Plugin Check (PCP)

What is Plugin Check (PCP)?

Plugin Check (PCP) is an official WordPress.org tool for testing whether your plugin meets the directory’s required standards. Developed and maintained by the WordPress.org team for 15 years, it runs the same checks used for new plugin submissions. With 10K+ active installs and a 4.5/5 rating from 35 reviews (80% five-star), it is the go-to resource for plugin authors aiming for directory approval.

The plugin flags violations around development best practices, covering basic requirements like correct internationalization functions through to accessibility, performance, and security. You can run these checks via the WP Admin interface (Tools > Plugin Check) or through WP-CLI using the wp plugin check command. While not a replacement for manual review, Plugin Check speeds up the approval process and helps you avoid common mistakes — even if you never intend to host your plugin on WordPress.org.

Key Features of Plugin Check (PCP)

• AI-Powered Plugin Namer Tool — Evaluates plugin names for similarity to existing plugins, trademark conflicts, and compliance with naming guidelines, requiring WordPress 7.0+ and configured AI connectors.
• AI-Assisted Check Reviews — When enabled, AI analysis provides additional context for flagged issues, helping developers understand and resolve errors faster.
• Category-Based Check Customization — Groups checks into accessibility, performance, security, and plugin-best-practices categories so you can run only the relevant tests.
• Static and Runtime Checks — Supports both static code analysis by default and runtime checks via a WP-CLI workaround using the --require argument.
• Remote Plugin Testing — Check plugins from arbitrary URLs or file paths using WP-CLI, enabling pre-submission validation of external packages.
• GitHub-Driven Development — All development, issue tracking, and pull requests are handled openly on GitHub, ensuring community transparency and rapid fixes.
• Non-Plugin Author Support — Even custom plugin developers benefit from the tool’s best-practice checks, improving code quality across all WordPress sites.

Who Should Use Plugin Check (PCP)?

Plugin Check is essential for plugin authors submitting to the WordPress.org directory. Whether you are a beginner submitting your first plugin or a seasoned developer maintaining a portfolio of 50 plugins, the tool runs the same automated checks used by the review team. With 80% of reviewers awarding five stars, the plugin is trusted by those who need a reliable wordpress plugin best practices checker before hitting “submit.”

The tool also serves developers building private or custom plugins. Even if your code never reaches the directory, using Plugin Check ensures your plugin follows base requirements and works across varied hosting environments. The AI-powered Plugin Namer is especially valuable for authors concerned about naming conflicts — it checks against existing plugins and trademark databases, a feature growing in importance as the directory expands.

Installation & Setup

Installing Plugin Check is straightforward for any WordPress user. From your admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Add New, search for “Plugin Check,” then install and activate. For manual installation, upload the plugin-check folder to /wp-content/plugins/ and activate from the Plugins screen. The plugin requires WordPress 6.3+ and PHP 7.4+, making it compatible with the vast majority of modern sites. No complex configuration is needed — after activation, visit Tools > Plugin Check to begin testing.

Support & Community

Support data shows a mixed picture. In the last two months, the plugin has 1 open support thread and 0 resolved threads, yielding a 0% resolution rate. This low volume suggests most users find the tool self-explanatory, but unresolved issues could frustrate those encountering false positives. The plugin’s 6% one-star rating likely reflects these edge cases, though the 80% five-star share indicates strong overall satisfaction.

The development team encourages users to report false positives on the GitHub repository. For certain PHPCodeSniffer-based detections, you can annotate your code to ignore specific line-level warnings. The community is active on GitHub, where pull requests and issues are addressed promptly. Given the plugin’s 15-year history and official status, long-term support is guaranteed — even if the thread resolution rate needs improvement.