Nexus Sync self-updates

One-click push from your local WordPress site to a Nexus-managed staging site.

Bundles your wp-content/ (themes, plugins, mu-plugins, optionally uploads) plus a fresh database dump, sends it to your Nexus instance over an authenticated HTTPS upload, and lets the server extract → restore DB → rewrite URLs (wp search-replace handles serialized data correctly) → flush cache.

Why

Maintaining localhost ↔ staging parity by hand is painful. WordPress bakes its absolute site URL into serialized data across wp_options, wp_postmeta, post content, theme settings — a plain sed corrupts it. Plugins like All-in-One WP Migration solve the same problem but route through their own service. Nexus Sync points the same workflow at your infrastructure.

How it works

1. Plugin (this repo) runs on your local WP install. Builds a .tar.gz containing manifest.json + db.sql + wp-content/.
2. Nexus (the dashboard) receives the upload at POST /api/sync/upload/{site}, then on POST /api/sync/apply/{site} does:
   • Atomically swaps the staging site's wp-content/
   • Restores the DB from the bundle
   • Runs wp search-replace from your local URL to the staging URL
   • Flushes object cache

Bundle structure:

manifest.json    { "format": "nexus-sync/1", "source_url": "https://my.local",
                   "include_uploads": true, "wp_version": "6.4.2",
                   "exported_at": "2026-05-04T18:00:00Z" }
db.sql           mysqldump --single-transaction
wp-content/      themes, plugins (minus this one), mu-plugins, optionally uploads

The bundle ships only wp-content/ — root WP files (wp-config.php, salts, .htaccess) on the staging site stay untouched. That separation is intentional: code and content come from local, environment from server.

Requirements

• WordPress 5.8+
• PHP 7.4+
• tar, gzip, and mysqldump available on PATH (every realistic local WP dev env: Docker, Local, Laragon, MAMP, WSL, macOS)
• A running Nexus instance you have access to, with a personal API token

Install

1. Download the latest .zip from the Releases page.
2. WP Admin → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin → choose the .zip → Install Now → Activate.
3. Go to Tools → Nexus Sync.

Configure

1. Nexus URL — the base URL of your dashboard, e.g. https://dev.sour.lt.
2. API token — generate one at Account → API tokens in the Nexus dashboard. Paste here. (Tokens look like nxs_…. They're shown once; if you lose it, generate a new one and revoke the old.)
3. Click Test connection — should report your username + role.
4. Click Refresh to load the list of WordPress sites you own.
5. Pick a target. Save settings.
6. Sync now when you're ready.

Settings

Sync direction

This is push-only for now: local → staging. Pull (staging → local) is a planned Phase 2 feature once we figure out the right way to handle "the editor published a post on staging" conflicts.

Security notes

• The API token is stored as a plain WP option. Anyone with manage_options (or DB access) on this site can read it. Treat it like any other admin secret.
• The token can read or write any site that user owns on Nexus. Revoke it if the laptop is lost.
• Uploads stream to the server over HTTPS via cURL. No file ever lands in $_FILES or PHP memory.
• The wp search-replace runs server-side on the staging install — your local DB is never opened by Nexus.

Limits

• Single-shot upload. Bundle must fit in the Nexus instance's post_max_size (default 256M, bumpable per-site in Site Settings → PHP). A WP install with a heavy uploads dir may exceed this — for now, turn off "Include uploads" or bump the limit.
• No progress streaming yet. The "Sync now" UI shows step states but the actual work happens in one HTTPS round-trip server-side. Big bundles take a while.

Troubleshooting

License

GPL-2.0-or-later. See LICENSE.