Title: Control Jetpack content distribution
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: September 17, 2020
Last modified: December 17, 2025

---

 1. [WordPress on VIP](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-on-vip/)
 2. [Jetpack](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-on-vip/jetpack/)
 3. Control Jetpack content distribution

#  Control Jetpack content distribution

By default, [Jetpack is enabled on all WordPress sites](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-on-vip/jetpack/)
hosted on the VIP Platform. Jetpack adds a suite of powerful security, performance,
and marketing features. Jetpack features that aid in content consumption, distribution,
and syndication are collectively referred to as “**content distribution tools**“.

Jetpack’s content distribution tools provide:

 * Programmatic access to content via the [WordPress.com REST API](https://jetpack.com/support/json-api/)
   and [Jetpack Search](https://jetpack.com/support/search/)
 * Subscriptions via the [WordPress.com Reader](https://wordpress.com/support/reader/)

Jetpack’s content distribution tools can be selectively enabled or disabled by defining
the `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` constant as `false` or `true` for an environment—or
for a limited set of network sites on a WordPress multisite.

For sites that require more customization for access to their content, individual
Jetpack content distribution features can be enabled or disabled via code with [the `jetpack_get_available_modules` filter](https://developer.jetpack.com/hooks/jetpack_get_available_modules/).

## Enable content distribution

When `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` is defined as `false` **Jetpack’s content distribution
tools are enabled**.

When Jetpack’s content distribution tools are enabled for a site or environment—
even a non-production environment—content is:

 * Accessible via the WordPress.com REST API or Jetpack Search via unauthenticated
   requests.
 * Consumable via the WordPress.com Reader.

By default `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` is defined as `false` for:

 * **Jetpack site connections on production environments.** For WordPress multisite,
   this includes Jetpack connections for network sites on a production environment.
 * **Sites that have [Jetpack Search](https://docs.wpvip.com/jetpack-search/) enabled,
   including non-production sites.** By default, Jetpack’s content distribution 
   tools are disabled for non-production sites, but enabling Jetpack Search for 
   a site will override that default setting.

### Code-enable content distribution

For environments that have Jetpack’s content distribution tools disabled by default,
content distribution can be enabled by defining `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` as `false`
to override the default setting.

Enable content distribution for all sites on an environment by defining `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE`
as `false` in `[vip-config.php](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/vip-config-directory/)`:

/vip-config/vip-config.php

    ```lang-php
    if ( ! defined( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE' ) ) {
    	define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', false );
    }
    ```

After the updated code is deployed, the default content distribution features that
are included with Jetpack will be restored within 30 minutes.

For sites that require more customization for restricted access to their content,
specific Jetpack content distribution features can be selectively enabled or disabled
with [the `jetpack_get_available_modules` filter.](https://developer.jetpack.com/hooks/jetpack_get_available_modules/)

## Disable content distribution

When `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` is defined as `true` **Jetpack’s content distribution
tools are disabled**.

When Jetpack’s content distribution tools are disabled:

 * Content is inaccessible via the WordPress.com REST API by unauthenticated requests.
 * **Content in the Jetpack Search API is blocked and can no longer be accessed 
   by a site.** This will cause the site to fall back to [Core WordPress database search](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-search/).
   Jetpack Search can be configured for non-public content to be accessible via 
   authenticated requests.
 * Content is blocked from consumption by the WordPress.com Reader.
 * Jetpack features (e.g. [the Jetpack AI Assistant block](https://jetpack.com/support/jetpack-blocks/jetpack-ai-assistant-block/))
   that require access to content will be blocked and will be unavailable or unable
   to operate as expected.

By default `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` is defined as `true` for:

 * **Jetpack site connections on non-production environments.** For WordPress multisite,
   this includes Jetpack connections for all network sites.
 * **Sites on an environment that have [IP Allow List](https://docs.wpvip.com/ip-allow-list/)
   or [Basic Authentication](https://docs.wpvip.com/basic-authentication/) enabled.**
   Even if `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` is overridden in custom application code and
   defined as `false`, IP Allow List or Basic Authentication will continue to restrict
   public traffic from accessing sites on the environment.

### Code-disable content distribution

For environments that have Jetpack’s content distribution tools enabled by default,
content distribution can be disabled by defining `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE` as `true`
to override the default setting.

It may be desirable to disable Jetpack content distribution for sites that rely 
on restricting access via plugins or mechanisms that are not native to the VIP Platform(
e.g. paywalls).

Disable content distribution for all sites on an environment by defining `VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE`
as `true` in `[vip-config.php](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/vip-config-directory/)`:

/vip-config/vip-config.php

    ```lang-php
    if ( ! defined( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE' ) ) {
    	define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', true );
    }
    ```

After the updated code is deployed, the default content distribution features that
are included with Jetpack will be disabled within 30 minutes.

For sites that require more customization for restricted access to their content,
specific Jetpack content distribution features can be selectively enabled or disabled
with [the `jetpack_get_available_modules` filter.](https://developer.jetpack.com/hooks/jetpack_get_available_modules/)

### Disable content distribution for a network site on a multisite

On a [WordPress multisite](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-multisite/) environment,
Jetpack’s content distribution can be code-disabled for one or more specific network
sites.

In this code example, content distribution is disabled for a network site with the
domain `site.example.com`:

/vip-config/vip-config.php

    ```lang-php
    if ( 'site.example.com' === $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] ) {
        define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', true );
    }
    ```

This code example demonstrates disabling content distribution for a network site
that has a site URL with a subdirectory structure:

/vip-config/vip-config.php

    ```lang-php
    if ( 'example.com' === $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] &&
    	0 === strpos( $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], '/subdirectory-example/' )
    ) {
        define( 'VIP_JETPACK_IS_PRIVATE', true );
    }
    ```

Last updated: December 17, 2025