WP Debug Robot
Have you ever wanted to get debug output sent to you from WordPress without interrupting the flow of the page? Do you ever wish you could get debug output from other users’ sessions so you don’t have to:
Consider an alternative
WP Debug Robot shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 13 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 12 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 3.4 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where WP Debug Robot stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| debug | >100 |
| debugging | >100 |
| robot | >100 |
| udp | #24 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About WP Debug Robot
From the official readme · v1.0Description
Have you ever wanted to get debug output sent to you from WordPress without interrupting the flow of the page?
Do you ever wish you could get debug output from other users’ sessions so you don’t have to:
- Log in as them
- Asking them to look at debug output themselves (bleh)
- Or try in vain to re-create their issue
This plugin allows you to send debug messages via UDP to a Jabber Bot that can then route
the debug information to your IM client.
Note: This plugin sends the messages via UDP. The receiving end doesn’t necessarily need to be a Jabber bot…it could be anything you want
(e.g. email bot, logger, whatever). My implementation is a Jabber Bot on my local dev environment 🙂
Usage
To send debug messages, simply call:
do_action( 'debug_robot', $message [, $target ]);
- $message: Message to send to your jabber bot.
- $target: (optional) Email address that your jabber bot will route the message to.
To receive debug messages, you will need to have:
- Your Jabber Bot installed and configured.
- The Jabber Bot must be running.
- You must have friended your robot’s jabber account with another jabber account (e.g. your Google account).
- You must be signed into Google Talk in some way shape or form so that your jabber bot can IM you.
Note: If your Jabber Bot isn’t running, no worries. UDP doesn’t wait for a response so it won’t impact your WordPress instance…you just won’t get the messages that
are sent until your bot is running 🙂
Credits
This code was largely written by @abackstrom with some additions by me while we worked at @PlymouthState. I then ported it into a WordPress plugin.
Installation
- Upload the
wp-debug-robotfolder to your plugins directory (e.g.wp-content/plugins) - Got to Settings > Debug Robot and configure your settings.
- Set the
hostandportof the server you wish to send debug messages to. - Set the default
targetemail address that debug messages will be routed to by a Jabber bot. - Configure a Jabber Bot
Note: you will also need a dummy jabber email address to act as your jabber bot. I created one with Google Apps called robot@mydomain.com then friended that account with my primary Google account.
For developers
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Best WP Debug Robot alternatives
All debug plugins →FAQ
WP Debug Robot: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 29, 2026
Is WP Debug Robot free?
Yes. WP Debug Robot is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is WP Debug Robot safe to use in 2026?
WP Debug Robot shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 13 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
How many websites use WP Debug Robot?
WP Debug Robot is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 3,530 times since it launched in September 2012. It was downloaded 68 times in the last 30 days.
Does WP Debug Robot work with WordPress 7.1?
WP Debug Robot is officially tested up to WordPress 3.4.2, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was WP Debug Robot last updated?
The latest version, 1.0, was released on March 4, 2014 (13 years ago).
Who makes WP Debug Robot?
WP Debug Robot is developed and maintained by Matthew Batchelder.
What are the best alternatives to WP Debug Robot?
The most popular alternatives to WP Debug Robot are WP Crontrol (300K+ installs), Query Monitor (200K+ installs) and Debug Bar (20K+ installs).
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