If the PowerSEC plugin won't install or activate, work through this checklist.
"The link you followed has expired"
Your server's PHP upload_max_filesize or post_max_size is too small.
# php.ini
upload_max_filesize = 16M
post_max_size = 16M
Restart PHP-FPM / Apache after editing. Or install via WP-CLI:
wp plugin install powersec.zip --activate
"Fatal error on activation"
Check PHP version: PowerSEC requires PHP 7.4+. Verify at Tools → Site Health → Info → Server.
Check error log:
tail -50 /path/to/wp-content/debug.log
Common causes: missing curl or openssl extension, or low memory limit. Set define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M') in wp-config.php.
"Cannot connect to powersec.io"
Your server can't reach our API. Test:
curl -v https://powersec.io/api/health
If it times out, whitelist *.powersec.io in your host's firewall.
Plugin menu not showing
Hard-refresh: Ctrl+Shift+R. Confirm plugin is Active at /wp-admin/plugins.php. Check user has Administrator role.
Still stuck?
Open a support ticket with: WordPress version, PHP version, plugin version, exact error text, and last 50 lines of debug.log.