Free WordPress plugin

Nineteen checks against your stack. AI reads the findings and tells you the three things to fix first. Branded PDF when you need to hand it to a client.

What it does

You click Run Scan. The plugin runs nineteen checks across PHP runtime, database, plugin and theme stack, caching, background jobs, and safety. Every check returns pass, warn, fail, or info — with a summary and a specific recommendation.

AI then reads the whole scan and writes the verdict at the top of the dashboard: one-sentence headline, two sentences of stack-aware context, three ranked priorities. The work week, not the wiki.

Export the whole thing as a PDF when you need to hand it to a client.

What it checks

Nineteen deterministic checks. No third-party calls except the AI verdict — and that only fires when you click scan.

Environment. PHP version against the support calendar, memory limit, max execution, recommended extensions, OPcache status and hit rate, server load.

Database. Autoload bloat with the worst offenders named, transient overhead, table sizes, post revision count.

Stack. Plugin and theme inventory, the conflict patterns I see most often in the field, plugins running below their declared PHP or WordPress requirements.

Caching. Object cache and page cache detection across the common plugins, including the difference between “installed” and “actually doing work.”

Background. WP-cron health, stuck and overdue events.

Safety. Directory indexing, default salts, file permissions, core integrity against WordPress.org checksums.

Bring your own Claude API key

Triage uses Claude to read the scan output and write the verdict. To keep the plugin free and the data path clean, you bring your own key. Nothing routes through me.

A typical scan costs less than a cent of Claude usage. The key is stored on your site, or set via the ASKSABER_TRIAGE_API_KEY wp-config constant for env-driven deployments. It leaves your server only when you click Run Scan, or when a scheduled scan fires. Not on every page load.

I never see your scan data. I never see your key. I never see anything about your site.

If you don’t want to use AI, skip the key. The deterministic scan still runs. You just won’t get the verdict at the top.

Who this is for

Operators who triage WordPress sites for a living, or who own a site that matters enough to need a regular health check. People who’d rather have a one-page priority list than a 47-tab Lighthouse report.

If you’ve inherited a WordPress site from a previous developer and don’t know what you’ve got, run the scan — it gives you the lay of the land in 60 seconds.

If you maintain client sites, hand them the PDF. They get a professional artifact; you spent five minutes generating it.

What this isn’t

Not a security scanner. Not a malware detector. Not a Lighthouse replacement. Not a hosting recommendation engine.

Triage is the diagnostic layer — what’s working, what isn’t, what to address first. The fixing is the next step. That’s covered separately, below.

How it fits with the rest

Triage is the family at AskSaber. The plugin runs the checks. The article on triaging a slow WordPress site walks through the method I use under pressure. The Performance Triage Playbook is the full reference — every category the plugin scans, every fix worth knowing, in 101 pages.

They’re designed to fit together. When the plugin says “autoload is 4.2 MB across 387 options,” the Playbook tells you which options are usually the culprits and how to clear them without breaking the site.

Get the plugin

Drop your email, I’ll send the download link.

You’ll also get The dispatch — one email a week on WordPress and AI for serious operators. No fluff, no SEO bait. Unsubscribe in one click.

Requirements

WordPress 6.2 or higher. Tested through 6.9.

PHP 8.0 or higher. PHP 8.2+ recommended.

An Anthropic API key if you want the AI verdict. Optional.

FAQ

Does Triage send my site’s data to AskSaber?

No. The scan runs entirely on your server. The only outbound call is to Claude’s API, which you authorise with your own key. It sees only the scan findings — not your content, users, or credentials. I operate no proxy and store nothing.

What if I don’t want to use AI?

Skip the API key. You get the full nineteen-check scan, every finding card, every recommendation. You just don’t get the verdict at the top. Most of the value is in the deterministic part.

Will running scans slow down my site?

Scans are manual or scheduled — they don’t fire on page loads. A scan takes one to three seconds, plus five to fifteen seconds for the AI verdict when enabled. The scan reads from the database but doesn’t write to it. Findings are cached for an hour after each run.

How does the scheduled scan work?

WP-cron. Enable scheduling in settings, pick daily, weekly, or monthly, set a recipient email. The scan fires on schedule and emails a digest with the verdict and the findings that need attention.

If your site has very low traffic, WP-cron may not fire reliably. The plugin’s own cron health check will tell you when that’s happening. The fix is the standard one — disable WP-cron and run real server cron.

Can I share the PDF with a client?

Yes. That’s what the Export to PDF button is for. The PDF leads with the AI verdict, then every finding grouped by category, with status pills and recommendations. Designed to be shared as-is.

How do I uninstall cleanly?

Deactivate and delete from the WordPress plugins screen. Triage clears its options, transients, and cron events on uninstall. No leftover rows.

Is the source available?

GPLv2. The download is the code that runs on your site. No obfuscation. No phone-home. No licence server.

Going deeper

The Performance Triage Playbook — the full reference behind the plugin. 101 pages. Specific fixes, configurations, decision rules. For the operator doing the work themselves.

The Saber Audit — I run Triage on your site myself, dig into what it flags, deliver a written remediation plan and an implementation estimate. Two weeks. Fixed price. For when you’d rather have someone else look first.

Why I built it

I was tired of running the same manual diagnostic checks on every site I touched. After the hundredth time pasting an autoload query into wp-cli, I wrote the check. After the hundredth time eyeballing transient bloat, I wrote that one too. Then I let Claude prioritize what it found.

This is the AskSaber thesis applied to my own tooling. AI doesn’t replace twelve years of WordPress pattern recognition. It compounds it. The free plugin is what compounding looks like, packaged.

— Saber