🔒 Admin Guide – Security & Database

📑 Table of Contents

• Credential Store
• Database Architecture
• Conversation Database
• Query Optimizer
• Garden Data Service
• Georgia Planting Calendar
• Knowledgebase System
• Privacy & Compliance
• Diagnostics
• All Shortcodes
• Changelog

🔐 Credential Store

Encrypted API Key Storage

Farmers Bounty v3.5.0 introduces the Farmers_Bounty_Credential_Store class for secure API key management:

Supported Keys:

• Weather Underground API Key and Station ID
• Perenual API Key
• Claude AI (Anthropic) API Key
• Tavily API Key
• PlantNet API Key

Security Features:

• Encryption at Rest: All API keys are encrypted before storage in the database
• WordPress NONCE Integration: All credential operations use WordPress security nonces
• Capability Checks: Only administrators can view or modify credentials
• Masked Display: Keys are masked (e.g., sk-ant-...****) in the admin interface

Key Resolution Order:

The system resolves API keys in this priority order:

1. wp-config.php Constants: Highest priority (e.g., FARMERS_BOUNTY_CLAUDE_API_KEY)
2. Encrypted Credential Store: Stored in wp_options with encryption
3. wp_options Fallback: Legacy plain-text storage (for backward compatibility)

🗄️ Database Architecture

37 Tables Organized by Version

Farmers Bounty creates 37 database tables, organized by the version that introduced them:

Core Tables (v1.0):

Extended Tables (v2.0):

• wp_fb_seed_inventory — Seed packet tracking
• wp_fb_harvests — Harvest records and yields
• wp_fb_care_logs — Plant care activity logs
• wp_fb_garden_layouts — Visual garden designs
• wp_fb_succession_plans — Succession planting schedules
• wp_fb_purchase_lists — Shopping lists
• wp_fb_purchase_items — Individual list items

Feature Tables (v3.0):

• wp_fb_pollinator_sightings — Pollinator observation logs
• wp_fb_preservation_recipes — Preservation recipes
• wp_fb_preserved_goods — Preserved food inventory
• wp_fb_learnings — Season learning entries
• wp_fb_notifications — User notifications
• wp_fb_plant_diagnoses — AI diagnosis records
• wp_fb_plant_photos — Plant photo gallery
• wp_fb_layout_snapshots — Garden layout snapshots

AI & Integration Tables (v4.0-v4.4):

• wp_fb_conversations — AI conversation threads
• wp_fb_conversation_messages — Individual conversation messages
• wp_fb_gdd_tracking — Growing degree day records
• wp_fb_soil_tests — Soil test results
• wp_fb_companion_plants — Companion planting relationships
• wp_fb_water_logs — Watering event records
• wp_fb_water_zones — Irrigation zone definitions
• wp_fb_integrations — Third-party integration settings
• wp_fb_sync_log — Desktop app sync history
• wp_fb_knowledgebase — Custom knowledge articles
• wp_fb_plant_identifications — PlantNet ID records
• wp_fb_crop_rotation — Crop rotation history
• wp_fb_personas — User persona selections
• wp_fb_feature_flags — Feature customization flags
• wp_fb_analytics_cache — Pre-computed analytics data
• wp_fb_error_log — Plugin error tracking

💬 Conversation Database

Shared Conversation Storage

The conversation database is shared between Farmers Bounty and the companion Gardener’s Bounty AI Assistant plugin:

wp_fb_conversations Table:

• id: Unique conversation identifier
• user_id: WordPress user who owns the conversation
• title: Conversation title (auto-generated or user-defined)
• created_at: When conversation started
• updated_at: Last message timestamp
• source: Which plugin created it (farmers-bounty or gardeners-bounty)

wp_fb_conversation_messages Table:

• id: Unique message identifier
• conversation_id: Parent conversation
• role: “user” or “assistant”
• content: Message text
• metadata: JSON with sources, context used, token counts
• created_at: Message timestamp

⚡ Query Optimizer

Farmers_Bounty_Query_Optimizer Class

The Query Optimizer manages token budgeting for Claude API context assembly:

How It Works:

1. Token Budget: Calculates available context window based on model limits
2. Priority Ranking: Ranks context fragments by relevance to the user’s question
3. Fragment Assembly: Assembles the most relevant context within the token budget:
   • System prompt (always included)
   • Weather data (high priority for weather questions)
   • Plant database (high priority for plant questions)
   • Knowledgebase articles (matched by relevance)
   • Conversation history (most recent messages)
   • GDD and frost data (seasonal context)
   • Planting calendar (timing context)
4. Overflow Handling: Gracefully truncates least important context when budget is exceeded

🌱 Garden Data Service

Farmers_Bounty_Garden_Data_Service Class

Builds real-time context for AI responses by assembling data from multiple sources:

Context Components:

• Weather Context: Current conditions, forecast, recent rainfall, temperature trends from PWS
• Plant Context: User’s active plants, their status, locations, and care history
• GDD Context: Current growing degree day accumulation and plant development predictions
• Frost Context: Last frost date, first frost date, days in growing season
• Calendar Context: Upcoming events, overdue tasks, planting windows
• Seasonal Context: Current season, what to plant now, what to harvest

Data Freshness:

• Weather data: Refreshed every 15 minutes from PWS
• Plant data: Real-time from database
• GDD data: Calculated daily from weather history
• Calendar data: Real-time from events table

📅 Georgia Planting Calendar

Farmers_Bounty_Georgia_Planting_Calendar Class

Provides month-by-month planting data optimized for USDA Zone 7b/8a (Atlanta, Georgia):

Data Includes:

• Monthly Planting Recommendations: What to plant each month
• Indoor vs Outdoor: When to start indoors vs direct sow
• Transplant Timing: When to move seedlings outside
• Last Frost Date: March 15-April 1 (average for Atlanta)
• First Frost Date: November 1-15 (average for Atlanta)
• Season Extension: Recommendations for extending growing season

Integration:

The planting calendar is used by:

• AI Assistant (provides timing context for planting questions)
• Calendar auto-generation (creates planting events)
• Dashboard widgets (shows “what to plant now”)
• Succession planting calculator

📚 Knowledgebase System

Reference Data Directories

The knowledgebase is stored in the knowledgebase/ directory of the plugin:

Knowledge Loader Admin Tool

Access at Farmers Bounty → Knowledge Base → Load Data

• Import reference data files into the searchable knowledgebase
• Index content for fast retrieval
• Update existing entries
• View loaded data statistics

RAG-Powered Search

The knowledgebase supports Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) search:

• User queries are matched against knowledgebase content
• Most relevant articles are included in AI context
• Reduces AI hallucination by providing authoritative local data
• Prioritizes Georgia-specific information

🛡️ Privacy & Compliance

Farmers_Bounty_Privacy_Compliance Class

GDPR Consent Notices:

• Consent banner displayed on first use of AI features
• Clear explanation of data usage
• Opt-in/opt-out controls
• Consent status stored per user

Data Handling:

Key Privacy Principles:

• No third-party sharing: Garden data is never sold or shared with third parties
• Minimal data transmission: Only necessary context is sent to AI services
• Local storage: All garden data remains in your WordPress database
• User control: Export or delete all your data at any time
• Transparent sources: AI responses indicate which data sources were used

🔍 Diagnostics

Access at Farmers Bounty → Diagnostics

System Information:

• WordPress, PHP, MySQL versions
• Plugin version and active features
• Server configuration details
• Memory usage and limits

Health Checks:

• Database: All 37 tables exist and are healthy
• APIs: Connection status for all configured APIs
• Permissions: File and folder permissions
• Cron Jobs: Scheduled tasks running correctly
• Cache: Cache system functioning
• Credential Store: Encryption working correctly

Error Logs:

• View recent plugin errors
• Filter by severity (info, warning, error, critical)
• Search and export logs
• Clear old log entries

API Usage Monitoring:

• Calls made per API per day/week/month
• Estimated costs for Claude AI
• Rate limit status
• Failed request tracking
• Average response times

📝 All Shortcodes Reference

📋 Changelog – v3.5.0 Highlights

🔗 Related Guides

• Getting Started: Installation and initial setup
• AI Assistant & Chatbot: Using the AI gardening assistant
• Integrations & Settings: API key configuration
• Tools & Features: Data management and diagnostics