How ChatGPT dots handles this
Warming takes a while, which suits an agent that keeps working after you leave. You tell your dot that shop was purged after a sale launch and should be warm before the evening traffic. It calls start_preloader on shop through the xspeedhub app, then reads get_preloader_status later and brings the result back into the conversation: how many of the queued URLs are done, and any errors. You do not have to come back and ask, because a dot keeps making progress between conversations and reports what it found.
The crawl itself runs inside WordPress, not on the dot's cloud computer. The plugin reads the site's sitemap, queues the URLs and fetches a few per run, so the dot only starts the crawl, reads it and, if needed, ends it with stop_preloader; pages already warmed stay cached. If the start is refused because the preloader module is off, which it is on a fresh install, the dot can read the module with get_settings and propose switching it on with update_settings. That is a settings change, so it belongs under the same rule as a start.
A dot comes with OpenAI's defaults for which actions need approval, and custom rules set your own. Under Customize, Custom rules, write one for starting or stopping the xSpeed preloader and changing xSpeed settings, and set it to Ask before taking action, so the dot asks before each. The app was created in ChatGPT developer mode and the dot uses it through shared plugin permissions, so check under Customize, Plugins that xspeedhub is listed. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own and calls the preloader low-risk, so once a rule lets the dot act, a start runs as soon as your connection allows writes.
Set up ChatGPT dots once
Already connected? Skip to the prompts. Alternatives and troubleshooting are on the ChatGPT dots guide.
1Put your sites in xSpeed Hub
Sign in at app.xspeedcache.com with Google or email; the Hub is free and has no site cap. Then connect each WordPress site from its own dashboard: click Connect Hub in the xSpeed Cache top bar, then Connect via xSpeed Hub. Each site needs the free xSpeed Cache plugin.
2Create the xspeedhub app in ChatGPT
In ChatGPT on the web, turn on Developer mode under Settings, Security and login. Open Plugins, select the plus button and create a developer-mode app named xspeedhub with this URL and OAuth. Click Scan Tools, approve access on the xSpeed Hub page that opens, then click Create. If ChatGPT already has the app, skip this step. On a Business workspace only an admin or owner can turn on developer mode and publish the app.
https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp
3Check that your dot can see it
OpenAI says plugin permissions are shared across dots and ChatGPT. Open your dot's profile, then Customize and Plugins, and check that xspeedhub is there. That screen uses the shared ChatGPT settings, and OpenAI notes the apps available to a dot may differ, so confirm it before you hand over a task.
Dot profile > Customize > Plugins > xspeedhub
4Add a custom rule for site changes
Under Customize, Custom rules, describe the action and pick a behavior: Take action without asking, Take action if pre-approved, Ask before taking action, or Hand off to you. Add a rule that covers purging a cache, changing settings or running a speed test through xSpeed Hub, and choose Ask before taking action.
Customize > Custom rules > xSpeed Hub changes: Ask before taking action
Full ChatGPT dots setup, sign-in options and FAQ
Before you send a prompt that changes something
Reads change nothing on your sites, though contact_support emails xSpeed support. Writes run once your connection allows them, so your client's approval prompt and a read-only connection (the token's Read-only everywhere switch, or a Viewer sign-in) are the gates that matter. In a ChatGPT chat, write actions from a developer-mode app need your confirmation by default, and ChatGPT treats a tool without a read-only annotation as a write. xSpeed Hub's tools carry no such annotation. A dot comes with OpenAI's defaults for which actions need approval, and Custom rules let you set, for an action you describe, Take action without asking, Take action if pre-approved, Ask before taking action or Hand off to you. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own, so a rule that lets your dot act without asking runs a purge or a settings change as soon as your connection allows writes. Keep xSpeed Hub changes on Ask before taking action. For read-only access, sign in as a Viewer member of the workspace; the connection token's Read-only everywhere switch does not apply, because the app signs in with OAuth.
What do I ask?
Three prompts written for ChatGPT dots. More for this job are below.
Use xSpeed Hub to start the preloader on shop and tell me in this conversation when most of it is warm.
Every morning, ask xSpeed Hub for the preloader status on every site and list any that are idle. Report only, start nothing.
With xSpeed Hub, check whether the preloader module is on for blog, and ask me before you switch it on or start a crawl.
What happens, step by step
The first visitor to an uncached page pays for building it. The preloader fixes that by visiting your pages first. Through xSpeed Hub an agent can start the crawl on one site or on every site in a workspace, watch how far it has got, and stop it. The crawl runs inside WordPress in the background; the agent only starts it, reads its progress and stops it.
01
Check the cache and the preloader
get_cache_status tells the agent whether page caching is on, because there is nothing to fill when it is off. get_preloader_status shows whether a crawl is already running, so the agent does not start a second one.
02
Make sure the preloader is switched on
The preloader module is off on a fresh install, and the site refuses start_preloader until it is on. The agent can read the module with get_settings and, if you agree, switch it on with update_settings on the preloader module. The Hub tells the agent to briefly confirm intent before an update_settings call, but that is guidance to the agent, not a lock.
03
Start the crawl
start_preloader makes the site read its sitemap, follow any nested sitemap indexes, drop URLs that your cache exclusion rules skip, and queue the rest. The call returns once the queue is built; the pages are then fetched in the background, a few per run. For every site at once the agent passes site: "all", and the Hub starts the sites one after another with a one-second pause.
04
Watch the progress
get_preloader_status reports whether a crawl is running, how many URLs it has processed out of the total, the last URL it visited and the most recent errors. It works on one site at a time, so for several sites the agent calls it once per site.
05
Read what failed
A page that answers 403 or 406 usually means a server firewall is blocking the warmer by its user-agent, not that the page is broken. The status message names the user-agent to allow. A crawl that queues no URLs is reported as an error with the reason, not as a success.
06
Stop it if the server struggles
stop_preloader ends a running crawl. It is safe mid-run: pages already warmed stay cached. The agent can stop one site or every site in the workspace.
Reference
| Start and stop | start_preloader and stop_preloader (write) |
|---|---|
| Progress | get_preloader_status (read): running or not, processed out of total, last URL, recent errors |
| What gets crawled | The sitemap (the WordPress one at /wp-sitemap.xml unless you set another), nested indexes followed, excluded URLs skipped |
| Needs | The preloader module switched on (it is off by default) and page caching on |
| Pages per run | 5 by default, 1 to 50, set in the preloader module |
| Schedule setting | manual, hourly, daily or weekly, set in the preloader module |
| Every site at once | start_preloader and stop_preloader accept site: "all"; get_preloader_status does not |
| Fan-out pacing | Sites start one after another with a 1 second pause, one result per site |
| Warmer user-agent | xSpeed-Warmer/1.0, the string a firewall rule would need to allow |
| Stopping | Safe mid-run; warmed pages stay cached |
| Read-only access | A Viewer member's sign-in, or the connection token with Read-only everywhere on: start_preloader and stop_preloader are refused; get_preloader_status works. An OAuth sign-in by anyone else gets the scopes the client asks for. |
| Confirmation | None on the Hub; your client's prompt is the gate |
Rules worth keeping
- Warm after a purge, not instead of one. The Hub tells the agent that starting the preloader after a purge saves the next visitor from paying for the rebuild.
- A crawl requests every page in the sitemap, so it adds load to the origin. Start with one site, and on a small host keep Pages per run low or stop the crawl if the site slows.
- start_preloader and stop_preloader are write tools. The Hub calls the preloader low-risk and only asks the agent to confirm when the target site is unclear or the call covers every site, so your client's approval prompt and read-only access (a Viewer sign-in, or the connection token with Read-only everywhere on) are the gates that matter.
- A fan-out only starts the crawls. Check each site with get_preloader_status afterwards, and treat some sites failing to start as a partial result, not a failure of the whole call.
Good to know with ChatGPT dots
A scheduled warm-up is where this goes wrong quietly. A dot can run a recurring task, and a nightly start_preloader is tempting, but a custom rule set to Take action without asking would let it run with nobody reading the result. The plugin already has its own Schedule setting in the preloader module, manual, hourly, daily or weekly, so use that for routine warming and keep the dot's scheduled task to a report from get_preloader_status. The app signs in with OAuth, and the Hub's Read-only everywhere switch belongs to the connection token, so it does not apply here; for a dot that should only report, sign in as a Viewer member. Pause in the dot's profile menu stops the dot, not a crawl already running in WordPress, so ask for stop_preloader to end that.
More prompts for this job
They work in any client connected to xSpeed Hub.
Use xSpeed Hub to start the preloader on shop and tell me how many URLs it queued.
Using xSpeed Hub, how far through its crawl is blog? Show processed against total and any errors.
With xSpeed Hub, purge the cache on docs, then warm it again.
Use xSpeed Hub to start the preloader on every site in my workspace and tell me which ones refused.
Use xSpeed Hub to stop the preloader on shop. It is slowing the server down.
The preloader on shop says it is disabled. Use xSpeed Hub to turn the module on, then start the crawl.
Using xSpeed Hub, which of my sites has no running crawl and a low hit ratio?
Frequently asked questions
Keep going
Warm the cache with other agents
More with ChatGPT dots
Documentation
- How to warm your cache ahead of visitors
- How to crawl your sitemap
- How to enable Page Cache
- Managing your fleet with xSpeed Hub
- How to write prompts for xSpeed Hub
- ChatGPT dots + xSpeed
- Every AI agent that works with xSpeed
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