Joe Bailey-Roberts

<p>Logged in users are redirected to the editor screen for the post, while non-logged in users must log in first. This means that you can share a readable link straight to the editor, depending on your permalink settings.</p>
<p>Good for task management or organisation resource management.</p>
<h3>What the plugin actually does</h3>
<p>In simple terms, the plugin removes the frontend of the WordPress site. Post permalinks go straight to the editor page, and the theme is mostly redundant.</p>
<h3>Why would I want to do that?</h3>
<p>This is definitely not a useful plugin for a public-facing website. Instead, this allows you to convert WordPress into a headless CMS for managing tasks, content and more, all protected by the standard user role system. You can share a post permalink with a collaborator and they will be directed straight to the editor screen.</p>
<p>Maybe you want to go a step further and create an external application to display your WordPress content elsewhere using the API. In this case you definitely don’t want the standard WP frontend accessible!</p>


WP Headless

A lightweight plugin to disable the WP frontend experience.

Elementor

<p>Sticklight Connector provides a structured way to use the WordPress user system in external or React-based applications.</p>
<p>The plugin extends the WordPress REST API with additional endpoints that allow authenticated clients to retrieve user context and interact with WordPress data, while fully respecting core authentication methods, roles, and capability checks.</p>
<p>Sticklight does not replace WordPress authentication. It relies on <code>wp_authenticate</code> for credential validation and WordPress Application Passwords for API access, and follows standard permission checks (<code>current_user_can</code>) for all requests.</p>
<h4>Typical use cases</h4>
<ul>
<li>React applications connected to a WordPress site</li>
<li>Headless or hybrid WordPress setups</li>
<li>Admin or user dashboards built outside wp-admin</li>
<li>External tools that require authenticated access to WordPress data</li>
</ul>
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Authenticates via <code>wp_authenticate</code> and issues Application Passwords for API access</li>
<li>Adds REST endpoints for login, logout, and retrieving current user context</li>
<li>Enforces WordPress capability checks on all requests</li>
<li>Supports cross-origin headless setups</li>
<li>Extensible via WordPress hooks and filters</li>
</ul>
<h3>Usage</h3>
<h4>Login</h4>
<p>Authenticate with username (or email) and password:</p>
<pre><code>POST /wp-json/sticklight/v1/auth/login
</code></pre>
<p>On success the response includes an Application Password for subsequent API requests and the authenticated user:</p>
<pre><code>{
  "app_password": "XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX",
  "user": {
    "user_id": 1,
    "username": "admin",
    "display_name": "Admin",
    "email": "admin@example.com",
    "roles": ["administrator"]
  }
}
</code></pre>
<p>Use the returned <code>app_password</code> with HTTP Basic Authentication for all further requests.</p>
<h4>Current user</h4>
<p>Retrieve the current authenticated user:</p>
<pre><code>GET /wp-json/sticklight/v1/auth/me
</code></pre>
<h4>Logout</h4>
<p>Revoke the current Application Password session:</p>
<pre><code>POST /wp-json/sticklight/v1/auth/logout
</code></pre>
<h4>User registration</h4>
<p>User creation is handled through the built-in WordPress REST API (<code>POST /wp-json/wp/v2/users</code>) and requires administrator authentication.</p>
<h4>Accessing protected data</h4>
<p>Requests to any endpoint must pass standard WordPress permission checks. Sticklight does not bypass or override these checks.</p>
<h3>Security</h3>
<p>Sticklight follows WordPress security practices:</p>
<ul>
<li>Authenticates via <code>wp_authenticate</code>, which respects all security plugin hooks (rate limiting, two-factor authentication, brute-force protection)</li>
<li>Issues Application Passwords scoped to individual sessions</li>
<li>Does not provide user registration — accounts must be created by an administrator</li>
<li>Applies capability checks (<code>current_user_can</code>) on all endpoints</li>
<li>Does not expose private data without proper permissions</li>
</ul>
<p>For external applications, it is recommended to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Use HTTPS</li>
<li>Restrict allowed origins</li>
<li>Avoid exposing sensitive endpoints unnecessarily</li>
</ul>


Sticklight

Use WordPress authentication and permissions in external React applications via secure REST API endpoints.

WP Headless vs Sticklight