Connect over SSH · Cloudways
Connect a WordPress site over SSH: Cloudways
You run Cloudways. Adding WebCrew's SSH key takes ten minutes and unlocks the file-level checks, faster updates with a full restore point, and cleanup help when a site is compromised. The key goes to the site's own user, never root, and you revoke it from your dashboard at any time.
Free for one site. No card. Nothing on the site changes by connecting it.
Step by step
Adding the WebCrew key in Cloudways
Before you start: your WebCrew dashboard open at Add a site → SSH (that is where the public key is), and a login to Cloudways with rights on the site.
Prefer an application user
Application → Access Details → Application Credentials: create or pick a user for this one application. That keeps the key scoped to one site.
Add the WebCrew key
Server → Master Credentials → SSH Public Keys → Add key, or the same under the application's credentials when the platform offers it there.
Read host and path
Host: the server's public IP. Path: applications/<app-folder>/public_html, shown under Access Details.
Enter host, user and path in WebCrew
Use the application user, not the master user, unless the host only allows keys on the master.
Good to know
The master user reaches every application on the server. WebCrew works with it, but a per-application user is the better scope.
Menu names follow Cloudways's current release. If yours looks different, the same setting lives in the panel's SSH or Security section.
Why SSH
What the key unlocks that the plugin cannot reach
The connector plugin sees what WordPress reports. SSH sees the files themselves.
Plugin and SSH side by side- File-level integrity. Every file compared, not only what WordPress reports; changed and added files listed with their time.
- Restore points at file and database level. The way back covers the whole site, not one plugin.
- Cleanup help when a site is compromised. Changed core files replaced, unknown administrators removed, the plugin that let the attacker in updated or removed, with a restore point before each step. No guarantee it stays clean; no tool can give one.
- Staging copies, when they ship.
Questions
Before you add the key
Does the key give WebCrew root?
No. You add it for the site's own user. WebCrew can do what that user can do in that user's folders, and nothing else. Every action taken over the key is in the site's log.
My host does not allow SSH on my plan.
Use the connector plugin. Monitoring, the security scan, vulnerability matching, updates with a restore point and the assistant all work through it. File-level cleanup then becomes a list of steps for you or the host.
Can I remove the key later?
Yes. Revoke it in your WebCrew dashboard, or delete it in Cloudways. The site keeps running exactly as before; only the deeper checks stop.
Do I still need the connector plugin?
Not for monitoring or updates. Keep it if you want the assistant inside wp-admin later; the two work side by side on one site.
Do I have to install anything besides Cloudways?
One of two things: the WebCrew connector plugin, uploaded in wp-admin like any plugin, or one SSH key for the site's own user. Nothing else changes on the site.
Can I use my own Claude or ChatGPT with a site that runs Cloudways?
Yes. Connect your tool to WebCrew over MCP and ask about the site from your own chat. Reading is instant; changes are made for you, logged, and undone in one click.
What does it cost for a site running Cloudways?
The first site is free, for as long as you like. Every site after that is billed per site per day, monthly, for the days it was on. Plugins are never counted.
Is my content or Cloudways's data used to train anything?
No. Your content is never sold and never used to train a model, by WebCrew or by a provider it uses.
What if Cloudways is a premium plugin with a licence?
It updates through its own licence. WebCrew shows the pending version, takes the restore point first and keeps the code difference, the same as for any other plugin.
Other panels
Not Cloudways? Pick your panel
Add the key now. The first file-level check is done within the hour.
Free for one site. No card.