Title: Debug
Author: SoniNow
Published: 21 April 2017
Last modified: 09 September 2026
---
Search plugins
# Debug
De [SoniNow](https://profiles.wordpress.org/soninow/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/debug.1.14.zip)
* [Details](https://lij.wordpress.org/plugins/debug/#description)
* [Reviews](https://lij.wordpress.org/plugins/debug/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://lij.wordpress.org/plugins/debug/#installation)
* [Development](https://lij.wordpress.org/plugins/debug/#developers)
[Supòrto](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/debug/)
## Description
**Debug** is a development and production tool that helps you find and fix bugs
on your WordPress site (including multisite). It gives you a clean admin panel to
toggle WordPress’s built-in debug constants, read the error log, and receive instant
email notifications when meaningful errors happen — all without editing `wp-config.
php` by hand.
**What it does for you**
* **One-click debug flags** — toggle `WP_DEBUG`, `WP_DEBUG_LOG`, `WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY`,`
SCRIPT_DEBUG` and `SAVEQUERIES` directly from the settings page.
* **Error log viewer** — view, clear and download the tail of your `wp-content/
debug.log` (last 1 MB) right from the admin.
* **Real-time email alerts** — get notified when errors and warnings occur, with
a throttled, level-filtered handler that ignores deprecation notices and suppressed(`@`)
code.
* **Safe wp-config editing** — a timestamped backup is created automatically before
every change, with one-click restore if you ever need to roll back.
**Why you can trust it**
The plugin never lets you download `wp-config.php` (a common credential leak in
older debug plugins). All file access is strictly path-guarded, all admin actions
are protected with nonces and capability checks, and backups let you revert any
change instantly.
#### Frequently Asked Questions
#### Is my wp-config.php safe?
Yes. The plugin creates a timestamped backup of `wp-config.php` before every change,
and the settings page lets you restore any backup with one click. `wp-config.php`
is never downloadable from the browser.
#### Can I use this on a production site?
Yes — and that’s a core use case. Error notifications only fire for meaningful error
levels (errors and warnings), never for deprecation notices. Emails are queued and
throttled so a busy site won’t flood your inbox, and `WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY` is kept
off by default so errors are not shown to visitors.
#### Why am I not getting email notifications?
Make sure **Email Notification** is enabled and a valid address is set, and that`
wp_mail()` works on your host. Only errors and warnings trigger emails (notices
and deprecations are filtered out).
#### The plugin says wp-config.php is not writable. What do I do?
Check your file permissions. Most hosts run with the web user owning `wp-config.
php` (usually `0644`). If the plugin still cannot write it, it shows you the exact
code to paste into `wp-config.php` manually — so you’re never stuck.
#### What does “Error Log” show?
It shows the last 1 MB of `wp-content/debug.log`, so you can inspect recent errors
without loading a huge file. You can clear the log or download it as a plain text
file.
#### Does this work on multisite?
Yes. All settings are stored per-site and the `wp-config.php` edits apply globally,
which is the expected behaviour for network-wide debug toggling.
### Contacts
For support or the development team of the Debug plugin: https://soninow.com/contact
## Screenshots
[⌊Debug configuration settings page.⌉⌊Debug configuration settings page.⌉[
Debug configuration settings page.
[⌊Save settings with success message and auto-created wp-config backup notice.⌉⌊
Save settings with success message and auto-created wp-config backup notice.⌉[
Save settings with success message and auto-created wp-config backup notice.
[⌊wp-config.php manual-paste fallback when the file is not writable.⌉⌊wp-config.
php manual-paste fallback when the file is not writable.⌉[
wp-config.php manual-paste fallback when the file is not writable.
[⌊Debug log file viewer with clear/download actions.⌉⌊Debug log file viewer with
clear/download actions.⌉[
Debug log file viewer with clear/download actions.
[⌊wp-config.php backups list with one-click restore.⌉⌊wp-config.php backups list
with one-click restore.⌉[
wp-config.php backups list with one-click restore.
## Installation
1. Upload the `debug` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`, or install via **Plugins
Add New** in your WordPress admin.
2. Activate the plugin through the **Plugins** menu.
3. Go to **Debug Settings** and configure your preferences.
4. Hit **Save Changes** — a backup of `wp-config.php` is created automatically.
Note: If `wp-config.php` is not writable, the plugin will show you the code to paste
manually.
## Reviews
### [Simple & Great Learning Tool](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/simple-great-learning-tool/)
[Saurabh](https://profiles.wordpress.org/saurabhshukla/) 25 March 2022
It helps get access to a site’s error log, even for lay users without contacting
web hosts or filesystem access. Really useful in debugging in support. Also useful
as a teaching/learning tool for basic technical debugging too.
### [Still Works Great on WP 5.8.2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/still-works-great-on-wp-5-8-2/)
[William](https://profiles.wordpress.org/englishanywhere/) 27 November 2021
Thank you for this great plugin which saves time on backing up wp-config.php and
turning on debug mode. Eliminates mistakes which might otherwise be introduced when
manually changing wp-config.php and allows faster debugging.
### [Still works](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/still-works-188/)
[Maarten B](https://profiles.wordpress.org/maartenbelmans/) 11 October 2020
Even though updates have been a while (at least at the time of writing this), the
plugin still works well and serves its purpose.
### [Просто ужас, а не плагин](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%be%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be-%d1%83%d0%b6%d0%b0%d1%81-%d0%b0-%d0%bd%d0%b5-%d0%bf%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%b3%d0%b8%d0%bd/)
[anna888](https://profiles.wordpress.org/anna888/) 27 February 2020 1 reply
С активацией плагина перекосило весь сайт окончательно. Не помогло даже его удаление
с сайта. Все записи в админке стали из иероглифов. Хорошо, что получилось из резервной
копии на хостинге сайт восстановить, а то слало как то очень хреново от увиденного.
### [Essential part of a debugger’s toolkit](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/essential-part-of-a-debuggers-toolkit/)
[HelgaTheViking](https://profiles.wordpress.org/helgatheviking/) 01 December 2019
1 reply
This plugin has helped me rescue many client sites when they can’t figure out how
to enable WP_DEBUGon their own. I know it hasn’t been updated in forever, but it
is still working for me as of WordPress 5.3.
### [Great Plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-19142/)
[Codebangers](https://profiles.wordpress.org/codebangers/) 13 September 2018
Does exactly what it says. Well done my friend.
[ Read all 11 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/debug/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“Debug” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ SoniNow ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/soninow/)
[Translate “Debug” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/debug)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/debug/), check out
the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/debug/), or subscribe to
the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/debug/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/debug/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.14
* New: full translation support — added `languages/debug.pot` and `load_plugin_textdomain()`(
fixes Plugin Check missing-translation warning).
* New: “Send Test Notification” button on the settings page — verify your email
alert setup works before relying on it in production.
* New: error-log viewer auto-refresh toggle (every 5s) for watching logs live.
* Improved: error handler now registers on `plugins_loaded` for earlier, wider
coverage (catches theme/plugin load-time errors).
* Improved: wp-config backups are now auto-pruned (keeps the latest 10) so the
site root never fills up, and a delete action lets you remove backups individually.
* Cleanup: removed the last inline script (post-save auto-reload) — the page no
longer force-refreshes and wipes admin notices, and the plugin is now 100% CSP-
friendly.
* Fix: wp-config `define()` editing now tolerates multiline/annotated defines (
no more accidental duplicates).
* Cleanup: `README.md` is now excluded from the WordPress.org SVN deploy (Plugin
Check flagged it as root clutter).
* Compatibility: tested up to WordPress 7.1.
#### 1.13
* Security: removed the ability to download `wp-config.php` (full credential leak).
Debug log download now only serves the log via a clean `admin-post.php` endpoint.
* Security: added strict path allowlisting + traversal guards to all file reads/
writes.
* Security: automatic timestamped `wp-config.php` backup before every save + one-
click restore UI.
* Security: error handler now only registers when email notifications are on, filters
out deprecation/notice noise, respects `error_reporting()`, throttles and queues
emails, and chains the previous handler.
* Fix: broken Settings link `href` (missing closing quote) on the plugin list page.
* Fix: `esc_html_e()` misuse replaced with correct escaping.
* Fix: tolerant, case/format-insensitive regex in `debug_add_option` — no more
duplicate `define()` creation.
* Fix: nonce action strings standardized + consistent failure notices.
* Fix: read tail capped to 1 MB.
* Improvements: enqueued CSS instead of inline `