Documentation

TNT AI SEO Writer Documentation

Everything you need to install, configure, and get the most out of TNT AI Writer (free) and TNT AI Writer Pro.

Requirements

Component	Minimum	Notes
WordPress	6.2	Tested up to 7.1
PHP	8.0
WP-Cron	Enabled	Or triggered via a real server cron for reliable scheduling
Outbound HTTPS requests	Allowed	To Google, Bing, Reddit, Wikipedia, DuckDuckGo, and (if configured) your chosen AI provider's API domain

No AI provider API key is required to use the plugin. Topic discovery, keyword research, opportunity scoring, and full article drafts (in template + research mode) all work with zero API key, on both Free and Pro.

Free vs. Pro

TNT AI Writer (free, on WordPress.org) and TNT AI Writer Pro (licensed) are two separate plugins that share the same database tables and are not meant to run together — installing Pro automatically deactivates the free plugin if it's active.

Capability	Free	Pro
Trend discovery, keyword research, opportunity scoring	Unlimited, no key	Unlimited, no key
Article drafts in template + research mode	Unlimited, no key	Unlimited, no key
AI-written drafts via Pollinations AI	With your own key	With your own key
OpenRouter, Google Gemini, Groq, OpenAI as AI providers
Manual "Write Post" (your own topic + full research pipeline)
Competitor gap analysis & Content Clusters
Bulk generation, Content Calendar, auto-schedule/auto-publish
Content Refresh Finder, Google Discover score, Web Story generator

TNT AI Writer Pro requires an active license before any admin screen loads — there's no limited free mode built into the Pro plugin. If you want to try things first with no purchase, install the free TNT AI Writer plugin instead.

Installation

Option A — Upload via WordPress Admin

Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin (or search "TNT AI Writer" to install the free version directly from WordPress.org).
Choose the plugin ZIP file and click Install Now.
Click Activate once installation finishes.

Option B — Manual FTP/SFTP Upload

Unzip the plugin package locally.
Upload the resulting folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
Go to Plugins in wp-admin and click Activate.

On activation, the plugin creates its database tables (topics, keywords, generated posts, logs, settings — plus content clusters on Pro) and schedules its WP-Cron events.

Quick Start

Go to TNT AI Writer → Dashboard and click Scan Trending Topics to run your first research pass — no setup or API key needed for this step.
Open Opportunities, sort by score, and pick a high-scoring topic.
Click Generate. With no AI provider configured, you'll get a complete draft in template + research mode. Connect an AI provider under Settings → AI Content Engine if you want AI-written prose instead — see AI Writing below.
Copy the result into a new post, or (Pro) save it straight to Posts → Drafts.
Review, edit, and publish manually. Nothing is ever auto-published unless you explicitly turn on Auto-Publish (Pro, off by default).

Pollinations AI (Free Default)

Pollinations AI is the built-in AI writing provider on both the free and Pro plugin — it's the only AI writer available on the free plugin, and it requires no API key to generate the article text or the featured image.

Go to Settings → AI Content Engine.
Confirm Provider is set to Pollinations AI (the default).
Optionally enable Pollinations AI images under the same settings tab to auto-generate a featured image for every draft.

Set Provider to None instead if you don't want AI writing at all — every draft is still generated in full using template + research mode.

OpenRouter, Google Gemini, Groq & OpenAI PRO

The Pro plugin adds four more AI providers, each using your own API key:

Provider	Get a key at	Default model
OpenRouter	openrouter.ai	`meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct:free`
Google Gemini	ai.google.dev (free tier, no card required)	`gemini-1.5-flash`
Groq	console.groq.com	`llama-3.1-8b-instant`
OpenAI	platform.openai.com	`gpt-4o-mini`

Set Provider and paste your key under Settings → AI Content Engine. OpenRouter's default model above is free; Gemini and Groq both have usable free tiers.

There is no built-in Claude/Anthropic provider. If you want Claude specifically, see Using Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini Manually below.

Using Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini Manually

Every discovered topic has a Copy AI Prompt button. It copies the exact research-grounded prompt the plugin would otherwise send to an AI provider — built from the same real Wikipedia facts, Reddit questions, and keyword data — so you can paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or any AI chat tool and get a fully researched draft back, for free, with no integration and no API key.

This is the recommended way to write with Claude today, since Claude isn't one of the plugin's built-in API providers.

Research Settings

Under Settings → Research, configure which sources feed the topic scanner and how aggressively it looks for new ideas:

Setting	Default	Purpose
Niche Focus	Empty	Keeps discovered topics relevant to your site's subject area instead of general trending noise.
Excluded Keywords	Empty	A list of terms to filter out of research results (e.g. competitor brand names, off-topic terms).
Minimum Trend Score	30	Discards topics below a chosen momentum threshold.
Opportunity Threshold	50	Only surfaces keyword opportunities above this score in the dashboard.
Cache Expiry (hours)	6	How long research results are cached before a fresh scan is triggered.

Trend Scanner

The trend scanner runs automatically every hour via WP-Cron (tnt_aiw_hourly_topic_scan) and checks Google Trends, Google News, Bing News, and search suggestions for rising topics. You can also trigger a manual scan anytime from the Dashboard with Scan Trending Topics.

Reddit Setup

Reddit discussion mining requires your own free Reddit API app (Reddit retired unauthenticated access in 2026). Without this, Reddit is simply skipped — no errors, just fewer questions surfaced.

Go to reddit.com/prefs/apps and create a "script" type app (it's free).
Copy the generated Client ID and Client Secret.
In Settings → 👽 Reddit API, paste both values and save.

Keyword Discovery

For each topic, the plugin pulls search suggestions and related questions, then scores every resulting keyword phrase on two axes:

Opportunity — estimated potential based on trend momentum and search demand signals.
Difficulty — how competitive the keyword currently looks.

Keywords are surfaced under Keyword Research, sorted by opportunity score by default.

Competitor Gap Analysis PRO

Shows what the current top-ranking results cover that your site doesn't yet — missing FAQs, missing depth, missing examples — and builds a ready-made outline aimed at covering the gap.

Content Clusters PRO

Group a pillar topic with automatically-discovered subtopics into a single cluster to build a topical-authority silo, rather than publishing near-duplicate pages for every keyword variant. Manage clusters under TNT AI Writer → Clusters.

Content Generation

When you generate a draft, the plugin checks how the AI Content Engine is configured:

AI mode — if a provider and API key are set (Pollinations, or on Pro: OpenRouter/Gemini/Groq/OpenAI), the AI writer drafts a full article grounded in the topic's research.
Template + research mode — if Provider is set to "None," or an AI request fails, the plugin generates a complete article from the same real research data using a structured template — no key, no AI service contacted, unlimited on both plans.

Template Mode & Copy AI Prompt

Two ways to get a complete draft without any API key at all:

Template + research mode — automatic when no AI provider is configured. Still grounded in real Wikipedia facts, Reddit questions, and current headlines.
Copy AI Prompt — copies the same research-grounded prompt for pasting into any external AI chat tool (see above).

Publishing

Every generated article is saved as a WordPress Draft or shown as a preview. Auto-Publish is a Pro-only, opt-in queue — off by default — that you explicitly enable under Settings → Auto-Schedule & Auto-Publish. Nothing publishes without your action unless you've turned that on.

Scheduling & Cron Jobs

Hook	Frequency	Purpose	Plan
`tnt_aiw_hourly_topic_scan`	Hourly	Scans research sources for new trending topics.	Free & Pro
`tnt_aiw_daily_opportunity_scan`	Daily	Recalculates keyword opportunity scores.	Free & Pro
`tnt_aiw_weekly_content_ideas`	Weekly	Auto-generates drafts for top-scoring opportunities, if enabled.	Pro only

WP-Cron only runs on site traffic by default, which can make schedules unreliable on low-traffic sites. For dependable timing, trigger wp-cron.php with a real server cron job every few minutes.

Bulk Generation PRO

From Opportunities, generate drafts for your top 10 scored topics in a single click instead of one at a time.

Content Calendar PRO

A visual monthly calendar for scheduling generated drafts — drag a date, pick a time.

Content Refresh Finder PRO

Scans your already-published posts for staleness signals — old year mentions, thin sections, missing FAQs, new searches you don't cover yet — and ranks them by how urgently they need an update.

CSV Export & Workflow Tools

CSV export — Trending Topics, Keyword Research, and Opportunities each have a one-click export button. Free & Pro.
Mark as Used / Drafted — track which topics you've already covered, with New/Used filter tabs. Free & Pro.
Settings import/export — download your configuration as a JSON file and import it on another site. Free & Pro.
Write Post PRO — type your own topic, title, and keywords; the full research + writing pipeline still runs around them.

Performance Tips

Enable object caching (Redis or Memcached) if you're running frequent bulk generation — research lookups are cached, and a persistent object cache makes that cache survive between requests.
Groq is the fastest of the built-in providers for high-volume runs; reserve OpenAI or a larger OpenRouter model for cornerstone content.
Increase Cache Expiry if your niche doesn't change quickly — this reduces redundant SERP and trend lookups.

Best Practices

Start new sites with Draft status until you've reviewed 10–15 posts' worth of output quality.
Use Niche Focus and Excluded Keywords to keep the topic scanner from drifting into irrelevant trending news.
Review AI-generated content for factual accuracy before publishing, especially for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics like health, finance, or legal content.
Set up Reddit API credentials early — without them, one of the plugin's five research sources is silently skipped.

Security

API keys are stored in the WordPress options table on your own site and are only ever sent to the provider you selected.
All admin actions (settings save, manual generation, bulk actions) require the manage_options capability and are protected by WordPress nonces.
Rotate your AI provider API keys periodically, and immediately if you ever suspect a key has leaked.
Uninstalling the plugin removes all of its custom database tables, options, and cached data.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Posts look templated / repetitive	AI Content Engine is set to "None," or the AI request failed	Check Settings → AI Content Engine — confirm Provider and API Key are set, and check Logs for request errors.
No topics appear on the Dashboard	The hourly scan hasn't run yet, or WP-Cron is disabled	Click "Scan Trending Topics" manually, and verify WP-Cron is firing.
Reddit questions never show up	No Reddit Client ID/Secret configured	Add free Reddit API credentials under Settings → Reddit API — see Reddit Setup.
Scheduled posts never publish	WP-Cron isn't running because the site gets little to no traffic	Set up a real server-side cron job to call `wp-cron.php` every few minutes.
"AI request failed" in Logs	Invalid or missing API key, or a provider rate limit was hit	Re-check the key in Settings and confirm your provider account is active. The plugin falls back to template + research mode automatically either way.

FAQ

See the full FAQ on the main product page — it covers pricing, AI providers, review workflows, and content-quality questions in one place.

Changelog

TNT AI Writer (free)

Version	Notes
1.2.0	Fixed Google Trends and Reddit discovery after upstream API changes (Reddit now needs a free Client ID/Secret). Fixed Multisite network activation and uninstall.
1.1.0	AI-written drafts now require your own API key; template + research mode stays free and unlimited. Added CSV export, Mark as Used/Drafted, Copy AI Prompt, and settings import/export.
1.0.0	First public release — trend scanning, keyword research, and template-based generation.

TNT AI Writer Pro

Version	Notes
1.9.0	Switched to a fully license-gated model — an active license is now required before any admin screen loads.
1.8.0	Same Trends/Reddit/Multisite fixes as free 1.2.0, plus a missing uninstall cleanup routine.
1.7.0	Fixed a licensing gap in Write Post and a draft-privacy issue in Web Story generation. Added CSV export, New/Drafted workflow, Copy AI Prompt, and settings import/export.

Roadmap

Additional AI providers as demand warrants
Multilingual research (trend/keyword sources beyond English)

Support

Free plan: post in the WordPress.org support forum.

Pro & Agency: priority support is handled from the plugin's own Account screen (powered by Freemius) once your license is active.