Install the Manager

Install

Release zips are attached to GitHub Releases under the asset name captaincore-manager.zip, built by bin/build-zip.sh. Install the latest one with WP-CLI:

wp plugin install https://github.com/CaptainCore/captaincore-manager/releases/latest/download/captaincore-manager.zip --activate

To pin a version, use the tagged asset path instead. manifest.json in the repository always names the current one, for example:

https://github.com/CaptainCore/captaincore-manager/releases/download/v1.1.0/captaincore-manager.zip

You can also download the zip and upload it through the WordPress Plugins screen.

What activation does

Activation runs Captaincore_Activator::activate(), which:

1. Calls CaptainCore\DB::upgrade(). This is the dbDelta migration that creates every wp_captaincore_* table: sites, environments, accounts, providers, domains, the account_site / account_domain / account_user junctions, captures, snapshots, processes, process_logs, recipes, scripts, keys, invites, job_tokens, activity_logs, site_audits, session_snapshots and the rest.
2. Adds the rewrite rules for the dashboard through CaptainCore\Router and flushes them.
3. Redirects you to /account unless you are running under WP-CLI.

The schema is also checked on every init and admin_init by captaincore_maybe_upgrade_db(). It compares the captaincore_db_version site option against CaptainCore\DB::REQUIRED_VERSION and runs the migration under a lock (captaincore_db_upgrade_lock) that is reclaimed after 15 minutes. So an upgrade that lands with the plugin already active migrates itself on the next page load.

Pretty permalinks

Turn on pretty permalinks before connecting anything (Settings, Permalinks, any structure other than Plain, or wp rewrite structure '/%postname%/'). A fresh WordPress install defaults to Plain, which serves the homepage for every /wp-json/ URL. The CLI’s connect command falls back to the ?rest_route= form and still works, but the Manager’s own dashboard routes under /account need rewrite rules.

Point the Manager at the CLI

The Manager dispatches jobs to captaincore server at a base URL it stores in its global configurations. You do not set it here. On the CLI server, run:

captaincore connect --server-url=https://captaincore-api.example.com

That registers the address with the Manager over the same administrator-authenticated request that hands the CLI its token. The value then appears under Settings, Branding, as “CLI server”, where it can be edited. Every dispatch appends a path to it (/run, /run/background, /run/stream, /tasks, /task/{id}, /progress), and the WebSocket address is derived from it by swapping the scheme for wss://.

A wp-config.php constant still works and overrides the saved value when you would rather pin it in code:

define( 'CAPTAINCORE_CLI_ADDRESS', 'https://captaincore-api.example.com' );
define( 'CAPTAINCORE_CLI_SOCKET_ADDRESS', 'captaincore-api.example.com' ); // optional

The Settings field notes when a constant is in charge. Only an administrator-authenticated connect can change the address; a token-authenticated captaincore connect --sync cannot.

The CLI token

The shared secret between the two halves comes from captaincore_get_cli_token():

• If CAPTAINCORE_CLI_TOKEN is defined in wp-config.php, that value is used.
• Otherwise the token is read from the captaincore_cli_token option, and generated with wp_generate_password( 64, false ) on first use.

You do not have to create or copy it by hand. captaincore connect fetches it over an authenticated request and writes it to both config.json and data/config.json on the CLI server. See Install the CLI.

The self-updater

includes/class-captaincore-manager-updater.php feeds WordPress its own update information, so updates arrive through the normal Plugins screen and wp plugin update.

• The manifest is fetched from the pinned URL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CaptainCore/captaincore-manager/master/manifest.json and cached in the captaincore_manager_updater transient for one hour. If GitHub is unreachable, the bundled manifest.json is used and the failure is cached for five minutes.
• An update is only offered when the manifest’s download_url is https, on github.com, objects.githubusercontent.com or codeload.github.com, under the path prefix /CaptainCore/captaincore-manager/, and the manifest publishes a non-empty sha256.
• Before install, verify_package() downloads the zip and compares hash_file( 'sha256', $file ) against the published hash with hash_equals(). A mismatch, or a manifest with no hash, rejects the update rather than installing it.

To force a re-check:

wp transient delete captaincore_manager_updater

Where settings live

Operational settings are edited in the Settings section of the /account dashboard, not on a wp-admin options page. templates/core/settings.js loads six sources:

Providers, defaults, keys and processes are operator-only; customers see the Cookbook tab.