Rewrite Rules Inspector

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 — 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.

Technical details