Advanced WordPress Development

Chapter 13: WordPress CLI (WP-CLI)

13.1 WP-CLI Overview

WP-CLI is command-line interface for WordPress.

Benefits:

• Automate WordPress tasks
• Manage sites from command line
• Faster than web interface
• Scriptable operations

13.2 WP-CLI Installation

Install WP-CLI on your server.

# Download WP-CLI
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar

# Make executable
chmod +x wp-cli.phar

# Move to PATH
sudo mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp

# Verify installation
wp --info

13.3 Common WP-CLI Commands

Useful WP-CLI commands for daily tasks.

# Core commands
wp core download
wp core install
wp core update

# Plugin commands
wp plugin install plugin-name
wp plugin activate plugin-name
wp plugin list

# Theme commands
wp theme install theme-name
wp theme activate theme-name
wp theme list

# Database commands
wp db export backup.sql
wp db import backup.sql

13.4 Custom WP-CLI Commands

Create custom WP-CLI commands.

// Register custom command
WP_CLI::add_command('my-command', 'my_command_function');

function my_command_function($args, $assoc_args) {
    WP_CLI::success('Command executed!');
}

// Usage: wp my-command

13.5 WP-CLI Best Practices

Follow best practices when using WP-CLI.

• Use in development and staging
• Backup before major operations
• Test commands on staging first
• Document custom commands
• Use for automation scripts