Title: Perfbase
Author: Perfbase
Published: May 26, 2026
Last modified: May 26, 2026
---
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# Perfbase
By [Perfbase](https://profiles.wordpress.org/perfbaseorg/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/perfbase.1.5.2.zip)
* [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/perfbase/#description)
* [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/perfbase/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/perfbase/#installation)
* [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/perfbase/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/perfbase/)
## Description
Perfbase profiles WordPress applications and sends performance traces to the Perfbase
APM platform. It captures request lifecycle timing, WordPress context, selected
metadata, and trace data through the native Perfbase PHP extension and the shared
Perfbase PHP SDK.
This plugin is a Software-as-a-Service integration. It requires a Perfbase account,
a Perfbase API key, and the native `ext-perfbase` PHP extension. The plugin does
not submit traces until profiling is enabled and an API key is configured.
The plugin can profile:
* Standard HTTP requests.
* Admin requests when enabled.
* AJAX requests.
* WordPress cron runs.
* WP-CLI commands when enabled.
* WordPress, theme, plugin, REST, and WooCommerce context when available.
For privacy and cardinality control, request URLs are stored without query strings.
Important WordPress query parameters are stored separately where useful.
### External Services
This plugin connects to the Perfbase APM platform, an external application performance
monitoring service, when profiling is enabled.
Service name: Perfbase APM platform and the configured Perfbase ingest API endpoint.
The default endpoint is `https://ingress.perfbase.cloud`.
Service policies: [Perfbase Privacy Policy](https://perfbase.com/privacy/) and [Perfbase Terms](https://perfbase.com/terms/).
When data is sent: trace data is sent only after a Perfbase API key is configured,
profiling is enabled, the request passes the configured sampling rate, include/exclude
filters, user-agent exclusions, request-type toggles, and HTTP status-code rules.
For HTTP, AJAX, cron, and WP-CLI lifecycles, submission normally happens at the
end of the lifecycle or during shutdown. The plugin does not submit profiling traces
while profiling is disabled or while no API key is configured.
Perfbase can send:
* Native trace payloads: function call trees, function names, source file paths
and line numbers, timing, CPU, memory, host resource metrics, call context, and
runtime error or exception context.
* System/resource data: host operating system, kernel, hostname, CPU architecture,
CPU details, disk capacity details, memory usage, CPU usage, disk I/O, and network
I/O samples.
* Process-list tracking when enabled: capped process snapshots with process ID,
executable basename, OS user, CPU usage, memory usage, and process runtime. Command-
line arguments are not included in process snapshots.
* Additional native trace metadata: normalized SQL query text and query type, database
DSN/host/database/username/port metadata, MongoDB or Elasticsearch query/filter
payload summaries, Redis or Memcached keys and fields, HTTP URL or URI metadata
that may include query strings depending on the PHP API or HTTP library used,
HTTP method/status/timing/byte-count metadata, file paths and file operation
metadata, mail recipient and subject metadata, shell/process command strings,
AWS operation names, OPcache and JIT statistics, PHP error or exception samples,
compiled file paths, magic method counts, and truncated function argument values
if argument capture is separately configured.
* WordPress request metadata: action name, HTTP method, request URL without query
string, HTTP status code, user IP address, user agent, logged-in user ID when
available, hostname, environment, application version, PHP version, WordPress
version, and Perfbase plugin version.
* WordPress context metadata: AJAX action, REST route, admin page, post/page identifiers,
post type/status, taxonomy context, template and theme information, conditional
page type flags, plugin lifecycle context, and WooCommerce page, cart, product,
or order context when available.
* Operational summaries: memory usage, database query count and timing summaries
when available, and sanitized outbound HTTP request metadata when HTTP tracking
is enabled.
Perfbase does not collect:
* Source code.
* Request bodies, full POST payloads (`$_POST`), arbitrary form fields, or uploaded
file contents.
* Cookie values (`$_COOKIE`) or PHP session data (`$_SESSION`).
* Authorization header values.
* Passwords, API keys, nonces, or session IDs from WordPress request, cookie, or
session data.
* Command-line arguments for process-list snapshots.
Feature flags control the extra native trace metadata listed under “Perfbase can
send”, including outbound HTTP URLs or URIs with query strings for some HTTP libraries
and truncated function argument values if argument capture is separately configured.
Administrators should review enabled Perfbase extension feature flags before profiling
sensitive workloads.
Extension installer and CDN: the plugin runtime does not call `cdn.perfbase.com`.
The optional extension installer and manual extension binary downloads use `https://
cdn.perfbase.com` only when a server administrator downloads or runs those installation
assets.
### Privacy
This plugin connects to Perfbase’s external service when profiling is enabled. It
sends profiling trace data and request metadata to the configured Perfbase API endpoint.
Data submission requires explicit configuration of a Perfbase API key and the Enable
Profiling setting. The plugin does not submit traces while profiling is disabled
or while no API key is configured.
Administrators should review their site’s privacy policy and disclose their use
of Perfbase where appropriate.
## Installation
1. Install the plugin from WordPress.org, or upload the `perfbase-.zip` asset
from GitHub Releases through the WordPress plugins screen.
2. Install the native Perfbase PHP extension on the server.
3. Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen in WordPress.
4. Go to Settings -> Perfbase.
5. Add your Perfbase API key.
6. Enable profiling and choose an appropriate sample rate.
Do not use GitHub’s automatically generated “Source code” archives for manual WordPress
installs. Those archives are source snapshots for developers and do not include
production Composer dependencies.
#### Installing the Perfbase extension
The plugin requires the native Perfbase PHP extension. This means shell/server access
is required, and the plugin is intended for advanced or server-managed WordPress
environments. Many shared hosting and restricted managed WordPress environments
do not allow custom PHP extensions; in those environments the plugin can be installed,
but profiling will not run until the extension is available.
Automated installer for supported server environments:
```
bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://cdn.perfbase.com/install.sh)"
```
The installer performs the same download, checksum, copy, ini-file, and verification
steps automatically.
Manual extension installation with `wget`:
1. Find the PHP major/minor version with `php -r 'echo PHP_MAJOR_VERSION.".".PHP_MINOR_VERSION;'`.
2. Find the CPU architecture with `uname -m`. Use `amd64` for `x86_64`, and `arm64`
for `aarch64` or Apple Silicon.
3. Choose the URL pattern for your server:
Debian/Ubuntu and most glibc Linux distributions:
```
wget https://cdn.perfbase.com/extension/latest/perfbase-8.3-linux-amd64-gnu-release.so
wget https://cdn.perfbase.com/extension/latest/perfbase-8.3-linux-amd64-gnu-release.so.sha256sum.txt
sha256sum -c perfbase-8.3-linux-amd64-gnu-release.so.sha256sum.txt
```
Alpine Linux:
```
wget https://cdn.perfbase.com/extension/latest/perfbase-8.3-linux-amd64-musl-release.so
wget https://cdn.perfbase.com/extension/latest/perfbase-8.3-linux-amd64-musl-release.so.sha256sum.txt
sha256sum -c perfbase-8.3-linux-amd64-musl-release.so.sha256sum.txt
```
macOS:
```
wget https://cdn.perfbase.com/extension/latest/perfbase-8.3-darwin-arm64-release.dylib
wget https://cdn.perfbase.com/extension/latest/perfbase-8.3-darwin-arm64-release.dylib.sha256sum.txt
sha256sum -c perfbase-8.3-darwin-arm64-release.dylib.sha256sum.txt
```
Replace `8.3` with your PHP major/minor version and replace `amd64` with `arm64`
when using ARM64 Linux.
1. Find PHP’s extension directory with `php -i | grep '^extension_dir'`.
2. Find the loaded ini scan directories with `php --ini`.
3. Copy the extension binary into PHP’s extension directory.
4. Create `perfbase.ini` in one of the loaded ini scan directories:
5. extension=perfbase.ext
Replace `perfbase.ext` with the downloaded filename, such as `perfbase.so` or `perfbase.
dylib`.
8. Restart PHP-FPM, Apache, Nginx Unit, or any long-lived PHP worker. 9.
Verify the extension is loaded with `php -m | grep perfbase`.
For a specific pinned build instead of the mutable latest build, replace `/extension/
latest/` with a versioned path such as `/extension/v123/`.
## FAQ
### Does this plugin work without the Perfbase PHP extension?
No. The admin settings screen remains available and shows a warning, but profiling
requires the native `ext-perfbase` extension.
### Does this plugin send data immediately after activation?
No. Profiling is disabled by default. Traces are submitted only after you configure
an API key and enable profiling.
### Does this plugin require a Perfbase account?
Yes. Perfbase is a SaaS APM platform and trace submission requires a Perfbase API
key.
### What data is sent to Perfbase?
When enabled, the plugin sends profiling traces and request metadata such as action
name, HTTP method, sanitized request URL without query string, HTTP status code,
user agent, user IP address, hostname, environment, WordPress version, PHP version,
and selected WordPress context.
See the External Services section for the full data disclosure. The key distinction
is that Perfbase does not collect source code, request bodies, full POST payloads,
arbitrary form fields, uploaded file contents, cookie values, PHP session data,
or authorization header values.
### Can I reduce production overhead?
Yes. Lower the sample rate, disable profiling for admin traffic, and narrow the
include and exclude filters.
## Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
## Contributors & Developers
“Perfbase” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this
plugin.
Contributors
* [ Perfbase ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/perfbaseorg/)
[Translate “Perfbase” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/perfbase)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/perfbase/), check out
the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/perfbase/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/perfbase/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/perfbase/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.5.2
* Tagged Perfbase WordPress plugin release.
* Built with production Composer dependencies and tag-synced plugin metadata.
## Meta
* Version **1.5.2**
* Last updated **13 hours ago**
* Active installations **Fewer than 10**
* WordPress version ** 5.3 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.0**
* PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
* Tags
* [apm](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/apm/)[monitoring](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/monitoring/)
[performance](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/performance/)[profiling](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/profiling/)
[woocommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/woocommerce/)
* [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/perfbase/advanced/)
## Ratings
No reviews have been submitted yet.
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/perfbase/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/perfbase/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Perfbase ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/perfbaseorg/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/perfbase/)