Privacy and crash reports
WP Instances runs on your computer. Your sites, databases, backups and caught emails stay on your computer. This page lists everything that does leave it, and how to turn off what's optional.
Anonymous crash reports
When something goes wrong, WP Instances sends an error report to warcal.dev so the problem can be fixed. Reports are on by default. A notice on first start says so, with OK and Turn off buttons.
When a report is sent
- WP Instances itself hits an unexpected error, crashes or stops responding.
- The dashboard hits an error.
- A job fails: creating, importing, duplicating, deleting, switching PHP, adding a PHP version or changing ports.
- Your sites (the Docker stack) or the app fail to start.
No report is sent when:
- a job stops because of something you entered: a name that's taken, a file in the wrong place, a PHP version that doesn't exist and so on. WP Instances just tells you.
- an action needs a license.
- Docker Desktop or WSL isn't installed.
What a report contains
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| The kind of problem | job-failed, startup, dashboard-error |
| The error message and where in WP Instances it happened (stack trace) | |
| The job's name, or where in the dashboard the error happened | Create <site> |
| WP Instances version | 1.8.6 |
| Windows version and architecture | 10.0.26100 x64 |
| Electron, Node.js and Docker versions | |
| Your language setting | en-US |
| Memory, in whole GB | 32 |
| A random installation ID | Not linked to your computer or your license |
| The time |
What's removed first
Before a report leaves your PC, WP Instances removes:
- your Windows home folder (replaced with
~) and your Windows user name - site addresses, site folders and database names
- site names (of three characters or more)
- email addresses
- license keys
A report never contains site content, files, databases, emails, your name or your license key.
Limits
- At most 3 reports per problem each time WP Instances runs.
- Offline? Reports wait in
%APPDATA%\WP Instances\data\crash-queue.json(at most 20) and are sent shortly after the next start.
Reports go to https://warcal.dev/api/wpx/crash. They're used only to find and fix problems, as the license agreement says.
Turn crash reports off
- Click Settings in the status bar and switch off Send anonymous crash reports, or
- click Turn off on the notice at first start.
Turning reports off also deletes any reports still waiting to be sent. Nothing more is sent until you turn them on again. The setting is stored in %APPDATA%\WP Instances\data\telemetry.json.
License checks
Activating a license, deactivating it, and the periodic check (about once a week) talk to Freemius, which sells and manages WP Instances licenses. They send:
- your license key
- a computer ID: a one-way hash of Windows' machine ID
- your computer's name (on activation)
During the trial, nothing is sent. See License and trial.
Other connections
WP Instances also connects to the internet to download what your sites need:
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Docker images (PHP, MariaDB, nginx, Mailpit, phpMyAdmin) and their system packages | On first start, the first time you use a PHP version or phpMyAdmin, and when you add a PHP version |
| WordPress | On first start, about once a week for new sites, and when a restored backup needs a specific version |
| Query Monitor, from wordpress.org | Only when you click Install & activate on the Debug tab |
| Gravatar | The Log in as user list shows each user's Gravatar picture. It asks gravatar.com for the picture by a hash of the user's email address. Users without one get their initials. |
The sites themselves can reach the internet like any WordPress site, for example to check for plugin updates. Their email can't: every message is caught on your PC. See Mail.
Nothing is reachable from other computers
The dashboard, the sites, the database, the mail inbox and phpMyAdmin all listen on 127.0.0.1. Other computers on your network can't reach them. The dashboard also refuses requests that don't come from its own pages.
Site previews are taken with a separate Microsoft Edge profile kept in %APPDATA%\WP Instances\data\thumbs. Your own Edge profile, history and settings are not used.