# WordPress Plugin Monitor: Versions, PHP & Changelogs (`felixgoldwin/wordpress-plugin-release-monitor`) Actor

Track WordPress.org plugin versions, minimum PHP and WordPress requirements, and changelog changes. Compare supplied snapshots for exact before/after evidence. Unchanged observations are billable. No installed-site access, compatibility checks or security testing.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/felixgoldwin/wordpress-plugin-release-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Felix GoldWin](https://apify.com/felixgoldwin) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 plugin observations

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## WordPress Plugin Release Change Monitor

Watch an explicit list of public WordPress.org plugin slugs for changes to published versions, minimum WordPress/PHP requirements, update timestamps and full changelog evidence. Each successful observation includes the exact selected source values, their missing/false/null status, response provenance and a comparison against a caller-supplied complete snapshot.

This Actor reads public directory metadata. It never accesses a WordPress installation, uses credentials, installs plugins or tests compatibility, security, upgrade safety or site behavior. Published minimum requirements are author-supplied metadata, not verified compatibility findings.

### Quick start

Node.js 22 or newer is required.

```sh
npm ci --ignore-scripts
npm test
npm run validate:schema
npm run smoke
```

The smoke command performs two public requests for `akismet` and `hello-dolly` and writes `qa/live-smoke.json`. To run the real Apify SDK entrypoint locally:

```sh
mkdir -p storage/key_value_stores/default
cp examples/input.json storage/key_value_stores/default/INPUT.json
NODE_OPTIONS=--max-old-space-size=128 npm start
```

Results are written to the default dataset and the default key-value store's `OUTPUT` record. Each run uses only its own default storage; it does not open shared named stores or read another user's state.

### Input

```json
{
  "pluginSlugs": ["akismet", "hello-dolly"],
  "maxResults": 2,
  "maxRequests": 4,
  "maxRetries": 1,
  "maxSeconds": 45,
  "maxResponseBytes": 1000000,
  "maxBudgetUsd": 0.01
}
```

`pluginSlugs` is required: 1–25 distinct lowercase directory slugs consisting of letters, digits and internal hyphens. URLs, credentials, site inventories, wildcards and arbitrary endpoints are rejected. The watchlist is sorted before hashing, so reordering the same slugs preserves scope. Locale is fixed to `en_US`.

| Bound | Default | Hard maximum |
|---|---:|---:|
| Plugin slugs / result rows | 25 | 25 |
| HTTP attempts including retries | 40 | 100 |
| Retries per plugin | 2 | 3 |
| Source scan time | 90 seconds | 300 seconds |
| One source response | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| Total response bytes | 8 MB | 8 MB |
| Raw changelog per plugin | 64 KiB | 64 KiB |
| Retained snapshot items | 1 MB | 1 MB |
| Total JSON input | 2.5 MB | 2.5 MB |
| Input event budget | $0.25 | $20 |

Processing is sequential. An attempt has a deadline of at most 15 seconds within the overall scan deadline. Retries apply only to network errors, HTTP 429 and selected 5xx statuses. `Retry-After` is honored if it fits the remaining deadline. Redirects, 401/403 and other non-200 statuses stop the scan; no proxy or access workaround is used. This single-plugin action has no pagination: the explicit slug list is the complete requested scope. A result cap below its size creates an incomplete scan.

The deployment memory default is 256 MB, with a 256–1024 MB selectable range. See `QA.md` for measured local RSS and the limits of that measurement. The internal scan deadline and byte limits apply regardless of the selected platform timeout.

### Output and comparisons

Each dataset row contains `slug`, `evidence`, `provenance`, `pluginUrl`, `scopeKey`, `completeScan`, `change` and `interpretation`. `.actor/dataset_schema.json` describes and validates the actual row fields.

`evidence.version`, `minimumWordPress` and `minimumPHP` keep `{value, raw, present}`. An absent API field, explicit null and explicit false remain distinct; `value` is null when no nonempty published string exists. No PHP or WordPress minimum is guessed. `lastUpdated` keeps the raw timestamp and reports whether the explicitly supported date format parsed successfully.

`evidence.changelog.rawHtml` keeps the complete selected source HTML. Its raw hash detects formatting changes as source changes. `text` is decoded plain text with script/style and embedded content excluded; `textSha256` tracks this normalization. Nothing is shortened. Oversized changelogs fail the scan. Raw HTML is untrusted source text: do not execute it or render it as trusted HTML. The dataset table uses text fields and does not render this HTML.

`provenance` includes the exact official API query, observation time, HTTP status, complete response byte count and SHA-256. Response hashes may change because of unselected source fields; comparisons use selected evidence, not the whole-response hash. No author/contact fields are selected for output.

Always read `OUTPUT.diagnostics.completeScan` **and** `deliveryComplete` before using a snapshot. A pending-delivery record with no reusable snapshot is saved before dataset publication. Failed or short publication clears comparison and snapshot output. Individual row `completeScan` describes the source scan, while the OUTPUT record is authoritative for the entire delivered run.

On the first complete run, `OUTPUT.comparison.status` is `baseline`. Save `OUTPUT.previousSnapshot` and pass that exact object as `previousSnapshot` on the next run. Complete equal evidence produces `unchanged`; differences produce `observed_metadata_change` with changed field names, exact before/after evidence and both provenance records. All successful plugin observations produce rows, including unchanged observations.

Snapshots are isolated by the full watchlist, source, locale and parser version. Validation rejects incomplete, oversized, duplicated, forged/noncanonical or differently scoped state. Caller-supplied historical provenance cannot be authenticated independently; retain snapshots from your own trusted runs.

A missing plugin, failed request or partial scan yields no removals or change assertions and no reusable snapshot. If a previously known version, minimum requirement or changelog becomes unknown, the comparison is conservatively suppressed as `known_evidence_became_unknown`. This could be a valid source edit or a source/parser problem; review it and omit `previousSnapshot` to establish a deliberate fresh baseline. No “plugin removed” conclusion is inferred.

`examples/output.json` and `examples/changed-output.json` are deterministic synthetic fixture examples. Actual bounded live evidence is in `qa/live-smoke.json` and `qa/sdk-live-OUTPUT.json` when generated.

### Approved listing pricing and controls

The user-approved listing price is **$0.001 per `plugin-observation`** plus **$0.005 per automatic `apify-actor-start` unit**. This is an approved custom start price; Apify's documented default is $0.00005. A start unit covers allocated memory up to 1 GB, then one unit per additional GB. This Actor never manually charges the synthetic start event.

One paid observation means one accessible metadata row, whether baseline, unchanged or changed. Errors do not create paid dataset rows. At the approved prices, 25 observations at the default memory allocation cost $0.030 in event charges; two observations cost $0.007. These are estimates, not account configuration or verified platform invoices. The approved listing rate reflects a bounded one-request metadata observation with retained evidence; it has not been benchmarked against live platform costs.

In PPE mode the runtime reads actual configured event prices, counts already charged events, reserves any pending automatic-start difference and applies the smaller of the platform and input event limits. Positive automatic default-dataset pricing is rejected to prevent double billing alongside the custom event. Free events and zero budgets have explicit handling. Work and pushes stop before another event would exceed a known cap. A custom event-count delta verifies publication; the SDK's aggregate `chargedCount` can be two for one row because of a free synthetic dataset event.

Outside PPE mode, the input budget uses the approved listing rates as a conservative work bound and does not create event charges. The input budget cannot reverse an automatic start fee charged before the program begins. Configure the platform run cap and pricing minimum before launch. Any separately configured platform usage charges are outside this event-only estimate. See `PUBLISHING.md`; no prices are configured by these files.

### Source and limitations

The official [WordPress `plugins_api()` reference](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/plugins_api/) documents the `plugin_information` action, slug argument, requirement fields and sections. Its current core source uses `https://api.wordpress.org/plugins/info/1.2/`. This Actor uses that fixed HTTPS endpoint and does not fetch arbitrary plugin or publisher websites.

An observation captures what that endpoint supplied at that time. It does not promise real-time source updates, historical completeness, plugin availability on a particular site, or tested compatibility. See `NOTICE.md` and `QA.md`. Cloud build and controlled Apify runs were verified on 2026-10-11 at 256 MB. Baseline and same-scope unchanged runs each delivered two observations with complete scans and delivery. A $0.005 platform event cap made no source requests and emitted no rows; an exact $0.006 cap delivered one observation. The platform recorded one automatic start plus the expected custom events, with no paid default-dataset event. Owner testing incurred platform usage rather than customer event invoices; customer payment settlement and every maximum-size workload remain unverified. Original QA.md records local build-stage evidence; these cloud checks extend that dated record.

# Actor input Schema

## `pluginSlugs` (type: `array`):

1–25 exact lowercase plugin directory slugs, e.g. akismet. No site URLs, credentials or installed-plugin inventory.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

1–25 output rows. A smaller cap than the watchlist makes the scan incomplete.

## `maxRequests` (type: `integer`):

All requests and retries count. Processing is sequential.

## `maxRetries` (type: `integer`):

Retry only network errors, 429 and selected 5xx responses. Access denials and redirects stop the scan.

## `maxSeconds` (type: `integer`):

Overall source scan deadline, including retry delays.

## `maxResponseBytes` (type: `integer`):

Per-response byte limit. Hard total response cap is 8 MB and full changelogs above 64 KiB fail safely.

## `maxBudgetUsd` (type: `number`):

Conservative input cap including automatic start fee and already charged events. Uses actual platform prices in PPE mode, provisional rates locally. Set platform maximum charge too; automatic starts precede code execution.

## `previousSnapshot` (type: `object`):

Paste OUTPUT.previousSnapshot from a completed run of this exact watchlist/parser. Strict validation, 1 MB retained-item limit. Omit for a fresh baseline after reviewing unknown evidence.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "pluginSlugs": [
    "akismet",
    "hello-dolly"
  ],
  "maxResults": 25,
  "maxRequests": 40,
  "maxRetries": 2,
  "maxSeconds": 90,
  "maxResponseBytes": 1000000,
  "maxBudgetUsd": 0.25
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `observations` (type: `string`):

No description

## `diagnostics` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "pluginSlugs": [
        "akismet",
        "hello-dolly"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("felixgoldwin/wordpress-plugin-release-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "pluginSlugs": [
        "akismet",
        "hello-dolly",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("felixgoldwin/wordpress-plugin-release-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "pluginSlugs": [
    "akismet",
    "hello-dolly"
  ]
}' |
apify call felixgoldwin/wordpress-plugin-release-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,felixgoldwin/wordpress-plugin-release-monitor"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/vGyHd26MReOsIQsBt/builds/Gl8rhZpZaxqGTDaRO/openapi.json