Managing the viewer app

WP Debug Toolkit (WPDT) provides controls to install, remove, repair, and redeploy the standalone viewer. You can manage the viewer from the WordPress admin dashboard or through WP-CLI.

Installing the viewer

From the admin dashboard

Go to Debug Toolkit > Settings > Viewer. The setup wizard walks you through:

1. Setting a viewer password (minimum 8 characters)
2. Choosing the viewer URL (defaults to wpdebugtoolkit)
3. Confirming the installation

WPDT copies the viewer files to your web root (e.g., /wpdebugtoolkit/), generates config.php with your site’s paths, and writes the password hash to auth.php.

WP-CLI

wp dbtk viewer setup --password=your-secure-password

This runs the same installation process non-interactively. The viewer is ready to use at the URL shown in the output.

Removing the viewer

From the admin dashboard

Go to Debug Toolkit > Settings > Viewer and click Remove Viewer. This deletes the viewer directory from the web root.

Removal does not delete plugin settings or the saved password from the WordPress database. If you reinstall later, WPDT can reuse the existing password.

WP-CLI

wp dbtk viewer remove

Repairing permissions

After a server migration, hosting change, or manual file transfer, the viewer directory may have incorrect file permissions. This can cause 403 errors or prevent the API from reading log files.

Go to Debug Toolkit > Settings > Viewer and click Repair Viewer. WPDT resets permissions across the viewer directory:

• Directories: 0755
• Files: 0644

This matches the standard WordPress file permission scheme.

Redeploying after a plugin update

When you update the WPDT plugin, the viewer files on the web root may be outdated. The React app, api.php, and supporting PHP files in the plugin package may include bug fixes, new features, or security patches that the deployed copy does not have.

To update the deployed viewer, simply reinstall the app from the WP Debug Toolkit > Overview Page. WPDT copies fresh files to the web root.

Checking viewer status

WP-CLI

wp dbtk viewer status

Example output:

+-------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Field             | Value                                      |
+-------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Installed         | Yes                                        |
| URL               | https://example.com/wpdebugtoolkit/        |
| Password set      | Yes                                        |
+-------------------+--------------------------------------------+

This shows whether the viewer is installed, its URL, and whether password protection is configured.

Site Health integration

WPDT adds a viewer permissions check to WP Debug Toolkit > Site’s Health. The check verifies that the viewer directory exists and has correct file permissions. If permissions are wrong, Site Health reports the issue with a recommendation to use the Repair Viewer function.