Here’s our complete, professional WP-CLI Cheat Sheet covering all the commands you need for WordPress development, maintenance, debugging, and automation. Anyone can use it as a reference or guide for daily tasks.

WP-CLI Cheat Sheet

1. General WordPress Commands

Task Command
Check WP version wp core version
Update WP core wp core update
Update WP core to a specific version wp core update --version=6.4.1
Update WP database after core update wp core update-db
Check WP installation status wp core status
Download a specific WordPress version wp core download --version=6.4.1
Generate wp-config.php wp config create --dbname=DB_NAME --dbuser=DB_USER --dbpass=DB_PASSWORD --dbhost=localhost --dbprefix=wp_

2. Plugin Management

Task Command
List installed plugins wp plugin list
Install plugin wp plugin install plugin-slug
Install & activate plugin wp plugin install plugin-slug --activate
Activate plugin wp plugin activate plugin-slug
Deactivate plugin wp plugin deactivate plugin-slug
Update a plugin wp plugin update plugin-slug
Update all plugins wp plugin update --all
Delete plugin wp plugin delete plugin-slug

3. Theme Management

Task Command
List installed themes wp theme list
Install theme wp theme install theme-slug
Install & activate theme wp theme install theme-slug --activate
Activate theme wp theme activate theme-slug
Update theme wp theme update theme-slug
Update all themes wp theme update --all
Delete theme wp theme delete theme-slug

4. User Management

Task Command
List users wp user list
Create user wp user create username email@example.com --role=role --user_pass=Password123
Update user role wp user update username --role=administrator
Update user password wp user update username --user_pass=NewPass123
Delete user wp user delete username --reassign=admin

5. Posts & Pages Management

Task Command
List posts wp post list --post_type=post
Create a post wp post create --post_type=post --post_title="My Post" --post_status=publish
Update post wp post update 123 --post_title="Updated Title"
Delete post wp post delete 123 --force
List pages wp post list --post_type=page
Create a page wp post create --post_type=page --post_title="About" --post_status=publish

6. Database Management

Task Command
Export DB wp db export filename.sql
Import DB wp db import filename.sql
Optimize DB wp db optimize
Check DB wp db check
Repair DB wp db repair
Search & Replace wp search-replace 'http://oldsite.com' 'https://newsite.com' --all-tables
Create DB wp db create
Drop DB wp db drop --yes

7. Maintenance & Debugging

Task Command
Enable WP debug wp config set WP_DEBUG true --raw
Enable debug log wp config set WP_DEBUG_LOG true --raw
Disable debug display wp config set WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY false --raw
Enable maintenance mode wp maintenance-mode activate
Disable maintenance mode wp maintenance-mode deactivate
Flush cache wp cache flush
Generate salts wp config shuffle-salts

8. Cron Jobs

Task Command
List scheduled events wp cron event list
Run scheduled events wp cron event run --due-now
Delete scheduled event wp cron event delete event-hook

9. Multisite Management

Task Command
List sites wp site list
Create a new site wp site create --slug=newsite --title="New Site" --email=admin@example.com
Delete a site wp site delete 2 --yes
Update site URL wp site update 2 --domain=newdomain.com

10. Search & Replace / Migration

Task Command
Replace URLs in DB wp search-replace 'http://old.com' 'https://new.com'
Dry run before replace wp search-replace 'old' 'new' --dry-run
Replace in specific table wp search-replace 'old' 'new' wp_posts

11. Miscellaneous

Task Command
Check WordPress environment wp doctor check
List active theme wp theme list --status=active
List active plugins wp plugin list --status=active
Export all options wp option list
Update all options wp option update option_name "value"
Import/export media wp media import /path/to/image.jpg

12. Aliases & Environment Shortcuts

  • Define environments in wp-cli.yml:
@local:
  path: /var/www/html
@staging:
  url: https://staging.example.com
@production:
  url: https://example.com
  • Run commands for specific site:
wp @staging plugin update --all
wp @production db export backup.sql

✅ Pro Tips

  1. Always backup your database before destructive operations.
  2. Use --dry-run for commands like search-replace and deletion.
  3. Combine WP-CLI with cron for automated updates/backups.
  4. Use WP-CLI with scripts for repetitive multi-site management.
  5. Use wp help for detailed documentation on any command.

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