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Meta abilities let you get and set WordPress metadata for any object type — posts (and custom post types), taxonomy terms, and users. Permission checks are enforced per object, so the abilities respect the same access rules as native WordPress.

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All meta abilities

maxi/bulk-update-meta is a Pro plan ability. It is not available on the Lite plan.

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Object types

All meta abilities accept an object_type parameter:
  • post — applies to posts, pages, and any custom post type
  • term — applies to taxonomy terms (categories, tags, and custom taxonomies)
  • user — applies to WordPress users

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Key ability examples

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maxi/get-meta

Retrieve a single meta value by key, or retrieve all meta for an object by omitting meta_key.

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maxi/set-meta

Add a new meta value or update an existing one. If the key does not exist, WordPress creates it. If it already exists, WordPress updates it.

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maxi/bulk-update-meta

Pro only. Set multiple meta keys across many objects at once. Pass an object_ids array and a meta object with all the keys and values to apply.
maxi/bulk-update-meta also accepts a parent_id input shape for WooCommerce variable products. When you pass parent_id, the ability expands the operation to all variations of that product automatically.

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Passing meta values

Always pass plain, unserialized values to meta abilities. WordPress handles serialization automatically when it stores the value.Correct:
Incorrect — do not pre-serialize:
Pre-serializing values causes double serialization, which corrupts the stored data and produces broken reads.

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Permission model

Meta abilities enforce object-level permission checks in addition to the capability listed in the table above:
  • Post reads require the read_post capability for that specific post.
  • Post writes require the edit_post capability for that specific post.
  • User meta reads require list_users. User meta writes require edit_user.
  • Term meta writes require the manage_terms capability for that taxonomy.
  • Term meta reads are open — terms are public taxonomy objects and do not require additional capability.
If the connected WordPress user does not have the required capability for a specific object, the ability returns an error for that object rather than silently skipping it.