Recurring sources and task types can use One-time, Every 5 Minutes, Every 15 Minutes, Every 30 Minutes, Hourly, Twice Daily, Daily, or Weekly.

AI

Use AI to configure tasks that generate or rewrite text.

Setting	What it does
Model	Selects the provider and model in one list.
Content length	Uses a Short, Medium, or Long target for new content.
Writing style	Moves between focused, balanced, and creative output.
Maximum rewrite length	Sets the maximum output tokens for rewrite tasks.
Reasoning level	Sets reasoning effort for supported models.

The model picker prefers a configured provider when one is available. If the selected provider needs setup, AI Puffer shows a warning and a link to settings. Reasoning level appears only when the selected provider and model support it.

Prompts

Use Content to control which fields AI Puffer writes and how each one is generated. For new content, Title and Article content are always included. Meta description, Focus keyword, Excerpt, and Tags are optional. To customize a field:

Turn on an optional field if needed.
Click Instructions and the pencil icon beside the field.
Select a saved prompt or edit the instructions.
Use the placeholders shown in the editor.
Click Save.

The label changes to Custom instructions when the built-in instructions have been changed.

Source	Common placeholders
Manual Entry, CSV, Google Sheets	`{topic}` and `{keywords}`
RSS Feed	`{description}` and `{source_url}`
Web Page	`{url_content}` and `{source_url}`
Outputs based on the generated article	`{content_summary}`

Rewrite prompts are also edited through Instructions in Content. The Comment Replies prompt is edited through Instructions beside Reply Prompt in Setup.

AI Puffer validates required placeholders before generation. Fix a missing required placeholder before running the task again.

SEO

Use SEO in a Create Content automation to configure search optimization.

Setting	What it does
Optimize each post for SEO?	Enables Smart SEO for generated posts. Pro feature.
How should we optimize it?	Opens the SEO approach dialog.
Optimize URL	Creates a concise, search-friendly post slug.
Table of contents	Adds navigation links to the post.

If a supported SEO plugin is active, AI Puffer shows its name in the first row.

Smart SEO

Smart SEO is a Pro feature. It checks each generated post against the active SEO plugin profile and can revise the draft before the queue item completes. Choose an approach:

Approach	Use it when
Strict score	Matching every available SEO check matters most.
Balanced	You want the recommended balance of SEO checks and natural writing.
Content first	Natural writing matters more than maximizing a plugin score.

Click Manage checks to enable or disable individual rules. If Smart SEO cannot reach the target score, AI Puffer keeps the best revision.

For the complete rule reference, see Smart SEO in Content Writer.

Yoast SEO

AI Puffer saves the generated meta description to the Yoast description field and the generated focus keyword to the Yoast focus keyphrase field. Smart SEO uses Yoast analysis and readability checks.

Rank Math

AI Puffer saves the generated meta description and focus keyword to Rank Math. Smart SEO uses Rank Math’s Basic SEO, Additional SEO, Title Readability, and Content Readability checks.

All in One SEO

AI Puffer saves the generated meta description and focus keyphrase data to All in One SEO. Smart SEO uses TruSEO, keyphrase, readability, and headline checks.

The SEO Framework

AI Puffer saves the generated meta description to The SEO Framework. The SEO Framework does not provide a native focus keyword field, so AI Puffer does not save one for this profile. If no supported SEO plugin is active, AI Puffer still saves fallback meta description data. WordPress tags and optimized URL slugs continue to work.

Publishing

Use Finish to configure how generated WordPress posts are saved.

Setting	What it does
Status	Saves as draft, publishes immediately, holds for review, or saves privately.
Post Type	Selects the destination public WordPress post type.
Author	Selects the WordPress author.
Categories	Assigns supported categories.

Schedule

When Status is Publish immediately, choose a publishing mode:

Publishing mode	What it does
Immediately	Publishes each completed post as soon as it is ready.
Smart schedule	Starts at a selected date and publishes one post every chosen number of hours or days.
Input dates	Uses the schedule supplied by Manual Entry, CSV, or Google Sheets.

Supported input date examples:

2026-05-01 09:00
2026-05-01 09:00:30
2026/05/01 09:00
05/01/2026 09:00
01/05/2026 09:00
2026-05-01T09:00:00Z
2026-05-01T09:00:00+02:00

Dates without a timezone are interpreted using the WordPress site timezone.

Images

Use Images in a Create Content automation to configure content images, a featured image, or both. Each image type has its own Instructions control. When either image type is enabled, choose AI generated or Stock photos.

Source	Options
AI generated	Select an image model. Available aspect ratios change with the model.
Stock photos	Select Pexels or Pixabay. Orientation and filters change with the provider.

Content-image-only settings include Images per article, Placement, Display size, and Align. When an interval placement such as Every X H2s is selected, use the minus and plus controls beside Placement to set the interval. Open Advanced settings for provider-specific controls.

OpenAI

Add the OpenAI API key in AI Puffer > Settings > AI and sync image models. In Images, enable an image type, select AI generated, and choose an OpenAI image model.

Google

Add the Google API key in AI Puffer > Settings > AI and sync image models. In Images, enable an image type, select AI generated, and choose a Google image model.

OpenRouter

Add the OpenRouter API key in AI Puffer > Settings > AI and sync image-capable models. If a selected model does not return images, choose another image-capable model.

Azure

Add the Azure endpoint, API key, API version, and image deployment in AI Puffer > Settings > AI. Select that deployment after choosing AI generated.

xAI

Add the xAI API key in AI Puffer > Settings > AI and sync image models. xAI image generation uses supported models such as grok-imagine-image.

Replicate

Add the Replicate API key in AI Puffer > Settings > Integrations and sync text-to-image models. Select the required model after choosing AI generated.

Pexels

Add the Pexels API key in AI Puffer > Settings > Integrations. In Images, select Stock photos, then select the Pexels provider chip. Pexels supports orientation, size, and color filters.

Pixabay

Add the Pixabay API key in AI Puffer > Settings > Integrations. In Images, select Stock photos, then select the Pixabay provider chip. Pixabay supports orientation, type, and category filters.

Provider Options

Only options supported by the selected source, provider, and model appear.

Provider	Available options
OpenAI	Canvas size, quality, output format, compression, background, moderation.
Azure	Canvas size, quality, output format, compression, background.
Google	Aspect ratio, image resolution, and person generation for supported models.
OpenRouter	Aspect ratio and image resolution when supported.
xAI	Aspect ratio and image resolution.
Replicate	Model-specific options from synced model schemas.
Pexels	Orientation, size, and color.
Pixabay	Orientation, type, and category.

AI-generated aspect-ratio choices change with the selected model. Stock-photo orientation choices change with the selected provider.

Image Prompts

Click Instructions and the pencil icon beside Content images or Featured image to customize what AI Puffer should create. The two image types keep separate instructions. Common placeholders include {topic}, {keywords}, {post_title}, and {excerpt}.

Knowledge Base

Use optional Knowledge settings when generated or rewritten text should include information from a vector database.

Select a Knowledge source.
Select the provider’s vector stores, index, or collection.
For Pinecone, Qdrant, or Chroma, select the Embedding model used to index the data.
Set Results limit.
Adjust Confidence threshold only when needed.

OpenAI

OpenAI uses OpenAI Vector Stores. Add data in AI Puffer > Knowledge Base > Data, select OpenAI under Knowledge source, then select one or more Vector stores.

Pinecone

Add Pinecone credentials in AI Puffer > Settings > Integrations. Select the Pinecone index and the same embedding model used when the data was added. The index dimension must match the embedding model.

Qdrant

Add the Qdrant URL and API key in AI Puffer > Settings > Integrations. Select the Qdrant collection and the same embedding model used when the data was added. The collection vector size must match the embedding model.

Chroma

Add the Chroma endpoint, tenant, database, and API key in AI Puffer > Settings > Integrations. Select the Chroma collection and the same embedding model used when the data was added.

Limit and Threshold

Setting	How it works
Results limit	Sets the maximum number of matching knowledge pieces AI Puffer can use.
Confidence threshold	Sets the minimum confidence required before a match is included.

Use the default threshold until you have tested retrieval quality. A very high value can return few or no results. A very low value can include weak matches. AI Puffer warns when you move away from the recommended value. For complete provider setup, see Knowledge Base.

Queue

The queue shows work created by saved tasks and Run now actions.

Status	Meaning
Pending	Waiting to be processed.
Processing	Currently being handled.
Completed	Finished successfully.
Failed	Stopped with an error.

Click the queue menu to open Queue tools. Search item or task names, filter by status, or delete the currently filtered items. A failed item also has a retry action. The Cron badge opens the cron status panel. Use it to check whether WordPress cron is healthy, disabled, or delayed. Click the refresh icon to reload the queue. Deleting a task, queue item, or filtered queue set opens a destructive confirmation dialog that names what will be removed. Review it before clicking Delete. The action cannot be undone. Completed content-creation items can link to the generated post when a WordPress post ID is available.

Connected Apps

Automations can send results to Connected Apps and webhooks.

Event	When it fires
`content.generated`	After a Create Content task creates a post.
`task.item_completed`	After a queue item finishes successfully.

Use these events when another system needs the generated post, task result, or queue item details. See Event Webhooks for event payloads and delivery setup.

Logs

Automation activity can appear in AI Puffer logs.

Task area	Log module
Create Content	`content_writer_automation`
Comment Replies	`community_reply_comments`

Queue status and error messages also remain visible in the Automations queue.

Troubleshooting

Task did not run

Confirm the task status is Active.
Check Last and Next in the Tasks table.
Open the Cron status panel and confirm WordPress cron is healthy.
If DISABLE_WP_CRON is enabled, configure a server cron job.
Check whether the task already has pending or processing queue items.
Edit the task and confirm that its provider, model, source, and destination are still configured.

Create Content tasks do not queue another scheduled batch while the same task already has pending or processing items.

No items were queued

Automation	Check
Manual Entry	At least one Batch editor or Quick paste row must have a topic.
CSV	The parsed CSV must contain at least one topic.
RSS Feed	The feed must contain a new item that passes the filters.
Web Page	The URL must be reachable and contain extractable text.
Google Sheets	Column A must contain a topic and column G must be empty.
Rewrite Posts and Pages	Selected content types, categories, and authors must match published content.
Content Indexing	Selected content types must contain published content.
Comment Replies	The task must find an approved comment that passes its filters.

Queue item failed

Read the error shown for the queue item.
Fix the provider, model, source, prompt, or destination setting.
Use the retry icon on the failed item.

Google Sheets rows are not processed

Confirm the Sheet ID is correct.
Confirm the service-account JSON file is valid.
Share the sheet with the service-account email as an Editor.
Put the topic in column A.
Leave column G empty until AI Puffer processes the row.

Content indexing fails

Confirm the selected store, index, or collection still exists.
For Pinecone, Qdrant, and Chroma, select an embedding model.
Confirm the destination dimension matches the embedding model.
Confirm the selected content types contain published content.
Check the provider connection in AI Providers.

Comment replies are not created

Confirm the original comment is approved.
Check the selected content types.
Review the include and exclude keyword filters.
Confirm the comment was not already queued or replied to by the task.
Check the selected AI provider and model.

​Overview

Create Content

Optimize

Content Indexing

Comment Replies

Settings

Queue

​How Automations Run

​Create Content

​Manual Entry

​CSV

​RSS Feed

​Web Page

​Google Sheets

​Optimize

​Rewrite Posts and Pages

​WooCommerce Products

​Content Indexing

​Comment Replies

​Settings

​Task Schedule

​AI

​Prompts

​SEO

​Smart SEO

​Yoast SEO

​Rank Math

​All in One SEO

​The SEO Framework

​Publishing

​Schedule

​Images

​OpenAI

​Google

​OpenRouter

​Azure

​xAI

​Replicate

​Pexels

​Pixabay

​Provider Options

​Image Prompts

​Knowledge Base

​OpenAI

​Pinecone

​Qdrant

​Chroma

​Limit and Threshold

​Queue

​Connected Apps

​Logs

​Troubleshooting

Overview

How Automations Run

Create Content

Manual Entry

CSV

RSS Feed

Web Page

Google Sheets

Optimize

Rewrite Posts and Pages

WooCommerce Products

Content Indexing

Comment Replies

Settings

Task Schedule

AI

Prompts

SEO

Smart SEO

Yoast SEO

Rank Math

All in One SEO

The SEO Framework

Publishing

Schedule

Images

OpenAI

Google

OpenRouter

Azure

xAI

Replicate

Pexels

Pixabay

Provider Options

Image Prompts

Knowledge Base

OpenAI

Pinecone

Qdrant

Chroma

Limit and Threshold

Queue

Connected Apps

Logs

Troubleshooting