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GC Git Updater self-updates

Lightweight WordPress plugin that updates themes from a GitHub repository. Public + private repos, single file, no dependencies.

by George Cook · github.com/georgehcook/gc-git-updater · website

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/georgehcook/gc-git-updater/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Ships its own WordPress updater (built-in updater), so new versions show up under Dashboard → Updates.

Readme github.com/georgehcook/gc-git-updater ↗

A lightweight WordPress plugin that lets WordPress update an installed theme directly from a GitHub repository. Single file, no external dependencies, no composer.

Supports public and private repos. Updates appear in Dashboard → Updates alongside core/plugin/theme updates from wordpress.org.

How it works

  1. Reads Version: from the active theme's style.css.
  2. Reads GitHub Theme URI: from the same file (custom header registered by this plugin).
  3. Polls api.github.com (cached for 12 hours) for the remote style.css and compares versions.
  4. When the remote version is higher, WordPress shows an update. Clicking it downloads the GitHub zipball, extracts it, and renames the folder back to the theme slug.

Install

As a regular plugin

  1. Download or clone this repo.
  2. Drop gc-git-updater/ into /wp-content/plugins/ on the target site.
  3. Activate from Plugins.

As a must-use plugin (force-active, no UI to deactivate)

  1. Copy just gc-git-updater.php into /wp-content/mu-plugins/. Create the directory if it does not exist.
  2. Done. mu-plugins are auto-loaded.

Set up a theme to be updatable

Add this header to the theme's style.css:

/*
Theme Name: Your Theme
Version:    1.0.0
GitHub Theme URI: https://github.com/your-org/your-theme
*/

When you ship a release, bump Version: in style.css and push to the main branch (or tag a release). The next update check picks it up.

Note: this updater pulls from the main branch zipball. If you build assets in CI, make sure the built files are committed to that branch.

Private repos: providing a token

Pick one:

Method Where Notes
Constant wp-config.php: define( 'GITHUB_ACCESS_TOKEN', 'ghp_xxx' ); Highest priority. Recommended for production.
Settings page Settings → Git Updater Stored in wp_options, fine for staging.
Filter add_filter( 'simple_git_updater_token', fn() => 'ghp_xxx' ); For programmatic injection (e.g. from a secrets manager).

Token scopes: repo for private repos, public_repo for public.

Settings page

Settings → Git Updater gives you:

  • Status of the active theme (slug, version, configured repo)
  • Override fields for repo URL and access token
  • A Check for Updates button that bypasses cache and runs a live diagnostic API call, showing the exact HTTP response from GitHub. Useful for debugging "why isn't my update showing?"

Troubleshooting

  • No update showing: hit the "Check for Updates" button on the settings page. It shows the raw HTTP response from GitHub.
  • HTTP 404: GitHub Theme URI is wrong, or the repo is private and your token doesn't have access.
  • HTTP 401/403: token missing, expired, or wrong scope.
  • Update downloads but theme breaks: built assets (e.g. dist/) aren't committed to the branch this plugin pulls from.

Notes on the class name

Internally the class is Simple_Git_Theme_Updater and the filter is simple_git_updater_token. These names are intentional, kept the same as the file-include version that previously lived inside themes, so any existing site using that pattern can migrate to this plugin without code changes.

License

MIT