# YahnisElsts/plugin-update-checker

A custom update checker for WordPress plugins. Useful if you don't want to host your project in the official WP repository, but would still like it to support automatic updates. Despite the name, it also works with themes.

Repository: https://github.com/YahnisElsts/plugin-update-checker
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/plugin-update-checker
Language: PHP
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: wordpress, wordpress-development
Last push: 2026-06-03T08:43:13+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 85, release rhythm 54, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5048, "days_push": 91, "days_rel": 99, "gap_med": 292.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2560, forks 438 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:00.921059+00:00)

## What it is
A PHP library that adds custom automatic update checking to WordPress plugins and themes hosted outside the official WordPress.org repository. It supports self-hosted JSON metadata files as well as GitHub, GitLab, and BitBucket releases, and surfaces updates through the standard WordPress upgrade UI.

## Use cases
- add automatic updates to a commercial WordPress plugin
- enable update notifications for a private WordPress theme
- serve plugin updates from my own server instead of WordPress.org
- release WordPress plugin updates directly from a GitHub repository
- implement a license-key-gated update system for premium plugins
- make a self-hosted WordPress plugin behave like one hosted on WordPress.org

## When to choose
- you distribute WordPress plugins or themes outside the official repository
- you want one-click upgrades using the familiar native WordPress update UI
- you host your code on GitHub, GitLab, or BitBucket and want releases to propagate as updates
- you need license management for commercial plugin updates

## When to avoid
- your plugin or theme is already hosted on WordPress.org, which provides updates natively
- you need a general-purpose package or dependency manager rather than WordPress update notifications
- your project is not a WordPress plugin or theme

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: sdk, developer-tools, plugin-system
- domain: cms, web-development, developer-tools
- platform: php, self-hosted
- tags: wordpress, wordpress-plugins, wordpress-themes, automatic-updates, update-checker, self-hosted-updates, github-integration, gitlab-integration, bitbucket-integration, automation, web-server

## Member repositories
- YahnisElsts/plugin-update-checker (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:00.921059+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:23:31.104824+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/YahnisElsts/plugin-update-checker (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:00.921059+00:00, sha 1e08707edb5f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.