REST API Guard

The WordPress REST API is public by default and shares a good deal of information about your site with anyone who asks. REST API Guard makes it easy to decide who can see what. Out of the box, the plugin:

• Blocks anonymous access to the users endpoint (/wp/v2/users) so usernames aren't exposed.
• Blocks anonymous access to the REST API index (/) and namespace endpoints (/wp/v2) so visitors can't list your plugins and post types.

It can also:

• Block all anonymous access to the REST API.
• Allow anonymous access only to specific routes (allowlist), or block specific routes (denylist).
• Require anonymous requests to include a JSON Web Token (JWT).
• Let users authenticate with a JWT tied to their account.
• Generate, list, and revoke tokens from the settings page or WP-CLI.

Every option is available on the settings page (Settings → REST API Guard) and as a filter for configuring the plugin in code. A setting controlled by a filter is shown as read-only on the settings page. Restrict access to user information Anonymous access to /wp/v2/users is blocked by default. To allow it: add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_allow_user_access', '__return_true' ); Restrict access to the index and namespace endpoints Anonymous access to the index (/) and namespace (/wp/v2) endpoints is blocked by default. To allow it: add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_allow_index_access', '__return_true' ); add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_allow_namespace_access', '__return_true' ); Block all anonymous access add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_prevent_anonymous_access', '__return_true' ); Allow anonymous access to specific routes (allowlist) When an allowlist is set, anonymous requests to any route not on the list are denied. The allowlist takes priority over the denylist. Use * as a wildcard. add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_anonymous_requests_allowlist', fn () => [ '/wp/v2/posts', '/custom-namespace/v1/public/', ] ); Deny anonymous access to specific routes (denylist) Anonymous requests to routes on the denylist are denied. All other routes are allowed. Use * as a wildcard. add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_anonymous_requests_denylist', fn () => [ '/wp/v2/comments', '/custom-namespace/v1/private/', ] ); Require a JSON Web Token (JWT) for anonymous requests Anonymous requests can be required to send a token in an Authorization: Bearer <token> header: add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_authentication_jwt', '__return_true' ); Tokens are expected to have an audience of wordpress-rest-api and an issuer of the site URL. Both can be changed: add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_jwt_audience', fn () => 'custom-audience' ); add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_jwt_issuer', fn () => 'https://example.com' ); Tokens are signed with a secret generated automatically and stored in the rest_api_guard_jwt_secret option. It can also be set in code: add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_jwt_secret', fn () => 'my-custom-secret' ); Authenticate users with a JWT Tokens can also be tied to a user. A request with a user token is treated as that user, with the same permissions they have: add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_user_authentication_jwt', '__return_true' ); Generate, list, and revoke tokens Once JWT authentication is enabled, tokens can be generated from the Tokens tab of the settings page. Give each one a name so you can tell them apart later, and optionally tie it to a user or set an expiration. The token is shown once after it's generated, so copy it somewhere safe. The same tab lists every token the plugin has issued, and any of them can be revoked. A revoked token stops working right away. Tokens can also be managed with WP-CLI: wp rest-api-guard generate-jwt [--name=] [--user=] [--expiration=] wp rest-api-guard list-jwts wp rest-api-guard revoke-jwt Or generated in code: $token = \Alley\WP\REST_API_Guard\generate_jwt( expiration: HOUR_IN_SECONDS, // Optional. Seconds until the token expires. user: 1, // Optional. A user ID or WP_User. name: 'Mobile App', // Optional. A name to identify the token by. ); Tokens issued before version 1.5.0 aren't tracked, so they can't be listed or revoked one at a time. They're still accepted by default. To reject them: add_filter( 'rest_api_guard_allow_untracked_jwt', '__return_false' ); Changing the rest_api_guard_jwt_secret option invalidates every token issued so far, tracked or not. Caching Responses to REST API requests that include an Authorization header are sent with no-cache headers so a page cache or CDN doesn't store them.

1. Install the plugin from the Plugins → Add New screen, or upload it to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
2. Activate the plugin from the Plugins screen.
3. Configure it from Settings → REST API Guard.

The plugin can also be installed with Composer: composer require alleyinteractive/wp-rest-api-guard

1.5.0

• Track issued JWTs and allow them to be revoked from the settings page or WP-CLI.
• Add a Tokens tab to the settings page to generate, list, and revoke JWTs when JWT authentication is enabled.
• Add the rest_api_guard_allow_untracked_jwt filter to reject JWTs issued before tracking.
• Send no-cache headers on REST API requests that include an Authorization header.

1.4.2

• Prevent mixed-case REST API routes from bypassing anonymous access restrictions.
• Add support for WordPress 7.1.
• Require PHP 8.3+.
• Update firebase/php-jwt to version 7.

1.4.1

• No changes, release to trigger deployment to WordPress.org.

1.4.0

• Add support for WordPress 6.8.
• Require PHP 8.1+.

1.3.1

• Ignore JWT authentication for the REST API if the user is already authenticated.

1.3.0

• Allow claims to be added to a generated JWT via filter.
• Don't check OPTIONS requests by default.

1.2.0

• Add support for authenticated users interacting with the REST API.
• Allow settings to be completely disabled via code.
• Increase the default length of the JWT secret to 32 characters.

1.1.0

• Require PHP 8.0.
• Add support for anonymous authentication with a JSON Web Token (JWT).

The full changelog is available on GitHub.