Ask WordPress AI Engineer to identify why an image is missing before replacing files or changing every stored URL. A broken image can result from an absent file, an incorrect path, access restrictions, mixed content or a cache/CDN problem.
IN THIS ARTICLE
01 Collect representative examples
Provide the page URL and one or two affected image URLs, plus a working image for comparison if useful. Note whether the issue began after migration, media cleanup, HTTPS changes or an image-optimisation update. Avoid sharing private media that is not needed for the investigation.
02 Run a scoped diagnosis
- Select the correct website in NabWP and open AI Engineer.
- Ask it to inspect the image response, referenced path and relevant media or file information.
- Review whether the response is not found, forbidden, redirected or blocked by the browser.
- Ask for the smallest repair appropriate to that evidence.
- Review any file, database or configuration change before approving it.
- Test the original page and direct image request after the correction.
What is a useful prompt?
“After moving this site to HTTPS, these two images no longer display. Please compare their URLs and responses with this working image, inspect the relevant configuration and propose a targeted fix. Do not delete media or run a broad database replacement without showing the scope.”
Should every thumbnail be regenerated immediately?
Not before the cause is known. Regeneration can help when required image sizes are missing, but it does not restore an absent original file or fix an incorrect CDN URL. Large regeneration jobs also consume resources, so plan their scope and preserve needed originals.
What if stored URLs need changing?
Use a serialisation-aware method with a backup and preview. A raw SQL text replacement can damage structured plugin settings. Review the exact old and new strings and the affected tables, especially when several websites share a database.
03 Verify completeness
Check responsive image sizes, galleries, featured images and older content as well as the initial example. Clear relevant caches only after the underlying path is correct. If files were deleted, recover them from a verified backup and confirm their Media Library relationships rather than uploading random replacements with similar filenames.