- \n
- What is WP-CLI?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What do you need to use the WordPress command-line interface?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How do you access the WordPress command-line interface?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What can you do with the WP-CLI?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Plugins that support the WP-CLI<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \t\n\t\t \t\tWhat is #WP-CLI? How to use WP-CLI (beginner's guide #WordPress) \u2328\ufe0f<\/a>\n\t\t \t<\/div>\n\t\t \t\n\t\t \tClick To Tweet \n\t\t \t\t<\/span>\n\t\t \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Note:<\/strong> While you don’t need to be a full-on WordPress developer<\/a> to use and benefit from WP-CLI, it is still definitely a tool that’s only for more advanced users with at least some technical knowledge, such as the knowledge\/ability to connect to your server via SSH. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re a total beginner, we recommend just sticking with the WordPress dashboard and skipping WP-CLI. For example, if you have no idea what the “command line” is, you should probably skip WP-CLI<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat is WP-CLI? With some examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI, short for WordPress command-line interface<\/em>, lets you manage all aspects of your WordPress site from a command-line interface that looks something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"WP-CLI](\"https:\/\/mllj2j8xvfl0.i.optimole.com\/cb:c5QE.37290\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/wp-cli-example.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nOnce you connect to your site via SSH, you can enter simple commands to perform a variety of actions including the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Installing the WordPress software, themes, and\/or plugins<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Activating\/deactivating\/updating WordPress, themes, and plugins<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Creating or managing users, including changing passwords and other user information<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Running a search\/replace on the WordPress database<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Generating test data for a sandbox site<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Editing or optimizing your database<\/a>, such as deleting post revisions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Creating a child theme<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Resetting WordPress<\/a> (be careful with this one because it will completely blank your site<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Managing comments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- …lots more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat do you need to use the WordPress command-line interface?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In order to use WP-CLI, you’ll need to have WP-CLI installed on your hosting server (it does not<\/strong> come with WordPress by default)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note that WP-CLI is not<\/strong> a plugin that you can install on your site. Instead, it’s something you need to install directly on your server, which is a bit more complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thankfully, most WordPress-focused hosts<\/a> offer WP-CLI installed by default. This is true for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Kinsta<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- WP Engine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Flywheel<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- SiteGround<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Bluehost<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Cloudways<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- A2 Hosting<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- DreamHost<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- …many other hosts – check your host’s documentation or reach out to support to see if it’s already installed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If your host doesn’t pre-install it for you, you can also install WP-CLI yourself via SSH as long as you have enough access to your server (which you may or may not have, depending on your host)<\/em>. You can find the full list of methods here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The basic requirements for your server are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- A UNIX-like server environment<\/strong> – you can<\/em> install WP-CLI on a Windows server<\/a>, but it’s a lot more complicated. Note – this refers to the operating system of your WordPress hosting server, not the computer that you’re using.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- PHP 5.6+<\/strong> – ideally PHP 8.3+ (for many other reasons<\/a>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- WordPress 3.7+<\/strong> – ideally the latest version of WordPress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nHow do you access the WordPress command-line interface?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Once you’ve verified that WP-CLI is installed on your hosting server, you can access it by connecting to your server via SSH<\/a>, which you can accomplish using Terminal on macOS\/Linux or a tool such as PowerShell or PuTTY<\/a> on Windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you’re connected, you can work with WP-CLI using commands, which is what we’ll detail in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat can you do with WP-CLI? Examples of useful commands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Now that you know what the WordPress command-line interface is, let’s go over some of the many commands that you can run to manage your WordPress sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI install WordPress commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
To create a new WordPress install, you can use the
wp core install<\/code> command with additional parameters to control the basic site details. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\nwp core install --url=example.com --title=Example --admin_user=supervisor --admin_password=strongpassword --admin_email=info@example.com<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Full documentation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI login and user-related commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There are a number of WP-CLI login and user-related commands. You can manage all aspects of users, including resetting a user’s password.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some examples of what you can do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Change\/reset a user’s password<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
wp user update USERNAME --user_pass=PASSWORD<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nCreate a new user:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
wp user create bob bob@example.com --role=author<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThis will randomly generate a password, but you could also manually enter a password using the same user_pass command<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assign a certain user role<\/a> to a user<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
wp user set-role USERNAME editor<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Full documentation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI plugin commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There are a number of WP-CLI plugin commands to help you install, activate, deactivate, or delete plugins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The core command is
wp plugin<\/code>, followed by the action you want to perform and the slug of the plugin. Some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n- \n
wp plugin install feedzy-rss-feeds<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\nwp plugin activate feedzy-rss-feeds<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\nwp plugin deactivate feedzy-rss-feeds<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Full documentation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI theme commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can also use the same types of commands to manage your site’s themes. The base command is
wp theme<\/code> and you can modify it as needed. Some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n- \n
wp theme install neve<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\nwp theme activate neve<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Full documentation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI update commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Keeping your WordPress site and its extensions updated<\/a> is essential to the security and functioning of your site. Thankfully, WP-CLI makes it quite easy to update various parts of your WordPress site:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
wp core update<\/code> – automatically updates to the most recent version (but you can also specify a specific version)<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\nwp plugin update --all<\/code> – updates all plugins. Or, you can also specify individual plugins. For example,wp plugin update feedzy-rss-feeds<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\nwp theme update --all<\/code> – updates all themes. Or, you can also specify individual themes. For example,wp theme update neve<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Full documentation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI test data generation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you need to create a sandbox WordPress site<\/a> with dummy data to test something, WP-CLI makes it super easy to generate varying levels of dummy data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The command here is “generate” and you can apply it to a bunch of different base commands. Some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
wp post generate --count=30<\/code> – generates 30 posts.<\/li>\n\n\n\nwp user generate --count=5 --role=author<\/code> – generates five users with the author role.<\/li>\n\n\n\nwp term generate --count=15<\/code> – generates 15 taxonomy terms.<\/li>\n\n\n\nwp comment generate --count=5 --post_id=123<\/code> – generates five comments and assigns them to the post with ID 123.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nWP-CLI search\/replace commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
WP-CLI lets you run a search\/replace on all or some of your database. For example, you could update all of your internal URLs to use HTTPS if you recently moved to HTTPS<\/a> or change from a staging URL to the live URL of your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be careful with this command as running a search\/replace on your database can break your site if you make a mistake<\/strong>. You should also make sure to use the dry run feature to test your changes before making them permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
wp search-replace 'http:\/\/example.test' 'http:\/\/example.com'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n- \n
- changes all instances of http:\/\/example.test to http:\/\/example.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
wp search-replace 'http:\/\/example.test' 'http:\/\/example.com' --dry-run<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n- \n
- performs a test run – you would remove
--dry-run<\/code> to run the actual search\/replace.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 Full documentation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Explore all of the WP-CLI commands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The above example commands are just a sampling of the many things that you can do with WP-CLI on your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To learn more about the many core commands in WP-CLI, you can check out the full documentation at WordPress.org<\/a>, which details every command with lots of examples.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nMany plugins also support WP-CLI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The cool thing about WP-CLI is that, in addition to the “default” commands that we detailed above, many WordPress plugins also support their own WP-CLI commands, which you can often find by consulting your plugin’s documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, let’s say you’re using the UpdraftPlus plugin to create backups<\/a> of your site. Well, instead of creating those backups manually via your WordPress dashboard, you could manually or automatically initiate those backups using the following command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
wp updraftplus backup<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThere are lots of modifiers you can add, such as only backing up specific parts of your site. You can find all of this information in the UpdraftPlus documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could also run these commands using a Cron job<\/a>, which lets you set up your own custom backup schedule, even if you’re only using the free version of UpdraftPlus (usually, creating such a schedule would require the paid version)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is just one example – think about the plugins that you use on your own sites and you might be able to come up with some useful workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n
Go to top<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\nGet started with the WordPress command-line interface today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\nFor intermediate to advanced WordPress users and developers, WP-CLI provides a more efficient and flexible way to manage WordPress sites.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t \t\n\t\t \t\tWhat is #WP-CLI? How to use WP-CLI (beginner's guide #WordPress) \u2328\ufe0f<\/a>\n\t\t \t<\/div>\n\t\t \t\n\t\t \tClick To Tweet \n\t\t \t\t<\/span>\n\t\t \t<\/a>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nFor the easiest way to get started, you can choose one of the many popular WordPress hosts<\/a> that offer pre-installed WP-CLI. Then, play around with some of the commands in this post to start seeing how it can benefit you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you’d like to learn more about working with the terminal and WP-CLI, WPShout has a free course you can take to get started. Check it out here: Working with the Command Line and WP-CLI<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you have any questions about how to use the WordPress command-line interface? Ask away in the comments!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
- performs a test run – you would remove
- PHP 5.6+<\/strong> – ideally PHP 8.3+ (for many other reasons<\/a>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- WP Engine<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Creating a child theme<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What do you need to use the WordPress command-line interface?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n