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wp_php_warning_spike

Severity: Warning Signal: php.warning — PHP warnings firing at high volume

What this signal means

PHP warnings, notices, or deprecated errors are firing at high volume. A spike means they are happening across many requests simultaneously, not just on one page.

What surprise this prevents

A plugin regression or PHP version incompatibility degrading site performance silently — path information leaking in responses, or a warning flood masking a deeper error.

Why it matters

PHP warnings indicate code quality issues or misconfigurations. A spike often means:

  • A recently updated plugin or theme introduced a regression.
  • PHP version was upgraded and deprecated functions are now firing as warnings.
  • A plugin is trying to use a function or variable that does not exist.

While warnings don't usually break pages, they can leak sensitive path information in responses and degrade performance.

Investigate

View entity alerts in Logystera →

Check the alert for:

  • payload.message — what is the warning?
  • payload.file — which plugin or theme is the source?
  • payload.fingerprint — is it one recurring warning or many different ones?
  • When did the spike start? Correlate with wp.state_change signals around the same time.

  1. Check whether a plugin or theme was recently updated. Go to Dashboard → Updates history or check your activity log. The warning is likely from the code that changed.

  2. Enable WP_DEBUG to see warnings in your log: php define( 'WP_DEBUG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_LOG', true ); define( 'WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY', false ); Then check wp-content/debug.log.

  3. If warnings are from a specific plugin: Update it, or temporarily deactivate to confirm it's the source.

  4. If warnings are Deprecated: notices after a PHP upgrade: Most deprecation warnings are non-critical but indicate code that needs updating. Report to the plugin/theme author.

  5. Suppress noise if needed while awaiting a fix: php define( 'LOGYSTERA_DISABLE_PHP_WARNINGS', true ); This stops the signals from being sent, but does not fix the underlying warnings.

When to safely ignore

If the warnings are E_DEPRECATED notices introduced by a PHP version upgrade and the affected plugin is actively maintained, the risk is low. Log the issue and report to the plugin author.

A warning spike immediately after a plugin update is expected if the plugin has a regression. Deactivate the plugin to confirm, then await an updated release.

Signal reference

{
  "event_type": "php.warning",
  "payload": {
    "message": "Deprecated: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3",
    "file": "/var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/some-plugin/src/Helper.php",
    "line": 42,
    "severity": "E_DEPRECATED",
    "fingerprint": "c3d4e5f6",
    "source": "plugin"
  }
}