ScubaGPT Safety Guardrails – Quick Reference

🎯 What It Does

Prevents the ScubaGPT plugin from ever crashing your WordPress site, no matter what goes wrong.

🚨 Error Types You Might See

1. “Failed to Load”

Cause: Missing or corrupted plugin files
Solution: Re-upload complete plugin package
Site Impact: None – site works normally

2. “Activation Failed”

Cause: PHP version, WordPress version, or missing extensions
Solution: Check requirements notice, upgrade if needed
Site Impact: None – site works normally

3. “Emergency Shutdown”

Cause: Plugin had 3 fatal errors
Solution: Click “Clear Errors and Reset”, then reinstall
Site Impact: None – plugin auto-disabled itself

4. “Health Check Warning”

Cause: Auto-repair couldn’t fix an issue
Solution: Follow instructions in notice
Site Impact: Minimal – plugin may have reduced functionality

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⚡ Quick Recovery Steps

If Plugin Won’t Activate

1. Read the error message carefully
2. Check system requirements:

• PHP 8.0 or higher
• WordPress 6.0 or higher
• Required extensions: curl, json, mbstring, mysqli

1. Re-upload complete plugin package if files missing
2. Try activating again

If Emergency Shutdown Triggered

1. Note the error details shown
2. Click “Clear Errors and Reset” button
3. Delete plugin folder
4. Upload fresh plugin package
5. Activate again

If Health Warning Appears

1. Read list of issues
2. Dismiss notice if issues are warnings only
3. For critical issues, reinstall plugin
4. Check WordPress error logs for details

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🔧 Admin Tools

Clear Errors Button

Location: Emergency Shutdown notice
What It Does: Resets all error counters and stored errors
When To Use: Before attempting to reactivate after emergency shutdown

Dismiss Button

Location: Most warning notices
What It Does: Hides the notice
When To Use: After reading and noting the information

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📊 System Requirements

Requirement	Minimum	Checked At
PHP Version	8.0	Activation
WordPress Version	6.0	Activation
PHP Extensions	curl, json, mbstring, mysqli	Activation
Memory Limit	64MB	Activation
Upload Directory	Writable	Activation
Critical Files	All present	Activation + Hourly
Database Tables	All created	Activation + Hourly

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🔍 Behind The Scenes

What Runs Automatically

On Activation:

• ✅ System requirements check
• ✅ File validation
• ✅ Database table creation
• ✅ Table verification

Every Hour (while plugin active):

• ✅ Critical files check
• ✅ Database tables check
• ✅ Auto-repair if issues found

On Every Page Load:

• ✅ Fatal error detection (only if error occurs)

On Plugin Deactivation:

• ✅ Error counter reset

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📝 Options Stored

The plugin stores error information in WordPress options:

• scubagpt_activation_status – Current status
• scubagpt_error_count – Fatal error counter
• scubagpt_fatal_error – Last fatal error details
• scubagpt_emergency_shutdown – Shutdown reason
• scubagpt_health_issues – Current health problems

Cleared by: “Clear Errors and Reset” button

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⚠️ What To Do If…

Site Shows White Screen

This should never happen with safety guardrails, but if it does:

1. Access site via FTP/SSH
2. Rename plugin folder: scubagpt-chatbot → scubagpt-chatbot-disabled
3. Site will immediately recover
4. Check error logs
5. Report issue with log details

Plugin Keeps Deactivating

Cause: Hitting 3 fatal errors repeatedly
Solution:

1. Check error logs for actual error
2. Fix underlying issue (usually hosting/environment)
3. Clear errors
4. Try clean install

Can’t Clear Errors

Rare, but possible if options won’t save:

1. Via WP-CLI:

   wp option delete scubagpt_activation_error
   wp option delete scubagpt_emergency_shutdown
   wp option delete scubagpt_fatal_error
   wp option delete scubagpt_error_count

1. Or via phpMyAdmin:

   DELETE FROM wp_options WHERE option_name LIKE 'scubagpt_%error%';

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📖 Full Documentation

Detailed Guide: PLUGIN-SAFETY-GUARDRAILS.md
Implementation Summary: SAFETY-GUARDRAILS-IMPLEMENTATION-SUMMARY.md
This File: SAFETY-GUARDRAILS-QUICK-REFERENCE.md

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💡 Key Takeaways

1. ✅ Your site is protected – Plugin cannot crash your WordPress site
2. ✅ Clear error messages – You’ll always know what went wrong
3. ✅ Easy recovery – One-click tools to fix most issues
4. ✅ Automatic repairs – Many issues fix themselves
5. ✅ No technical knowledge required – Step-by-step instructions provided

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🆘 Need Help?

1. Check error logs at /wp-content/debug.log
2. Read the error message carefully – it contains specific instructions
3. Try the suggested solution first
4. Check full documentation in PLUGIN-SAFETY-GUARDRAILS.md
5. Contact support with error log details if issue persists

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Version: 1.1.0
Last Updated: January 7, 2026
Protection Level: Maximum