Frequently Asked Questions

Update Brief summaries are based on each release's official changelog and release notes, then condensed into clear, client-friendly language.

We use detailed, carefully designed instructions to guide the summarization process, and manually spot-check summaries every day to maintain consistent quality.

You can manually review any summary whenever you want, either through the REST API or directly from the MainWP Updates screen.

Update Brief produces brief update summaries which provide a concise summary of both WordPress Core updates, and WordPress plugin updates. These easy to read brief summaries describe the main features of the updates, with essential information, as well as any security and critical aspects of the update.

WordPress developers, agencies and managed hosts can use these update summaries to effectively show the value of the on-going update and maintenance services, they are providing to their clients.

Update Brief covers all the plugins listed on WordPress.org - including WooCommerce, Elementor, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO and UpdraftPlus.

Over 30,000 plugins, updated in the last two years, already have summaries

Update summaries are also available for many popular premium plugins, including Gravity Forms, Elementor Pro, MemberPress, WooCommerce Bookings, WooCommerce Subscriptions and WP Rocket.

If you have an active subscription and a premium plugin you need is not currently listed, then please contact us.

Update Brief also covers all WordPress core updates, with summaries available for both major and minor versions.

Your plan limit is the number of different plugins you request summaries for in a month. It is not affected by how many summaries you request, or by how many sites you manage.

So if you run WooCommerce on 20 client sites and request its summary for every one of them, that counts as 1 plugin for the month. Request it again that month, for another WooCommerce release and it still counts as just 1 plugin.

Your count only goes up when you request a summary for a different plugin - Yoast SEO, say.

Each individual request also counts towards the monthly API call allowance shown with your plan, so the two limits work alongside each other.

Yes, if WordPress, or a plugin, has been updated through multiple versions at once (for example, from 1.1.1 to 1.1.5), Update Brief combines these intermediate changes into a single, easy-to-read summary.

Update Brief has summaries across the six most recent versions.

The Update Brief summaries are currently available in the English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Dutch languages.

The non English language summaries are available for all WordPress core updates, and for all WordPress and premium plugins with an update after March 1st, 2026.

If you are calling the API directly, the language code is the first segment of the request URL - use en, es, fr, de, it or nl. See the API Documentation for full details.

With the MainWP plugin you set a default language in the Update Brief settings, and can override it for individual clients - see the MainWP Documentation.

Update summaries for changed WordPress plugins are created every hour, with update summaries for premium plugins created once per day.

Update summaries for WordPress Core updates are created soon after the WordPress core update is released.

Summaries are generated from the changelog a plugin's developer publishes with each new release.

Most developers publish one, but not all do. Where there's no changelog there's nothing to summarise, so that update appears in your report without a summary.

If a developer starts publishing changelogs later, summaries will follow automatically from that point.

Plugins without a summary don't count towards your monthly plugin limit.

We email you as you approach your monthly plugin and API call limits, so you have time to change plan before you reach them.

If you do reach a limit, summaries pause until the start of the next month. You're never charged for going over.

Upgrade your plan and it takes effect immediately. Your limits rise to the new plan's straight away, and you pay only the prorated difference for the rest of your billing period. Plugins and API calls you've already used this month still count towards the new limit.

You choose which plan to trial when you sign up, and you get full access to the Update Brief API and every feature of that plan, free for 14 days.

We ask for your card details when you start your free trial, but no payment is taken when you start, or if you cancel before your free trial ends.

We will email you a reminder 7 days before your free trial ends. If Update Brief is working for you, do nothing and your plan starts when the trial ends. If it isn't, you can cancel online at any time before your trial ends and you won't be charged.

No, your subscription is monthly and auto-renews every month. You can upgrade, downgrade or cancel your Update Brief subscription at any time.

Upgrades take effect immediately, while downgrades and cancellations become effective at the end of your current billing period.

Update Brief accepts all major credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

All card payments are securely processed by Stripe.

All Update Brief subscription plans are billed in United States Dollars.

Depending on your country of residence then local taxes, or VAT, may be added to your Update Brief subscription price.

In all cases, you will see the total price, including any tax, at the Checkout before you complete your transaction.

All UK customers will have 20% VAT added to their monthly subscription, as required by HMRC regulations.

To ensure that there is no interruption in providing our brief update summaries to your clients, please follow these steps:

1) Login and then from the main menu, click on the “Your Account” link,

2) Within “Your Account” page, click on the “Manage Subscriptions” button,

3) Within the "Subscription Management" page, click on the “Update Payment Details” button,

4) Then, enter your updated payment card details in the Stripe billing portal

You can upgrade or downgrade your Update Brief subscription plan at any time.

Upgrades take effect immediately. Your limits rise to the new plan's straight away, and you pay only the prorated difference for the rest of your billing period. Anything you've already used this month still counts towards the new limit.

Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period. You keep your current plan and its limits until then, and the new lower price starts when your subscription renews

To change your subscription plan, follow these steps:

1) Login and then from the main menu, click on the “Your Account” link,

2) Within “Your Account” page, click on the “Manage Subscriptions” button,

3) Within the "Subscription Management" page, click on the “Change Subscription Plan” button,

4) Then on the displayed pricing table, select your chosen new subscription plan to proceed.

We don't believe in making you jump through hoops to cancel your subscription. If you need to cancel your Update Brief subscription, simply follow these steps:

1) Login and then from the main menu, click on the “Your Account” link,

2) Within “Your Account” page, click on the “Manage Subscriptions” button,

3) Within the "Subscription Management" page, click on the “Cancel Subscription Plan” button,

4) Then, click on the “Cancel subscription” button in the Stripe billing portal.

Your cancellation will become effective at the end of your current billing period.

All new customers get a 14-day free trial. After the trial, plans start from $19/month. View our current plans and pricing.

If your Update Brief subscription or trial ends, then your reports will run normally, but without the update summaries. You can reactivate at any time to resume - no data is lost.

Update Brief has a MainWP add-on available, to make integration very simple.

Simply install the Update Brief for MainWP plugin on your MainWP Dashboard site only. There is nothing to install on your client sites other than the MainWP plugins you already have.

Enter your Update Brief API Token and the summaries will then be available in your MainWP Updates screen for any pending updates.

If you are using MainWP Pro Reports then selecting an Update Brief template will automatically include the summaries in your client reports. The Update Brief templates are based on the standard MainWP templates and can be customized.

View the MainWP Documentation here.

Yes. Once both credentials are configured, summaries are fetched by the API automatically each time you generate a client report through MainWP Pro Reports. No manual steps are required.

Yes. Update Brief provides ready-made templates that work out of the box. You can further customise layout and branding using the standard MainWP Pro Reports template editor.

If you already have a customised template you would like to use, you can still add the Update Brief summaries - see Using your existing report template.

Yes. Go to MainWP Dashboard → Updates screens and click on the Summary button next to any pending WordPress core or plugin update.

Yes. Show Update Summary and Show Report Summary are separate toggles in the Update Brief settings, so you can control each independently.

To authenticate with the Update Brief API, you need an active subscription and an API Token. To create an API token, follow these steps:

1) Login to your Update Brief Dashboard and then from the main menu, click on the “API Tokens” link,
(Please note that this menu link is not available if you do not have an active subscription)

2) Within “API Tokens” page, enter a name for your API Token and click on the “Create” button,

3) Your API Token will then be displayed one time only,

4) Please copy your new API token. For your security, it won't be shown again,

5) To use the API, please view the API Documentation for full instructions and example usage.

The API will always return a JSON response.

For a successful plugin update summary request, the response will include the status of the request, the summary language, plugin slug, the start version and end version, and the summary:

{
  "status": 200,
  "language": "en",
  "plugin_slug": "akismet",
  "start_version": "5.6",
  "end_version": "5.7",
  "summary": "This update enhances the platform by adding Abilities API support for stats and comment checking, integrating with the MCP tool, and preparing for the new Connectors page in WordPress 7.0. It also improves the detection of automated spam submissions, makes comment history sorting more robust, and incorporates security enhancements like safer inline script output. Additionally, action hooks have been added for customizing admin page elements, and accessibility has been improved."
}

For an unsuccessful request, the response will include the status of the request and a message showing the nature of the error:

{
  "status": 401,
  "message": "Unauthorized - Please check your API authorization credentials"
}

Please view the API Documentation for full instructions and example usage.

Yes. To ensure fair and efficient use of the API for all customers, requests are rate limited to 240 requests per minute on every plan.

This is separate from your monthly API call allowance, which does vary by plan - see our plans and pricing.

Every response includes X-RateLimit headers for both the per-minute and monthly limits, so you can monitor your usage programmatically.

Please view the API Documentation for full instructions and example usage.

Yes, you can view the API Documentation here.

The documentation has full instructions in how to use the Update Brief API, as well as examples.

Yes, you can view the API Documentation here.

The documentation has full instructions in how to use the Update Brief API, as well as examples.

All the possible API error codes are fully documented in the API Documentation.