Metorik Docs
Store Connection Errors

Fix "Your site sent us to a different page" or "We couldn't find your store's data at this address"

What this error means

Metorik connects to your store through the WooCommerce REST API, at an address like https://your-store.com/wp-json/wc/v3/. Instead of data, your site sent back a regular web page: it either redirected us (to your homepage, a login page or another domain) or said the page doesn't exist (a 404). In Metorik, you'll see Your site sent us to a different page or We couldn't find your store's data at this address.

The cause is almost always the store address you entered (for example, it redirects to the www version or a different domain), your permalinks, or WooCommerce not being active at that address.

Step 1: Check the API in your browser

  1. Open a private or incognito browser window, so you see your site the same way Metorik does (logged out).

  2. Go to https://your-store.com/wp-json/wc/v3/, replacing your-store.com with your store's address.

  3. If everything is working, you'll see a page of plain text (JSON data) that includes "namespace":"wc/v3".

If you see something else:

  • A different domain, or the http or www version: the URL doesn't match your site, or a redirect rule is in the way (Steps 2 and 5).

  • A "Page not found" or 404 page: the URL or permalinks need fixing (Steps 2 and 3).

  • No route was found matching the URL and request method: WooCommerce isn't installed or active at that address. Check you entered the right site, and that WooCommerce is active under Plugins on it (Step 2).

  • Your homepage, a login page or My account: a plugin is redirecting logged-out visitors (Step 4).

  • A short error such as rest_login_required: a plugin is restricting the REST API (Step 6).

Two more quick checks:

  1. Try https://your-store.com/?rest_route=/wc/v3, because if that shows data but /wp-json/wc/v3/ doesn't, your permalinks are the problem (how this works).

  2. In WordPress, go to Tools → Site Health and look on the Status tab for "The REST API encountered an error" or "The REST API encountered an unexpected result" (Site Health guide).

Step 2: Check the store URL you entered

  1. In WordPress, go to Settings → General and copy the Site Address (URL) (WordPress guide).

  2. Use exactly that address in Metorik, including https:// and including (or leaving out) www. the same way.

  3. Enter the site's root address, not a sub-page like /shop or /my-account.

  4. If your Site Address (URL) includes a folder, such as https://example.com/store, include that folder in Metorik too.

  5. If you've moved domains or switched to https, use the new address.

  6. If your storefront is a separate front-end site (a "headless" setup, often hosted somewhere like Netlify or Vercel), enter the address of your WordPress site, where your WooCommerce admin lives, not the storefront's address.

  7. Make sure WooCommerce is installed and active on the site at that address.

The WooCommerce REST API doesn't work with Plain permalinks.

  1. In WordPress, go to Settings → Permalinks (WordPress guide).

  2. If Plain is selected, choose any other option, such as Post name.

  3. Click Save Changes, even if you didn't change anything, to refresh your site's URL rules.

  4. If WordPress shows "You should update your .htaccess now", copy the rules at the bottom of the page into your .htaccess file, or ask your host to.

  5. If your host uses Nginx, ask them to confirm your site's config includes try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args; (WordPress Nginx guide).

Step 4: Force-login, private site, coming-soon and membership plugins

These plugins send logged-out visitors (including Metorik) to a login page, so they're the usual cause when Step 1 ends at wp-login.php or /my-account/.

  1. Password Protected: open Password Protected in your WordPress menu, enable Allow REST API, or add Metorik's IPs to Allow IP Addresses.

  2. Force Login: this has no settings page, so ask your developer to allow /wp-json/ using the plugin's v_forcelogin_bypass filter.

  3. My Private Site: open My Private Site and look for the REST API option and Always Visible URLs, then allow /wp-json/.

  4. Ultimate Member: if Global Site Access is set to Site accessible to Logged in users, add your /wp-json/ address to Exclude the following URLs under Ultimate Member → Settings → Access → Restriction Content.

  5. SeedProd: edit your Coming Soon or Maintenance page, open Page Settings → Access Control, and add Metorik's IPs under Access By IP.

  6. For other maintenance, coming-soon or membership plugins, look for an option to exclude URLs or allow IP addresses.

  7. Not sure which plugin it is? Deactivate likely candidates one at a time and click Retry in Metorik after each.

Step 5: Redirects at your host or CDN

If Step 1 sent you to a different domain or the /wp-json/... part disappeared, a redirect rule is probably dropping it.

  1. In Cloudflare, go to Rules → Overview and check any Redirect Rules for your domain (Cloudflare guide).

  2. Make sure each redirect keeps the rest of the address and has Preserve query string turned on (example rule).

  3. In cPanel, go to Domains → Redirects and check that any redirect for your domain has Wild Card Redirect enabled (cPanel guide).

  4. If your server or an SEO plugin adds a trailing slash to every URL, ask for /wp-json/ to be excluded from that rule.

  5. Can't find the rule? Ask your host to stop redirecting requests to /wp-json/.

Step 6: Plugins that disable or restrict the REST API

These plugins normally make your site return a permission error rather than a redirect or a "page not found" error, so they're rarely the cause of these two messages. If Metorik showed a message about the API key or your WordPress user instead, read our API key guide.

Metorik needs /wp-json/wc/v3/ to be reachable. If you use one of these plugins, allow WooCommerce's routes or Metorik's IP addresses: 23.239.31.174, 45.33.123.9, 45.33.116.36, 96.126.113.196 and 173.255.205.248.

Disable REST API

  1. Go to Settings → Disable REST API.

  2. Next to Rules for, choose Unauthenticated Users.

  3. Look for the /wc/v3 routes, tick them, and click Save Changes.

Disable WP REST API

  1. This plugin has no settings, so deactivate it under Plugins → Installed Plugins.

Perfmatters

  1. Open the Perfmatters settings and go to the General section.

  2. Find Disable REST API and set it to Enabled.

  3. If you'd rather keep it restricted, ask your developer to allow WooCommerce with the perfmatters_rest_api_exceptions filter.

Solid Security (formerly iThemes Security)

  1. Go to Security → Settings → Advanced → WordPress Tweaks.

  2. Under REST API, choose Default Access and save.

WP Cerber

  1. Open WP Cerber and go to the Hardening tab.

  2. In Allow these REST API namespaces, add wc on its own line and save.

  3. Alternatively, add Metorik's IP addresses to the White IP Access List.

All-In-One Security (AIOS)

  1. Go to AIOS → Firewall → PHP rules and look for the WP REST API settings.

  2. Turn off Disallow unauthorized REST requests, or add Metorik's IP addresses to its allow list if your version has one.

Using a different security or optimisation plugin? Look for a REST API setting and turn it off or allow /wp-json/wc/.

Verify it worked

  1. Open https://your-store.com/wp-json/wc/v3/ again in a private window and confirm you see JSON data, not a web page.

  2. In Metorik, click Retry, enter your Site Address (URL) and approve the connection.

Still stuck?

Click Get help in Metorik to chat with us, and include:

  1. What you see at https://your-store.com/wp-json/wc/v3/ in a private window (a screenshot is perfect).

  2. The store URL you entered and your Site Address (URL).

  3. Your list of active plugins, which you can copy from Tools → Site Health → Info → Active Plugins.

Further reading

Was this helpful?
Was this helpful?