WP-CLI-manage WordPress from the command line

WP-CLI lets you manage WordPress entirely from the terminal. It's faster than the admin panel for bulk operations-update all plugins with one command, reset a password without logging in, or run a database search-replace in seconds.

Install WP-CLI

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar
chmod +x wp-cli.phar
mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp

Verify: wp --version

WP-CLI commands must be run from the WordPress installation directory, or you specify the path: wp --path=/var/www/html command

WordPress core commands

# Check WordPress version
wp core version

# Update WordPress core
wp core update

# Verify WordPress files are intact
wp core verify-checksums

# Download a fresh WordPress
wp core download

Plugin management

# List all plugins with status
wp plugin list

# Update all plugins
wp plugin update --all

# Activate a plugin
wp plugin activate plugin-name

# Deactivate a plugin
wp plugin deactivate plugin-name

# Install a plugin from the repository
wp plugin install woocommerce --activate

Database commands

# Export database
wp db export backup.sql

# Import database
wp db import backup.sql

# Run a MySQL query
wp db query "SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name='siteurl'"

# Optimize database tables
wp db optimize

# Check database for errors
wp db check

User management

# List users
wp user list

# Reset a user's password
wp user update admin --user_pass=NewSecurePassword123

# Create a new admin user
wp user create newadmin admin@example.com --role=administrator --user_pass=SecurePass

# Delete a user
wp user delete 5 --reassign=1

Search-replace

The most useful WP-CLI command for s-replaces URLs throughout the database including serialized data:

# Dry run first (shows what would change without making changes)
wp search-replace 'https://old-domain.com','https://new-domain.com' --dry-run

# Run the replacement
wp search-replace 'https://old-domain.com','https://new-domain.com' --all-tables

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