Staging Abilities

The MainWP Staging Add-on registers two read-only abilities in the mainwp-staging category. Both use the mainwp/ namespace on your MainWP Dashboard. Use them to find which Child Sites have staging clones, check whether each clone is connected to your Dashboard, and review the Staging settings that apply to a site. They are available in the Abilities-enabled Staging release.

What You’ll Learn

List Child Sites that have stored staging clones
Read one site’s clones and effective saved settings
Tell whether a site overrides the general settings
Interpret clone-to-Dashboard mappings

Prerequisites

WordPress 6.9 or later on the MainWP Dashboard site
MainWP Dashboard with Abilities API support; use version 6.2 or later for the input_json example below
An Abilities-enabled release of the Staging Add-on, active in MainWP Dashboard
An authenticated WordPress user with manage_options and access to the Staging Add-on
Access to the selected MainWP site for site-specific calls

Team Control restrictions apply. The list returns only sites you can access. Site-specific calls can return a Dashboard site-access error with HTTP 403. A missing site or a refusal by the Staging site-permission check returns mainwp_site_not_found with HTTP 404. Use an Application Password or the authentication methods in the Abilities API overview. The examples use an Application Password.

Available Abilities

Ability	Method	Purpose
`mainwp/list-staging-sites-v1`	GET	List accessible Child Sites that have stored staging clones
`mainwp/get-site-staging-v1`	GET	Read one site’s stored clones, effective saved settings, and override flag

Discover the abilities and their full input and output schemas:

curl -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  'https://your-dashboard.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities?category=mainwp-staging'

Both abilities are marked read-only and idempotent. They read data the Dashboard already stored. They do not contact Child Sites, check for WP Staging, refresh clone lists, or sync sites.

List Staging Sites

Ability: mainwp/list-staging-sites-v1
Method: GET
Input: None

curl -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  'https://your-dashboard.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities/mainwp/list-staging-sites-v1/run'

Example response:

{
  "sites": [
    {
      "site_id": 1,
      "name": "Example Store",
      "url": "https://example.com/",
      "clone_count": 1,
      "clones": [
        {
          "clone_id": "staging",
          "clone_url": "https://example.com/staging",
          "staging_site_id": 7,
          "staging_site_exists": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

The list includes only accessible sites with at least one stored clone. Sites without clones are omitted. When no site qualifies, sites is an empty array.

Field	Meaning
`site_id`	Dashboard ID of the production Child Site
`name`	Site name in MainWP Dashboard
`url`	Production site URL
`clone_count`	Number of stored clones for the site
`clones`	Stored clones for the site

Each clone contains:

Field	Meaning
`clone_id`	WP Staging clone identifier
`clone_url`	URL of the staging clone
`staging_site_id`	Dashboard ID of the site added for this clone, or `null` when no mapping is stored
`staging_site_exists`	`true` when `staging_site_id` still matches a site in your Dashboard

A staging_site_exists value of false with a non-null staging_site_id means the mapped staging site was removed from your Dashboard.

Get Site Staging

Ability: mainwp/get-site-staging-v1
Method: GET

curl -G -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  --data-urlencode 'input_json={"site_id":1}' \
  'https://your-dashboard.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities/mainwp/get-site-staging-v1/run'

site_id is required and must be a positive integer. No other input properties are accepted. Example response:

{
  "site_id": 1,
  "name": "Example Store",
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "clone_count": 1,
  "clones": [
    {
      "clone_id": "staging",
      "clone_url": "https://example.com/staging",
      "staging_site_id": 7,
      "staging_site_exists": true
    }
  ],
  "override": true,
  "settings": {
    "queryLimit": 10000,
    "querySRLimit": 5000,
    "fileLimit": 50,
    "maxFileSize": 8,
    "batchSize": 2,
    "cpuLoad": "low",
    "delayRequests": 0,
    "disableAdminLogin": false,
    "debugMode": false,
    "optimizer": true,
    "unInstallOnDelete": false,
    "checkDirectorySize": false
  }
}

The response includes the same site and clone fields as the list, plus override and settings. A site without clones returns clone_count: 0 and an empty clones array. override is true when the site has Override General Settings enabled. In that case, settings contains the site’s own saved settings. Otherwise, settings contains the saved general settings. settings includes only values that were saved. Missing values are omitted rather than filled with the defaults shown in the Dashboard. When no settings were saved, settings is an empty object ({}).

Setting	Type	Dashboard setting
`queryLimit`	integer	DB copy query limit
`querySRLimit`	integer	DB search & replace limit
`fileLimit`	integer	File copy limit
`maxFileSize`	integer	Maximum file size (MB)
`batchSize`	integer	File copy batch size
`cpuLoad`	string	CPU load priority: `low`, `medium`, or `high`
`delayRequests`	integer	Delay Between Requests
`disableAdminLogin`	boolean	Disable admin authorization
`debugMode`	boolean	Debug mode
`optimizer`	boolean	Optimizer
`unInstallOnDelete`	boolean	Remove data on uninstall?
`checkDirectorySize`	boolean	Check directory size

Responses never include passwords, keys, tokens, database prefixes, or other stored settings.

Errors

Error code	HTTP status	Next step
`mainwp_permission_denied`	403	Check `manage_options` and access to the Staging Add-on
`mainwp_site_not_found`	404	Verify the site exists and you have access to it

Unauthenticated requests return HTTP 401. MainWP Dashboard can also return its standard authentication and site-access errors.

These abilities do not create, update, or delete staging sites. They also do not save settings or refresh clone data from Child Sites. Use the Staging Add-on in your Dashboard for those tasks.

Staging Add-on - Create, update, and delete staging sites
Abilities API Overview - Authentication and request formats
Clone Abilities - Read and manage stored Clone policy

Getting Started

Understanding MainWP

Dashboard

Sites

Backups

Users

Updates

Plugins

Themes

Content Operations

Clients

MCP Server

API Reference

Troubleshooting

Customization

Advanced

Resources

What You’ll Learn

Prerequisites

Available Abilities

List Staging Sites

Get Site Staging

Errors

​What You’ll Learn

​Prerequisites

​Available Abilities

​List Staging Sites

​Get Site Staging

​Errors

​Related Resources

What You’ll Learn

Prerequisites

Available Abilities

List Staging Sites

Get Site Staging

Errors

Related Resources