Troubleshoot SophMate Provider Connections and PHP Extensions

Outcome

By the end of this tutorial, you will know how to use SophMate for SophMate provider connection troubleshooting while keeping the work reviewable inside WordPress.

Scenario

An administrator has entered a provider key, but the connection test or diagnostics report shows an error before Copilot can be used.

What the image shows

The tutorial image shows Diagnostics and Support context where environment checks, connectivity, plugin inventory, extensions, and support reports are prepared.

Before you begin

• Confirm SophMate is active and the relevant module is available to your user role.
• Check provider, budget, and approval settings before asking SophMate to draft or execute work.
• Keep customer data, API keys, and private credentials out of prompts unless the workflow is explicitly designed to handle that context.

Guardrail

Use these records to explain behavior without disclosing secrets or unnecessary customer data.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Contacting support without fresh diagnostics and reproduction steps.
• Sending raw server details or screenshots that include secrets.
• Treating a warning as resolved without rerunning the check after the fix.

Step 1: Start from Diagnostics

Open SophMate > Diagnostics and refresh environment and connectivity checks. Capture the exact failing check instead of guessing from the provider settings screen alone.

Step 2: Confirm required PHP extensions

Verify PHP version, OpenSSL, DOM, iconv, cURL or outbound HTTPS support, and any hosting-level restrictions shown in the report. Missing extensions should be fixed at the server or hosting control panel level.

Step 3: Check provider key ownership

Confirm the key belongs to the intended provider account, has available billing or credits, and was copied without leading spaces, quotes, or expired project restrictions.

Step 4: Test outbound HTTPS

If the key is valid but the test fails, ask the host to confirm that the WordPress server can reach the provider endpoint over HTTPS and that no firewall, proxy, or SSL inspection rule blocks the request.

Step 5: Escalate with a safe report

If the issue remains, send the diagnostics report, exact timestamp, affected provider, WordPress/PHP versions, and reproduction steps. Do not send API keys or raw server secrets.

Review checklist

• The failing check is identified by name.
• Required PHP extensions are present.
• Support evidence excludes provider keys and secrets.

Success signal

The diagnostics workflow is successful when support can see the environment state, failed check, and reproduction steps without receiving provider keys or unnecessary private data.

What to document

Document the failing diagnostics check, provider name, WordPress and PHP versions, required extension status, outbound HTTPS result, and the exact time of the failed test. Never document provider keys, raw secrets, or private server credentials.

Owner and cadence

The site administrator or hosting owner should run this check during setup, after provider changes, after hosting changes, and whenever Copilot or Image Studio reports connection failures.

Escalate when

Escalate to the host when PHP extensions, outbound HTTPS, DNS, firewall, or SSL issues fail. Escalate to the provider when billing, account limits, model access, or key restrictions are the likely cause.

Related SophMate paths

• Features/Diagnostics
• Tutorials/Install Sophmate Provider Test

Next action

Run this workflow on a low-risk example first. Once the result is easy to review and explain, decide whether it should become a repeatable playbook, workflow, watcher, agent, or documented team process.