Description
Talking Monkey Insights gives you a site health snapshot in your WordPress admin — and exposes the same data via a secure REST API so you can monitor multiple sites from your own dashboard.
What you see in WP Admin
- Updates — count + list of plugins needing updates, theme update count, core update status
- Security — threats blocked, login attempts blocked, last scan results (auto-detected from WordFence or Defender)
- Backups — last backup time, backup count, next scheduled backup (auto-detected from UpdraftPlus or Snapshot)
- SSL — days until expiry with color-coded status
- REST API — endpoint URL + your API key + enable/disable toggle
Why the REST API matters
If you manage multiple WordPress sites — agency, freelance portfolio, internal IT — built-in WP Site Health is shallow and ManageWP/MainWP require connecting to their proprietary dashboards. This plugin gives you a clean, secure REST endpoint at /wp-json/tm/v1/stats that you can hit from your own dashboard, BI tool, Slack bot, or whatever you already use.
The endpoint requires an API key (auto-generated on activation; regeneratable). No other authentication.
Multi-ecosystem detection
Most site monitoring plugins lock you into one ecosystem. This one auto-detects whichever security and backup plugin you have installed:
- Security: WordFence or Defender
- Backups: UpdraftPlus or Snapshot
Don’t have either installed? The corresponding section shows a neutral “no supported plugin detected” state. No upsells, no recommendations to install anything.
Privacy
This plugin does not send any data outside of your WordPress site without your explicit configuration. No telemetry. No analytics. No phone-home.
The REST API endpoint is enabled by default but can be disabled in settings. When enabled, access requires an API key. The plugin only responds to authenticated requests; it never proactively contacts external services.
Built by an agency that uses it
Talking Monkey hosts WordPress sites for our own clients. We built this plugin to monitor them from our internal dashboard — and made it free + open source so other agencies and site owners can do the same. We need it to be trustworthy because we install it on every site we host.
Screenshots
Site Overview, Updates, Security, and Backups sections — multi-ecosystem detection in action. 
SSL section + REST API settings (enable toggle, refresh interval, endpoint URL, masked API key, regenerate). 
About + Privacy disclosures + brand footer. 
REST API section close-up — toggle, API key, regenerate. 
REST API endpoint response example (curl from terminal, JSON formatted).
Installation
- Upload
tm-insightsto the/wp-content/plugins/directory (or install via WP Admin Plugins Add New Search “Talking Monkey Insights”). - Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen in WordPress.
- Visit TM Insights in the WP Admin sidebar to see your site health.
- Visit the REST API section to copy your API key for external dashboards.
That’s it. No setup wizard, no account required, no signup.
FAQ
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Does this plugin send data anywhere?
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No. The plugin reads data from your WordPress install (plugin updates, SSL certificate, security/backup plugin status) and either displays it in your WP Admin or returns it through an authenticated REST endpoint when an external dashboard requests it. It never proactively contacts any external service.
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Where is the REST endpoint?
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/wp-json/tm/v1/stats — relative to your site’s URL. Send a GET request with the
X-TM-Keyheader set to your API key (visible in TM Insights REST API in WP Admin). -
Can I disable the REST API?
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Yes. TM Insights REST API uncheck “Enable REST API endpoint” Save.
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What security plugins does this work with?
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Phase 1 supports WordFence and Defender. We’re planning to add Solid Security and Sucuri in future releases based on user demand.
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What backup plugins does this work with?
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Phase 1 supports UpdraftPlus and Snapshot. Solid Backups, BlogVault, and Duplicator are candidates for future releases.
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My security/backup plugin isn’t supported — what do I do?
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Open a support thread and tell us which plugin you’d like to see supported. We’ll prioritize based on user demand.
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Is this plugin GPL?
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Yes. Licensed under GPL v2 or later — you can fork, modify, and redistribute freely.
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Who built this?
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Talking Monkey — a WordPress-focused agency that uses this plugin internally to monitor every site we host. We made it public because every agency and freelancer in our space could use the same tool.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“Talking Monkey Insights” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
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Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- Initial release on wp.org.
- Site Overview, Updates, Security, Backups, SSL, and REST API sections in WP Admin.
- Multi-ecosystem integration: WordFence + Defender (security), UpdraftPlus + Snapshot (backups).
- Auto-generated API key on activation, regeneratable from settings.
- Configurable auto-refresh interval (off / 5 / 15 / 60 minutes; default 60).
- Privacy-respecting: no telemetry, no phone-home, REST endpoint opt-in-able.