# Rewrite Rules Inspector

Stable tag: 1.6.0  
Requires at least: 6.4  
Tested up to: 6.9  
Requires PHP: 7.4  
License: GPLv2 or later  
Tags: rewrite rules, tools  
Contributors: danielbachhuber, automattic, tmoorewp, garyj

A simple admin tool for inspecting rewrite rules.

## Description

A simple WordPress admin tool for inspecting rewrite rules. View a listing of all your rewrite rules, see which rewrite rules match a given URL (and the priorities they match in), or filter by different sources of rewrite rules. Perform a soft flush of your rewrite rules to regenerate them.

[Developed on GitHub](https://github.com/Automattic/Rewrite-Rules-Inspector/) — pull requests are always welcome. Please leave feedback, questions, bug reports, and feature requests in the GitHub issues.

### Where to find it

Go to `Tools → Rewrite Rules` in the WordPress admin.

### URL Tester

Quickly test any URL (or path) against your site's rewrite rules:

- See whether the URL would be a **404** or which rule would match first (the one WordPress uses).
- View the list of **all matching rules**, in match priority order.
- Inspect the **query variables** extracted from the match and the resulting **final query** WordPress would run.

Works with full URLs or paths and automatically handles sites installed in a subdirectory.

### Permastructs

Browse a table of all **permastructs** that WordPress is aware of, including:

- **Name** — the permastruct key (e.g. for posts, taxonomies, authors).
- **Structure** — the permalink structure pattern used to generate rules.
- **Description** — a human-friendly summary of what the permastruct controls.

### Flush Rules

The "Flush Rules" button allows you to regenerate your site's rewrite rules. Here's exactly what happens when you click it:

#### What the Flush Rules Button Does

When you click the "Flush Rules" button, the following sequence occurs:

1. **Security Check**: The system verifies you have the proper permissions (`manage_options` capability) and validates the security nonce to prevent unauthorized access.

2. **Cache Clearing**: WordPress deletes the cached rewrite rules from the options cache using `wp_cache_delete('rewrite_rules', 'options')`.

3. **Rule Regeneration**: WordPress calls `flush_rewrite_rules(false)` to regenerate all rewrite rules based on:
   - Current permalink structure settings
   - Custom post types and taxonomies
   - Any custom rewrite rules added by themes or plugins

4. **Hook Execution**: The `rri_flush_rules` action hook is fired, allowing other plugins to perform additional cleanup or actions after the flush.

5. **Success Feedback**: You're redirected back to the Rewrite Rules Inspector page with a success message confirming the rules have been flushed.

#### When to Use Flush Rules

Use the "Flush Rules" button when:

- **Missing Rules**: You see rules marked as "missing" (red background) in the inspector
- **Custom URLs Not Working**: Your custom permalinks or post type URLs aren't working properly
- **After Plugin Changes**: You've activated/deactivated plugins that register custom rewrite rules
- **Permalink Structure Changes**: You've modified your site's permalink structure
- **Custom Post Type Issues**: New custom post types or taxonomies aren't generating proper URLs

#### Important Notes

- **Soft Flush**: This performs a "soft" flush (using `flush_rewrite_rules(false)`), which is safer than a hard flush as it doesn't force regeneration of all rules unnecessarily.
- **Permissions Required**: Only users with `manage_options` capability can flush rules.
- **No Data Loss**: Flushing rules doesn't delete any content or settings, it only regenerates the URL routing rules.
- **Immediate Effect**: Changes take effect immediately after flushing.

## Installation

### Install the plugin from within WordPress

1. Visit the Plugins page from your WordPress dashboard and click "Add New" at the top of the page.
1. Search for "rewrite-rules-inspector" using the search bar on the right side.
1. Click "Install Now" to install the plugin.
1. After it's installed, click "Activate" to activate the plugin on your site.

### Install the plugin manually

1. Download the plugin from WordPress.org or get the latest release from our [GitHub Releases page](https://github.com/automattic/Rewrite-Rules-Inspector/releases).
1. Unzip the downloaded archive.
1. Upload the entire `rewrite-rules-inspector` folder to your `/wp-content/plugins` directory.
1. Visit the Plugins page from your WordPress dashboard and look for the newly installed plugin.
1. Click "Activate" to activate the plugin on your site.

## Screenshots

1. See all of the rewrite rules and flush them or download them.  
   ![The main screen showing the rewrite rules](.wordpress-org/screenshot-1.png)

2. Test a URL against the rules to see which one(s) would match, and the priority they would match in.  
   ![Showing the URL test results](.wordpress-org/screenshot-2.png)

3. Limit rules and URL testing results down to specificrule sources.  
   ![Showing the URL test results when no rules from that source match](.wordpress-org/screenshot-3.png)

4. See which permastructs WordPress knows about.  
   ![Showing the permastructs table](.wordpress-org/screenshot-4.png)

## Changelog

See the [change log](https://github.com/automattic/Rewrite-Rules-Inspector/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md).