smoothcdn

<p>Smooth API Accelerator helps you turn selected WordPress REST API endpoints into fast, CDN-delivered JSON snapshots.</p>
<p>Instead of generating the same REST API responses on every request, the plugin lets you select endpoints, build static JSON snapshots, and sync them to Smooth CDN. Your frontend, mobile app, headless site, or external client can then fetch predictable JSON files from CDN URLs with low latency and better cache behavior.</p>
<p>The plugin is designed for WordPress projects where API performance, stable JSON delivery, and controlled endpoint syncing matter.</p>
<p>Use it for headless WordPress sites, React or Next.js frontends, mobile apps, public API-like content feeds, and high-traffic REST API responses that do not need to be generated dynamically on every request.</p>
<h3>Why use Smooth API Accelerator?</h3>
<ul>
<li>⚡ <strong>Faster WordPress REST API delivery</strong> – serve selected API responses as CDN-delivered JSON files</li>
<li>🌍 <strong>Edge-ready JSON</strong> – make API data available through Smooth CDN for lower latency</li>
<li>🔄 <strong>Automatic updates</strong> – refresh synced endpoints after content and taxonomy changes</li>
<li>📦 <strong>Static JSON snapshots</strong> – predictable, cache-friendly output for frontends and apps</li>
<li>🔒 <strong>Optional protected delivery</strong> – restrict access to selected JSON files when needed</li>
<li>🧠 <strong>Cleaner payloads</strong> – optionally generate structured block data and remove raw content</li>
<li>🧩 <strong>Headless-friendly workflow</strong> – prepare WordPress data for React, Next.js, mobile apps, and static frontends</li>
</ul>
<p>Perfect for:<br />
* Headless WordPress websites<br />
* Frontends built with React, Next.js, Astro, Vue, or other frameworks<br />
* Mobile apps using WordPress as a backend<br />
* Sites that expose public content through the WordPress REST API<br />
* High-traffic REST API endpoints that benefit from static JSON delivery<br />
* Projects that need a controlled JSON sync workflow instead of custom scripts</p>
<h3>How it works</h3>
<ol>
<li>Connect your WordPress site to Smooth CDN using account mode or guest mode</li>
<li>Discover available WordPress REST API endpoints</li>
<li>Select the endpoints you want to accelerate</li>
<li>The plugin generates JSON snapshots for selected endpoints</li>
<li>Synced JSON files are uploaded to Smooth CDN</li>
<li>Your frontend, app, or external client can use fast CDN URLs instead of generating the same REST API response on every request</li>
</ol>
<h3>External services</h3>
<p>This plugin connects to Smooth CDN to create and manage the remote project used for JSON acceleration.</p>
<p>It communicates with Smooth CDN when you:</p>
<ul>
<li>start or complete the account or guest connection flow,</li>
<li>fetch account or project metadata needed by the plugin,</li>
<li>upload synced JSON snapshots,</li>
<li>delete synced JSON snapshots with <code>Unsync</code> or <code>Purge endpoints</code>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Depending on the action, the plugin may send:</p>
<ul>
<li>your site URL and site name,</li>
<li>the generated project name derived from the site domain,</li>
<li>authentication data needed to complete the Smooth CDN login flow,</li>
<li>project identifiers and account metadata required to manage the connection,</li>
<li>REST API JSON snapshots selected for sync, including paginated collection files,</li>
<li>asset paths, filenames, and protection flags used to manage synced files.</li>
</ul>
<p>Smooth CDN service links:</p>
<ul>
<li>Terms of Service: https://smoothcdn.com/terms</li>
<li>Privacy Policy: https://smoothcdn.com/privacy</li>
</ul>
<h3>Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Simple setup with unified connection and configuration view</li>
<li>Smooth CDN connection in minutes with account mode or guest mode</li>
<li>REST API endpoint discovery from wp-admin</li>
<li>Clear separation between synced and available endpoints</li>
<li>One-click sync for selected endpoints</li>
<li>Automatic re-sync after post and taxonomy updates</li>
<li>Paginated collection sync with metadata manifest</li>
<li>Optional <code>blocks</code> field generation for structured content</li>
<li>Optional removal of raw <code>content</code> field for lighter JSON responses</li>
<li>Optional protected JSON delivery</li>
<li>Lock mode for direct REST GET access via <code>wp-json</code></li>
<li><code>Unsync</code> and <code>Purge endpoints</code> remove both local and CDN data</li>
<li>Clear dashboard with sync and acceleration status</li>
<li>Developer hooks for custom route refresh rules and payload adjustments</li>
</ul>
<h3>Synced JSON layout</h3>
<p>Single endpoints are uploaded as one JSON file:</p>
<pre><code>https://cdn.smoothcdn.com/<user-slug>/<project-slug>/wp/v2/pages/42.json
</code></pre>
<p>Collection endpoints are uploaded as:</p>
<pre><code>https://cdn.smoothcdn.com/<user-slug>/<project-slug>/wp/v2/posts.json
https://cdn.smoothcdn.com/<user-slug>/<project-slug>/wp/v2/posts/page-1.json
https://cdn.smoothcdn.com/<user-slug>/<project-slug>/wp/v2/posts/page-2.json
</code></pre>
<p>The collection metadata file contains:</p>
<pre><code>{
    "per_page": 50,
    "total_pages": 2,
    "pages": [
        "https://cdn.smoothcdn.com/<user-slug>/<project-slug>/wp/v2/posts/page-1.json",
        "https://cdn.smoothcdn.com/<user-slug>/<project-slug>/wp/v2/posts/page-2.json"
    ]
}<h3>Settings overview</h3>Key settings that affect synced output:
</code></pre>
<ul>
<li><code>Add blocks field</code> adds a normalized <code>blocks</code> field when supported content is available.</li>
<li><code>Remove content field</code> is available only when <code>Add blocks field</code> is enabled and removes <code>content</code> after <code>blocks</code> is added.</li>
<li><code>Protected assets</code> uploads synced JSON files as protected Smooth CDN assets.</li>
<li><code>Collection sync page size</code> controls pagination for collection endpoints. Available values: <code>10</code>, <code>25</code>, <code>50</code>, <code>100</code>. Default: <code>50</code>.</li>
<li><code>Auto scan and sync</code> controls how often WP-Cron runs automatic scan and sync.</li>
</ul>
<p>Changing output-affecting settings invalidates previous sync markers and queues a faster full scan + sync through WP-Cron.</p>
<h3>Developer hooks</h3>
<p>Use <code>scdn_api_accelerator_save_post_related_routes</code> to add custom routes/templates that should be refreshed and synced after <code>save_post</code>.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<pre><code>add_filter( 'scdn_api_accelerator_save_post_related_routes', function( $rules, $post_id, $post ) {
    $rules[] = 'product|route:/custom/v1/products/{post_id}';
    $rules[] = 'product|template:/custom/v1/products';
    $rules[] = [
        'post_type' => 'page',
        'route'     => '/custom/v1/page-index',
    ];

    return $rules;
}, 10, 3 );
</code></pre>
<p>Use <code>scdn_api_accelerator_pre_send_json</code> to adjust endpoint payload before upload.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<pre><code>add_filter( 'scdn_api_accelerator_pre_send_json', function( $data, $route, $context ) {
    if ( '/wp/v2/posts' === $route && is_array( $data ) ) {
        foreach ( $data as $index => $item ) {
            if ( ! is_array( $item ) ) {
                continue;
            }

            unset( $data[ $index ]['class_list'], $data[ $index ]['meta'] );
        }
    }

    return $data;
}, 10, 3 );<h3>Maintenance</h3>`Unsync` removes selected endpoints from sync, deletes their CDN files, and returns them to detected state.

Purge endpoints removes all synced data from Smooth CDN and clears local state.<h3>License</h3>GPLv2 or later
</code></pre>


Smooth API Accelerator

Pre-build WordPress REST API responses and serve them as fast JSON snapshots from Smooth CDN.

Dave McHale

Tang Rufus

<p>The most comprehensive plugin for controlling access to the WordPress REST API!</p>
<p>Works as a “set it and forget it” install. Just upload and activate, and the entire REST API will be inaccessible to your general site visitors.</p>
<p>But if you do need to grant access to some endpoints, you can do that too. Go to the Settings page and you can quickly whitelist individual endpoints (or entire branches of endpoints) in the REST API.</p>
<p>You can even do this on a per-user-role basis, so your unauthenticated users have one set of rules while WooCommerce customers have another while Subscribers and Editors and Admins all have their own. NOTE: Out of the box, all defined user roles will still be granted full access to the REST API until you choose to manage those settings.</p>
<p>For most versions of WordPress, this plugin will return an authentication error if a user is not allowed to access an endpoint. For legacy support, WordPress 4.4, 4.5, and 4.6 use the provided <code>rest_enabled</code> filter to disable the entire REST API.</p>


Disable REST API

The plugin uses a is_user_logged_in() check to grant access to disabled REST API endpoints. I run a membership site for one year and just realized it now, that any logged in visitor STILL HAVE ACCESS to any disabled REST API endpoints.

This should be very explicit, and there should be a setting in the plugin settings page to set the minimum role for the user to have access to the disabled endpoints.

ANY logged-in visitor can view the disabled endpoints


Blocking the REST API entirely breaks plugins that require this functionality, so being able to selectively enable routes is perfect.



I recommend this plugin to everyone who uses Independent Analytics to secure their site while still enabling analytics to be recorded.


Excellent solution


The plugin does what it says on the tin, without being pretentious. Absolutely fantastic!


Fantastic

Disable the use of the REST API on your website to site users. Now with User Role support!

Smooth API Accelerator vs Disable REST API