From the WP Debug Toolkit (WPDT) Overview page, click Record in the Database Queries panel, enable Enable shareable URL, then click Generate URL. WP Debug Toolkit (WPDT) copies the URL to your clipboard automatically. When the developer visits it, WPDT starts capturing the database queries from their page loads without them having to log in to wp admin. If you enabled Allow recording download, they can save the captured data as JSON, CSV, or TSV when the recording finishes.
When a developer needs to investigate a database performance issue on your site, the standard path requires either giving them WordPress admin access or manually capturing and exporting query data yourself. The shareable recording URL removes both constraints.
WPDT generates a cryptographically secure, time-limited URL as part of the Query Recording and Shareable URLs feature. When the developer opens it, the URL triggers a recording session on your site. WPDT captures the database queries from their page loads to a dedicated log file.
If you enable the download option, the developer retrieves the results directly from the recording status page when the session completes, without ever accessing your WordPress admin or your Viewer App. The 64-character token in the URL is the only credential required.
This feature is part of the Query module and requires a license that includes the Query module.
Navigate to WP Debug Toolkit in your WordPress admin. On the Overview page, click anywhere on the Database Queries panel to expand it, then click the Record button in the panel header. The Record Queries dialog opens.
Configure the following options:
Click Generate URL.
✅ What You Should See: The Shareable URL Ready dialog appears. WPDT automatically copies the URL to your clipboard, and it is also visible in a code block inside the dialog. Click Dismiss when done.
Send the URL to the developer by email, Slack, or any other channel. The URL takes this form:
https://yoursite.com/?wpdt-record=1&secret=[64-character-token]
When the developer opens the URL, WPDT renders two sequential standalone pages, neither of which requires the recipient to be logged in to WordPress or have Viewer App access.
Get Ready page: WPDT first validates the token and shows the configured recording duration as text (“Recording will capture queries for [N]s”). A brief 3-2-1 countdown plays, then the page automatically redirects to start the recording. This countdown is a short preparation window, not a timer for the recording duration itself.
Recording status page: After the countdown, WPDT starts the recording session. The page displays a live countdown timer and the heading “Recording in Progress,” along with a scrolling feed styled to look like a query log. This feed is illustrative only and does not reflect the queries actually being captured. The developer should navigate to the pages on your site relevant to the investigation during this window. WPDT writes the real, captured queries to a dedicated log file, available only through the download at the end of the recording.
Completion: When the timer reaches zero, the heading changes to “Recording Complete.” If Allow recording download was enabled, the developer sees JSON, CSV, and TSV download buttons and can save the log file locally in their preferred format.
The developer never gets to access your WordPress admin, your Viewer App, or any other WPDT data. Their access is scoped entirely to the recording session linked by that token.
🔀 Decision Point: If the URL has expired by the time the developer tries to visit it, they see a “This recording link has expired” error. You can generate a new URL for them from the Record Queries dialog and resend it. WPDT cleans up expired tokens automatically. If Allow recording download was enabled and the recording completed before the URL expired, the download link continues to work for 24 hours after the URL’s expiry time, giving the developer a window to retrieve the captured data even if they were delayed.
No. The 64-character cryptographic token embedded in the URL is the only authentication required. The developer does not need a WordPress account, a WPDT license, or a Viewer App password. Possessing the URL is sufficient to trigger the recording and, if enabled, download the captured query data.
The minimum URL expiry is 1 hour (3,600 seconds); the maximum is 30 days. You set the duration in the Record Queries dialog before generating the URL. Once the URL expires, it displays an error to the developer. If you enabled download and the recording completed before expiry, the download link remains available for an additional 24 hours after the URL’s expiry time.
Recording WordPress Database Queries – Start, time, and stop a Query Logger recording session before you generate a shareable URL.
Filtering and Searching Recorded Queries – Narrow the recording to only the relevant queries before handing the download to the developer.
