Automattic

Daniel Bachhuber

Gary Jones

Tim Moore

A simple WordPress admin tool for inspecting rewrite rules. View a listing of all your rewrite rules, see which rewrite rules match a given URL (and the priorities they match in), or filter by different sources of rewrite rules. Perform a soft flush of your rewrite rules to regenerate them.
<a href="https://github.com/Automattic/Rewrite-Rules-Inspector/" rel="nofollow ugc">Developed on GitHub</a> — pull requests are always welcome. Please leave feedback, questions, bug reports, and feature requests in the GitHub issues.
<h3>Where to find it</h3>
Go to <code>Tools → Rewrite Rules</code> in the WordPress admin.
<h3>URL Tester</h3>
Quickly test any URL (or path) against your site’s rewrite rules:
<ul>
<li>See whether the URL would be a 404 or which rule would match first (the one WordPress uses).</li>
<li>View the list of all matching rules, in match priority order.</li>
<li>Inspect the query variables extracted from the match and the resulting final query WordPress would run.</li>
</ul>
Works with full URLs or paths and automatically handles sites installed in a subdirectory.
<h3>Permastructs</h3>
Browse a table of all permastructs that WordPress is aware of, including:
<ul>
<li>Name — the permastruct key (e.g. for posts, taxonomies, authors).</li>
<li>Structure — the permalink structure pattern used to generate rules.</li>
<li>Description — a human-friendly summary of what the permastruct controls.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Flush Rules</h3>
The “Flush Rules” button allows you to regenerate your site’s rewrite rules. Here’s exactly what happens when you click it:
<h4>What the Flush Rules Button Does</h4>
When you click the “Flush Rules” button, the following sequence occurs:
<ol>
<li>
Security Check: The system verifies you have the proper permissions (<code>manage_options</code> capability) and validates the security nonce to prevent unauthorized access.
</li>
<li>
Cache Clearing: WordPress deletes the cached rewrite rules from the options cache using <code>wp_cache_delete('rewrite_rules', 'options')</code>.
</li>
<li>
Rule Regeneration: WordPress calls <code>flush_rewrite_rules(false)</code> to regenerate all rewrite rules based on:
<ul>
<li>Current permalink structure settings</li>
<li>Custom post types and taxonomies</li>
<li>Any custom rewrite rules added by themes or plugins</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Hook Execution: The <code>rri_flush_rules</code> action hook is fired, allowing other plugins to perform additional cleanup or actions after the flush.
</li>
<li>
Success Feedback: You’re redirected back to the Rewrite Rules Inspector page with a success message confirming the rules have been flushed.
</li>
</ol>
<h4>When to Use Flush Rules</h4>
Use the “Flush Rules” button when:
<ul>
<li>Missing Rules: You see rules marked as “missing” (red background) in the inspector</li>
<li>Custom URLs Not Working: Your custom permalinks or post type URLs aren’t working properly</li>
<li>After Plugin Changes: You’ve activated/deactivated plugins that register custom rewrite rules</li>
<li>Permalink Structure Changes: You’ve modified your site’s permalink structure</li>
<li>Custom Post Type Issues: New custom post types or taxonomies aren’t generating proper URLs</li>
</ul>
<h4>Important Notes</h4>
<ul>
<li>Soft Flush: This performs a “soft” flush (using <code>flush_rewrite_rules(false)</code>), which is safer than a hard flush as it doesn’t force regeneration of all rules unnecessarily.</li>
<li>Permissions Required: Only users with <code>manage_options</code> capability can flush rules.</li>
<li>No Data Loss: Flushing rules doesn’t delete any content or settings, it only regenerates the URL routing rules.</li>
<li>Immediate Effect: Changes take effect immediately after flushing.</li>
</ul>

Rewrite Rules Inspector

Best option when working with permalinks and custom urls structs

A must have for permalinks work

Easy Testing what wordpress rewrite thinks about any url ;) 

Nice one!


Sometimes you get into a trap that logically leads nowhere and this plugin can help you find a way out of this vicious circle. Thanks.


Genius tool for debugging redirect errors

A simple admin tool for inspecting rewrite rules.

Kerfred

Displays the current rewrite rules for the site. Requires the debug bar plugin.

Debug Bar Rewrite Rules

Displays the current rewrite rules for the site. Requires the debug bar plugin.

Rewrite Rules Inspector vs Debug Bar Rewrite Rules