How do Yoast's REST API link removal and crawl blocking controls differ?

Definition: Yoast's Remove REST API links control removes the WordPress REST API discovery link from the HTML <head>. Its separate Remove WP-JSON API control adds robots.txt disallow rules for WordPress JSON API endpoints.

Key facts

• Yoast describes the REST API link as a developer-oriented link that WordPress adds to the <head> for discoverability. Its example is <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="http://testsite.com/wp-json/" /> in the crawl optimization documentation.
• The Remove REST API links toggle removes that head output when the site does not use the WordPress REST API. The documentation describes the result as removal of the link.
• The Remove WP-JSON API toggle targets crawling. Yoast says it adds a disallow rule to robots.txt for WordPress JSON API endpoints, including /wp-json/ and /?rest_route=/.
• Yoast's REST API documentation describes metadata retrieval through the native WordPress REST API and through /wp-json/yoast/v1/get_head?url=. A headless site can therefore have a documented API use case that matters when selecting the crawl control.

What does the link removal control change?

WordPress automatically places a REST API discovery link in the HTML <head>. Yoast's crawl optimization documentation describes the API as a developer-oriented feature that lets applications interact with a WordPress site, then gives this output:

<link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="http://testsite.com/wp-json/" />

The Remove REST API links setting belongs to Yoast's Remove unwanted metadata section. It removes this <link> element from the head. The documented condition is that the site does not use the WordPress REST API, so the setting concerns discoverability metadata in the document head.

This control is separate from Yoast's API feature switch. Yoast's REST API documentation says the Yoast REST API returns SEO metadata for a URL, including meta tags and schema.org data. It also documents a URL query form:

/wp-json/yoast/v1/get_head?url=

That endpoint returns html, json, and status properties. The same documentation says the API can be disabled from the Site features section of Yoast SEO Settings, which is a broader API setting than removing a discovery link.

What does the crawl blocking control change?

Remove WP-JSON API is a separate option in the crawl optimization settings. Yoast's crawl optimization documentation describes it as preventing robots from crawling WordPress JSON API endpoints and says that it adds a disallow rule to the site's robots.txt file. The documented examples identify both the path form and the query form:

Disallow: /wp-json/
Disallow: /?rest_route=/

The distinction is operational. The first control changes HTML emitted in the head of pages. The second publishes crawl instructions for API endpoint URLs. Yoast conditions the crawl setting on whether the WordPress REST API outputs important content, and describes switching it off as a way to improve crawl efficiency when that API use is absent.

An API link in a page head and a robots rule are therefore different artefacts to check. A head inspection looks for the rel="https://api.w.org/" element. A robots inspection looks for rules covering the two endpoint forms documented by Yoast. The presence or absence of one artefact does not answer what the other setting produced.

How should a headless WordPress site choose?

Yoast's REST API documentation says headless WordPress implementations can use the native WP REST API to retrieve posts or other objects. When Yoast SEO is active, those responses receive yoast_head and yoast_head_json fields. The same documentation describes a direct URL request through get_head for applications that query a URL instead of an object identifier.

For a site that uses those API responses to build a frontend, the documented use case is relevant to both controls. Removing the discovery link removes a head element, while the crawl setting adds access restrictions for the API endpoint paths. Disabling the Yoast REST API itself is a separate choice described in the API documentation.

How can you check the result?

View the HTML response for a representative WordPress page and search its <head> for https://api.w.org/. Then request the site's robots.txt and search for rules covering /wp-json/ or /?rest_route=/. Yoast's crawl optimization documentation names those endpoint forms, and the REST API documentation identifies the metadata response fields and get_head endpoint.

Related terms

• How do I read Yoast metadata for a headless WordPress site?
• Why can Yoast's REST API return a missing URL response?
• robots.txt

FAQ

Does removing the REST API link disable the endpoint?

No. Yoast documents link removal as removal of a <head> output. The separate API documentation describes disabling the API from Site features, while the crawl option adds robots.txt disallow rules.

Does the crawl setting remove the link from HTML?

No. The crawl documentation assigns head link removal to Remove REST API links. Remove WP-JSON API is documented as a robots crawling control.

What should you check before enabling the crawl block?

Check whether you use the WordPress REST API to output important content. Yoast gives that condition for the Remove WP-JSON API setting and documents REST responses as a data source for headless WordPress implementations.

Sources

1. Yoast, "Yoast SEO settings: Crawl optimization", 7 April 2026
2. Yoast, "Yoast SEO: REST API", undated

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