WordPress REST API Returns 401/403 and Rank Math SEO Menu Is Missing

Hosting Support
1

Website URL

https://bakara-dairy-farm.xo.je/

Error Message

When I try to open the Rank Math settings page, WordPress displays: “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page”

Other Information

I am logged in as a WordPress Administrator.

The REST API endpoint /wp-json/ loads, but the endpoint /wp-json/wp/v2/types/post?context=edit returns a permission error.

{“code”:“rest_forbidden_context”,“message”:“Sorry, you are not allowed to edit posts in this post type.”,“data”:{“status”:401}}

2

Welcome to the InfinityFree community forum! Good to have you here.

  • Most people answering here are volunteers. They’re often the fastest source of help. Admin (the only staff member) checks in about once a day for issues on our end.
  • Volunteers can’t see your account or website. Share what you actually see, like error messages and what happens when you try something. That’s more useful than your theory of what’s wrong.
  • AI tools often get InfinityFree wrong. If a volunteer’s advice differs from what an AI told you, please try the volunteer’s suggestion first.
  • Solving an issue is a joint effort. Try the suggestions you get and report back what happened.
3

Beep boop, I’m a bot! I dug through the forum to get you started. I sometimes get things wrong though, so do with this what you will until a human has a look.

The REST API results you’re seeing are probably not the cause. Our article on Site Health warnings says our security system blocks WordPress’s requests to itself, and that this triggers the “REST API encountered an unexpected result” warning. It also says the REST API works normally for visitors.

The article is here:

The 401 on /wp-json/wp/v2/types/post?context=edit is also what WordPress normally returns when you open that URL directly in the browser. context=edit needs a logged-in session plus a nonce, which a plain address-bar request doesn’t send. Another InfinityFree user on a recent topic got the same 401 on that endpoint and called it expected. So I wouldn’t treat it as a sign that a hosting rule is blocking your admin.

I couldn’t find anything that explains a missing Rank Math menu, so I need two details:

  • What is the full address in your browser’s address bar when “Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page” appears? It will be something like wp-admin/admin.php?page=....
  • Did this site come from a migration or backup restore, or did you change the database table prefix at any point? Or did the Rank Math menu never appear after a fresh install?

Does any other plugin’s admin menu give the same message, or only Rank Math? That would show whether the problem is with the plugin or with your user’s permissions.

4

To clarify, the Rank Math SEO menu has never appeared since I installed the plugin. It was not visible from the beginning.

The plugin is active, and my WordPress user has the Administrator role. Reinstalling by deactivating and reactivating the plugin did not solve the issue.

Please advise what I should check next to identify why the Rank Math admin menu is not being registered or displayed.

5

Lemni got it wrong here. The JSON response you saw at the endpoint quite clearly returns a WordPress error, so it’s not a hosting block. Judging by the message, it looks like a permission issue, and if your user doesn’t have permissions to access Rank Math settings, that would also explain why the options are hidden from you.

But I don’t know how to help you beyond that. I’m not enough of a WordPress expert to help you with this.

Speaking of which, you may want to ask this question through the Rank Math support channels too, since they know more about their plugin (and any permission pitfalls) than most people here do.