Site Add-on Watchdog vs SiteSkite MCP AI – Connector for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor & WordPress WebOps

Site Add-on Watchdog keeps an eye on your site’s plugins and warns you when: Your installed version is two or more minor releases behind the directory build. The official changelog mentions security or vulnerability fixes. (Optional) WPScan lists open CVEs for the plugin when you provide your own API key. The plugin runs on a schedule you control—choose daily, weekly, a twenty-minute testing cadence, or rely on manual scans—and stores results locally. To compare public versions and changelogs, Watchdog sends one plugin slug at a time to WordPress.org and caches the response. WPScan lookups and outgoing notifications remain opt-in. Privacy first Risk processing and storage stay on your site; Watchdog does not send telemetry, site content, or user data. WordPress.org receives one request for each installed plugin slug so Watchdog can retrieve public version and changelog data. WPScan receives one plugin-slug lookup at a time only when you add your personal API token. Notification channels are opt-in and send the detected plugin risks to the destinations you configure. External services Watchdog uses the following external services under the stated conditions: WordPress.org Plugin API (required for directory comparisons): During a scan, Watchdog sends each installed plugin slug separately to retrieve its public version and changelog. No site content or user data is included. See the WordPress.org service and privacy policy. WPScan API (optional): When you save a WPScan API token, Watchdog sends that token as authorization and submits one plugin slug at a time to retrieve vulnerability records. See WPScan, its terms, and the applicable Automattic privacy policy. Notification destinations (optional): When you enable Email, Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or a custom webhook, Watchdog sends the alert to the address you configure. Alerts can include plugin names, installed and available versions, risk or vulnerability details, and links back to your WordPress administration area. Those transmissions are governed by your mail provider or destination service; review the applicable policies for Discord (privacy), Slack (privacy), or Microsoft (privacy). Admin tools Focused dashboard with risk summaries, searchable history, delivery health, and manual actions. Ignore list to suppress noisy plugins. Validated notification settings with a save-and-test action for every channel. Notifications Email: send to one or more recipients separated by commas, semicolons, or spaces; site administrators are always included. Discord: post to a channel via webhook. Slack: connect via an incoming webhook to post alerts into any workspace channel. Microsoft Teams: send notices through Teams Workflows or an existing Incoming Webhook connector. Generic webhook: post JSON payload to any endpoint you control, with optional HMAC signatures. Failed deliveries are logged and highlighted on the Watchdog admin screen so you can reconfigure or resend manually. Troubleshooting Scheduled scans are not running Watchdog relies on WP-Cron to trigger scheduled scans and notifications. If you have set DISABLE_WP_CRON to true or your site receives very little traffic (so WP-Cron rarely runs), configure a system cron job to call either wp-cron.php or the plugin’s REST endpoint. The admin Delivery health panel shows the endpoint and generated secret. Send the secret in an HTTP header so it does not appear in access logs; a typical example looks like this: curl -X POST -H "X-Watchdog-Cron-Key: YOUR_GENERATED_SECRET" https://example.com/wp-json/site-add-on-watchdog/v1/cron Testing-mode notifications also rely on this trigger, so be sure your cron job is running when validating delivery. CLI Usage Watchdog bundles a WP-CLI command so you can run scans outside of the WordPress admin. All examples below assume the command is executed from a shell where wp (WP-CLI) is available. wp watchdog scan [--notify= ] --notify (optional): Accepts true or false (defaults to true). When set to false, Watchdog will skip any configured email or webhook notifications and only record the scan locally. Examples: Run a scan and send notifications (default): wp watchdog scan Run a scan silently (skip notifications): wp watchdog scan --notify=false Recommended workflow: on CI/CD platforms, add a job step that boots your WordPress/WP-CLI container, runs pending database migrations if needed, and then calls wp watchdog scan --notify=false to verify the plugin state without spamming production channels. Promote to production by rerunning the same command with notifications enabled when you are ready to alert your team. Development The development repository is available on GitHub: https://github.com/happyloa/site-add-on-watchdog. Clone it locally to review the source or run the test suite.

SiteSkite is a WebOps for WordPress built for agencies, developers, and site owners who manage one site or many. Connect your sites for backups, updates, monitoring, sandboxes, and team workflows — and, with SiteSkite AI, edit a live WordPress site using assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor. Live on-site edits with WordPress AI do not use SiteSkite AI Site Studio credits. Whether you manage 1 site or 100+, SiteSkite simplifies WordPress maintenance and scales with your workflow. Important: SiteSkite only manages your website after you connect it with a secure API key. Plugin installs, activations, and maintenance actions are initiated from your SiteSkite account so you stay in control. What SiteSkite Helps You Do ✔️ Manage multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard ✔️ Automate backups and restore anytime ✔️ Edit live sites with AI (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) via SiteSkite MCP ✔️ Choose Off, WordPress AI, or Platform AI per linked site ✔️ Create pages, menus, forms, and page-builder layouts with WordPress AI ✔️ Privacy-minded SiteSkite AI Chat for portal workflows ✔️ Advanced Site Recovery: keep working even after many fatal errors ✔️ Snapshot and incremental backups ✔️ Create blueprints for rapid deployment ✔️ Launch sandbox sites ✔️ Spin up new sites from existing backups (on SiteSkite servers) ✔️ Store backups in your own cloud (bring your own storage) ✔️ Vulnerability detection guard ✔️ Monitor uptime and site health across all sites ✔️ Bulk update, activate, deactivate, and delete plugins/themes ✔️ Roll back plugin and theme versions safely ✔️ Add team members and organize sites into workspaces ✔️ WP Canvas tools (maintenance mode, debug, search & replace, indexing, WP Reset, and more) ✔️ Manage WP admin users and roles ✔️ Track Core Web Vitals performance ✔️ Install curated plugin presets with WP Essentials ✔️ White-label the plugin for agency clients ✔️ Automated reports for your customers ✔️ Clear views for error, debug, and custom logs ✔️ and much more… Built to simplify workflows and scale your WordPress operations without stress. Get started in minutes. SiteSkite AI & MCP (new in 2.1.0) Connect once at https://mcp.siteskite.com, sign in with your SiteSkite account, and use Quick Connect for Claude or ChatGPT (Cursor and other clients supported too). This gives your assistant the whole platform — every connected site, plus backups, sandboxes, and logs. No account? SiteSkite MCP is free to use without one. Open SiteSkite → AI MCP → Connect in wp-admin and connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor straight to this one site. No sign-up, no API key, nothing metered. You approve each app in your own WordPress admin and can cut it off there at any time. Sign in later and the same connector gains the platform tools and the rest of your sites. Per site, pick how AI works: – Off — AI will not change that site – WordPress AI — edit the live website (pages, menus, forms, Gutenberg, Elementor, WPBakery, and more) – Platform AI — SiteSkite portal tools (backups, sandboxes, AI Site Studio, and more) Only one mode can be active at a time. With WordPress AI you can: – Create, edit, and publish pages – Install and toggle plugins – Edit with the WordPress block editor (keep the Block Editor Queue page open while the assistant works) – Build Elementor and WPBakery layouts – Manage menus and add images from a URL – List forms and create Contact Form 7 forms You stay in control: – Turn individual AI actions on or off in Abilities – Switch Advanced Power Tools off if you would rather withhold deeper server-side actions (PHP, WP-CLI, files) – Add site notes in Context so the AI follows your preferences – Use Skills (ready-made playbooks) for Gutenberg, Elementor, WPBakery, and more Key Features Backups, Restore, Site Migrate/Clone Stay in control of your site backups: – On-demand, daily, or weekly backups – Full, database-only, or file-only backups – Incremental backups (resource-efficient) – Classic snapshot backups (full archive) – Restore with a click – Migrate or clone a site from Server A to Server B BYO Cloud Storage Use your own cloud storage, including: – Google Drive – Dropbox – AWS S3 – Backblaze B2 – pCloud Bring your own AI model Use your preferred AI where the platform supports it: – ChatGPT – Claude – Other supported models Connect Claude, ChatGPT & Cursor (MCP) One SiteSkite connection for everyday use Quick Connect for Claude and ChatGPT WordPress AI for live site edits; Platform AI for portal tools No per-site config files required for normal users Free to use, and works without a SiteSkite account if you only want the AI connector Bulk WordPress Actions Update plugins, themes, and core Activate, deactivate, or delete plugins and themes Rollback plugin and theme versions Install bulk plugins from presets Built-in Native Features Maintenance Mode WP Debug Search & Replace Permalink settings WP Reset Site indexing toggle Performance & Monitoring Uptime monitoring BirdEye status overview Core Web Vitals metrics Collaboration & Scaling Workspaces to group sites and clients Add users, team members, and clients White-label plugin branding Marketplace Browse tools, presets, and digital assets Wishlist and follow sellers 1GB free space Enjoy free cloud storage for your site backups Learn More Website: SiteSkite.com Documentation: Knowledgebase Who is SiteSkite for? WordPress website owners Agencies managing client sites Freelancers and developers Hosting providers offering WP upkeep Anyone who wants peace of mind and automation External services This plugin connects to external services to perform backups, restores, and operational callbacks. Below is a list of services, what they are used for, what data is sent, and relevant policies. Dropbox What it’s used for: Uploading and downloading backup archives to the site owner’s Dropbox. What data is sent and when: Backup file contents and related metadata (e.g., file name and size) during backup and restore operations initiated by the administrator. Endpoints: https://content.dropboxapi.com, https://api.dropboxapi.com Policies: Terms https://www.dropbox.com/terms · Privacy https://www.dropbox.com/privacy Google Drive What it’s used for: Uploading and downloading backup archives to the site owner’s Google Drive. What data is sent and when: Backup file contents and related metadata during backup and restore operations initiated by the administrator. Endpoints: https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files and related upload endpoints such as https://www.googleapis.com/upload/drive/v3/files (resumable/multipart uploads). Policies: Terms https://policies.google.com/terms · Privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy Amazon S3 What it’s used for: Uploading and downloading backup archives to the site owner’s Amazon S3 bucket. What data is sent and when: Backup file contents and related metadata during backup and restore operations initiated by the administrator. Endpoints: Region-specific S3 REST API (e.g., https://s3. .amazonaws.com). Policies: Service Terms https://aws.amazon.com/service-terms/ · Privacy https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/ Backblaze B2 What it’s used for: Uploading and downloading backup archives to the site owner’s Backblaze B2 bucket. What data is sent and when: Backup file contents and related metadata during backup and restore operations initiated by the administrator. Endpoints: Backblaze B2 API (e.g., https://api.backblazeb2.com). Policies: Terms https://www.backblaze.com/company/legal/terms.html · Privacy https://www.backblaze.com/company/privacy.html pCloud What it’s used for: Uploading and downloading backup archives to the site owner’s pCloud storage. What data is sent and when: Backup file contents and related metadata during backup and restore operations initiated by the administrator. Endpoints: pCloud API (e.g., https://api.pcloud.com) and regional variants such as https://eapi.pcloud.com (EU) and https://asiaapi.pcloud.com (Asia). OAuth token exchange: https://my.pcloud.com/oauth2_token. Policies: Terms https://www.pcloud.com/terms.html · Privacy https://www.pcloud.com/privacy-policy.html SiteSkite endpoints (operational callbacks and validation) What it’s used for: Validating the plugin API key, linking a site, downloading managed assets, and sending operational status callbacks to SiteSkite services. Some staging endpoints may be used for validation or asset download during testing. When AI / MCP features are used, the SiteSkite platform may coordinate ability requests to this linked site using your Connect API key. What data is sent and when: Site identifier and operation status metadata (e.g., backup/restore status) during validation and callbacks. For asset downloads, only the requested asset path is transmitted. Backup contents are never sent to SiteSkite; only selected metadata required to coordinate operations. Policies: Terms https://www.siteskite.com/terms-of-service · Privacy https://www.siteskite.com/privacy-policy WordPress.org (downloads) What it’s used for: Downloading official WordPress core translation files when requested by an administrator. What data is sent and when: The request URL includes the WordPress core version and language code to retrieve the matching translation archive; no personal data is sent. Endpoints: https://downloads.wordpress.org/translation/core/ / .zip Policies: Terms https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ · Privacy https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/ Notes: – Data is transmitted only when you initiate an action that requires it (e.g., starting a backup/restore, validating your API key, or downloading translations). – You choose and configure the cloud storage provider(s) to be used.