wp-env CLI Management

Overview

wp-env wraps Docker to provide WordPress development environments. All wp-cli commands run through wp-env run cli wp <command>. This skill covers common operations and troubleshooting.

Quick Reference

Running WP-CLI Commands

Basic syntax:

wp-env run cli wp <command>

Common operations:

# User management
wp-env run cli wp user list
wp-env run cli wp user create dev dev@example.com --role=administrator

# Plugin management
wp-env run cli wp plugin list
wp-env run cli wp plugin activate woocommerce
wp-env run cli wp plugin deactivate --all

# Database operations
wp-env run cli wp db query "SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name='siteurl'"
wp-env run cli wp db export /var/www/html/backup.sql
wp-env run cli wp db import /var/www/html/backup.sql

# Option management
wp-env run cli wp option get siteurl
wp-env run cli wp option update blogname "Dev Site"

# Cache and transients
wp-env run cli wp cache flush
wp-env run cli wp transient delete --all

# WooCommerce specific
wp-env run cli wp wc product list --user=1
wp-env run cli wp wc order list --user=1

Working Directory Context

For commands in plugin directories, use --env-cwd:

wp-env run cli --env-cwd=wp-content/plugins/woocommerce composer install
wp-env run cli --env-cwd=wp-content/plugins/my-plugin npm run build

Environment Management

# Start/stop
wp-env start              # Start environment
wp-env start --update     # Update and restart
wp-env stop               # Stop containers

# Reset options
wp-env clean development  # Reset dev database only
wp-env clean tests        # Reset test database only
wp-env clean all          # Reset both databases
wp-env destroy            # Remove everything (nuclear)

# Debugging
wp-env start --xdebug=debug           # Enable Xdebug
wp-env start --xdebug=profile,trace   # Profiling
wp-env logs                           # View PHP/Docker logs
wp-env logs tests                     # Test environment logs

Database Access

• Host: 127.0.0.1 (not localhost)
• Port: Check with docker ps for mysql container port
• User: root
• Password: password

Direct MySQL access:

wp-env run cli mysql -u root -ppassword wordpress

Common Gotchas

1. Always use wp-env run cli - Running wp directly won't work
2. Paths are container paths - /var/www/html/ is the WordPress root inside container
3. Symlinked plugins - Changes in ~/Repos reflect immediately (no copy needed)
4. Database names - Development: wordpress, Tests: tests-wordpress
5. Shell escaping - Complex queries may need extra escaping: wp-env run cli wp db query "SELECT * FROM wp_options"