Configure POM AI on WordPress multisite
POM AI is the one POM product whose license behaves differently on multisite. Understanding why takes two minutes and prevents most of the confusion that follows.
Why POM AI is different
Every other POM product uses one network-wide license: the network administrator saves it once and every subsite is covered. That is fine for products whose value is code delivered to the network.
POM AI is not only code. Its operations spend money from a specific account's credit balance. A network can host subsites that belong to different customers, so silently letting every subsite spend the network owner's credits would be wrong.
The rule that follows is short: AI services never inherit the network license. A subsite that wants to use POM AI must save a key on that subsite, explicitly.
The two scopes
| Scope | Managed from | Authorizes | Managed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network | The main site or network admin | Plugin updates for the whole network, and AI services for the main site itself | Network administrators |
| Subsite | Each subsite's own admin | AI services for that subsite only | That subsite's administrators |
The main site's key does double duty: it is the network key used for updates and it is also the main site's own service license. Subsite keys are service-only.
Nothing a subsite administrator does affects the network entry, and nothing the network administrator does grants a subsite the right to spend credits.
Setting up a network
- Install and network-activate POM AI from Network Admin → Plugins. Automatic updates require it to be network-active or active on the main site.
- Save the network key on the main site, under Settings → POM AI → License. This enables updates for the whole network and AI on the main site.
- For each subsite that needs AI, an administrator of that subsite opens Settings → POM AI → License there and saves a key.
Step three is not optional and cannot be done for a subsite from the network admin. See Authorize one multisite subsite for AI services.
Which key should a subsite save?
That depends on who owns the subsite.
- You own every subsite. Save the same key on each subsite that needs AI. Each subsite's host consumes one slot from your plan's domain capacity, and all of them spend from your single balance. See Use one account across authorized subsites.
- The subsite belongs to a customer. They buy their own POM AI subscription and save their own key. Their usage is billed to their account, and you never see their credits.
Both models work at the same time on one network.
What each side sees
A subsite administrator opening the License tab sees the heading POM AI license for this site and a note explaining that this key authorizes the domain to consume credits from its owner's account, while plugin updates are managed from the network's main site. They can save, revalidate and unlink their own key, and nothing more.
A network administrator sees the ordinary POM AI license panel on the main site.
License warnings follow the same boundary. A subsite administrator is warned only about their own missing or invalid key. Network-level licensing warnings are shown only to network administrators, and only in the network admin or on the main site — subsite screens stay clean, because a subsite administrator cannot fix a network license anyway.
Domain capacity on a network
Each subsite is a distinct host to the account service, so each authorized subsite consumes one slot. A network with twelve AI-enabled subsites needs capacity for twelve domains, unless the plan is one that allows unlimited domains.
Some plans are bound to a single WordPress network. When a plan works that way, the first activation binds the license to that network, and attempting to use the same key on a different network is rejected. See Understand domain authorization limits.
Updates on a network
Updates are checked with the network key only. Three consequences:
- if POM AI is active only on a subsite and not network-active or active on the main site, that installation gets no automatic updates;
- a subsite key never produces an update offer, no matter how valid it is;
- if the network key is missing or invalid, updates stop for the whole network even though subsites can still use AI with their own valid keys.
Understand the network license used for updates covers this properly.
Common mistakes
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| A subsite shows a license warning even though the network key is valid | Correct behaviour. The subsite needs its own key. |
| Updates never appear even though every subsite is licensed | No network key, or POM AI is not network-active or active on the main site. |
| A new subsite cannot be authorized | The plan's domain capacity is full. |
| A subsite spends credits the owner did not expect | The same key was saved there deliberately. Remove that domain or set a per-domain spending limit. |
| The same key fails on a second network | The plan binds the license to one network. |
Verify the network
- The main site's License tab shows a valid key and the network's main host.
- Each AI-enabled subsite's License tab shows a valid key and that subsite's own host.
- Network Admin → Plugins shows POM AI as network-active.
- One small AI operation succeeds on the main site and on one subsite.
- The account's authorized domain list contains exactly the hosts you expect, and nothing else.