Superpowers Sage:wp Performance

WordPress Performance Optimization

When to Use

• Page load times are slow or degrading
• Core Web Vitals scores are poor (LCP > 2.5s, INP > 200ms, CLS > 0.1)
• Database queries are excessive or slow (QM shows > 50 queries or queries > 50ms)
• Object cache hit rates are low (< 90%)
• Autoloaded options table is bloated (> 500KB total)
• N+1 query patterns detected in Eloquent models
• Hook execution is slow or excessive
• REST API responses are slow

Scripts

# Dump Query Monitor data (pass optional URL, defaults to <dirname>.lndo.site)
bash skills/wp-performance/scripts/query-monitor-dump.sh
bash skills/wp-performance/scripts/query-monitor-dump.sh https://mysite.lndo.site

# Audit autoloaded options (sorted by size, top 20)
bash skills/wp-performance/scripts/autoload-audit.sh

Scripts: scripts/query-monitor-dump.sh · scripts/autoload-audit.sh

Procedure

Step 1 — Install Query Monitor

Always profile before optimizing. Never optimize blind.

lando wp plugin install query-monitor --activate

If the db.php symlink fails (permissions):

lando ssh -c "ln -sf /app/wp/wp-content/plugins/query-monitor/wp-content/db.php /app/wp/wp-content/db.php"

Key constants (Bedrock config/application.php):

Config::define('QM_DB_EXPENSIVE', 0.05);   // seconds threshold for slow queries
Config::define('QM_ENABLE_CAPS_PANEL', true);

See references/query-monitor.md for all panels, QM timers, custom logging, and how to export data as JSON.

Step 2 — Identify the Bottleneck

Follow this isolation sequence:

1. Bootstrap — plugins_loaded, Acorn boot, autoloaded options
2. Main query — WP_Query execution time, parameter validation
3. Template rendering — Blade, view composers, ACF block with() queries
4. Frontend — Vite bundle size, image loading, paint timing

QM toolbar shows: page generation time, peak memory, SQL duration, query count.

Step 3 — Fix the Top Issues

N+1 Queries (most common)

Enable lazy loading prevention in development:

// app/Providers/AppServiceProvider.php
Model::preventLazyLoading(! app()->isProduction());

Fix with eager loading:

// Bad (N+1)
$posts = Post::all();
foreach ($posts as $post) { echo $post->author->name; }

// Good (2 queries total)
$posts = Post::with('author')->get();

For native WP meta loops:

update_post_meta_cache($postIds);  // batch-load all meta in one query
foreach ($postIds as $id) {
    $price = get_post_meta($id, 'price', true);  // served from cache
}

See references/n-plus-one.md for IN query batching, ACF block patterns, and full detection workflow.

Autoloaded Options Bloat

bash skills/wp-performance/scripts/autoload-audit.sh

Fix oversized options:

lando wp option update <option_name> --autoload=no

Target: total autoloaded size < 500KB.

See references/autoload.md for audit workflow, common plugin culprits, and when to set autoload=no.

Object Cache / Redis

lando redis-cli ping   # → PONG

Monitor hit rates in QM's Object Cache panel. Target: > 90%.

$posts = wp_cache_get("category-posts-{$id}", 'my-plugin');
if (false === $posts) {
    $posts = get_posts(['category' => $id, 'posts_per_page' => 10]);
    wp_cache_set("category-posts-{$id}", $posts, 'my-plugin', HOUR_IN_SECONDS);
}

Every cache write requires a documented invalidation strategy. Bust on save_post, edited_term, or the relevant update hook.

See references/caching.md for transients, Cache::remember(), full-page caching, and group invalidation.

Database Query Optimization

• Add indexes for columns in WHERE, ORDER BY, JOIN
• Always use $wpdb->prepare() for raw queries
• Avoid SELECT * — specify columns
• Use Eloquent query scopes to encapsulate reusable logic
• $wpdb->show_errors() in development only — never in production

Vite Bundle Size

lando theme-build -- --analyze   # open bundle analyser

• Dynamic imports: const m = await import('./heavy-module.js')
• Split large vendor libraries via manualChunks in vite.config.js
• Target: no single chunk > 200KB gzipped

Core Web Vitals

Always declare width and height on images. Preload the LCP image:

<link rel="preload" as="image" href="{{ $heroImageUrl }}" fetchpriority="high">

See references/core-web-vitals.md for full LCP/INP/CLS remediation, critical CSS with Vite, and third-party script strategies.

Step 4 — Deep Profiling (if bottleneck unclear)

Use QM timers for targeted code sections:

do_action('qm/start', 'my-operation');
$result = $this->expensiveComputation();
do_action('qm/stop', 'my-operation');

For call-graph analysis, use Xdebug profiler in Lando:

# .lando.yml
services:
  appserver:
    xdebug: profile

Trigger: append ?XDEBUG_PROFILE=1 to the URL.

See references/profiling.md for Xdebug setup, microtime() patterns, and WP hook profiling (pre_get_posts, save_post).

Cron: Action Scheduler vs wp-cron

• wp-cron: triggered by page visits, unreliable under low traffic
• Action Scheduler: queue-based, retries, logging, concurrent processing
• Development: lando wp cron event run --due-now
• Production: disable wp-cron (DISABLE_WP_CRON=true) and use real system cron

Critical Rules

1. Check Query Monitor before optimizing. Profile first — never optimize blind.
2. Benchmark before and after every change. Record QM query count, page time, and memory before the fix; verify improvement after.
3. $wpdb->show_errors() only in development. Never leave error display enabled in staging or production — it leaks sensitive schema information.
4. Every cache write requires an invalidation strategy. Document the hook and timing for every wp_cache_set, set_transient, or Cache::remember().
5. Do not use $wpdb->show_errors() in production. Use QM logging instead.

Verification

• QM shows no duplicate queries and no queries > 50ms
• Autoloaded options total size < 500KB
• No N+1 patterns (Model::preventLazyLoading() throws no exceptions)
• Redis object cache hit rate > 90%
• Core Web Vitals pass: LCP < 2.5s, INP < 200ms, CLS < 0.1
• Page load time improved from baseline measurement
• Vite bundle sizes reasonable (no single chunk > 200KB gzipped)
• QM PHP Errors panel clean — no warnings or deprecations from theme
• QM HTTP API Calls panel shows no timeouts or errors

Failure modes

Escalation

• Performance issues persist after all fixes → profile with Xdebug or Blackfire
• Database bottlenecks beyond query optimization → DBA for schema/read replica
• CWV blocked by third-party scripts → document constraint, escalate to project lead
• Infrastructure-level issues (server response time, CDN) → hosting/DevOps