What is the command line?

• Text interface to interact with computer

• Less visual feedback than a GUI *

• More expressive than a GUI

Why type when you can point and click?

$ wp user set-role alain admin↵
Success: Added user (1) to http://wp.test as admin.
$ _

$ wp site list --field=url | xargs -n1 -I %
  wp --url=% user set-role alain admin↵
Success: Added user (1) to http://wp.test as admin.
Success: Added user (1) to http://1.wp.test as admin.
Success: Added user (1) to http://2.wp.test as admin.
Success: Added user (1) to http://3.wp.test as admin.
...

Prompt

The shell prompt is the entry point where you can type your commands.

$ _
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Launching an application

Just enter the name of the application:

$ <name-of-program>↵
<output-of-program>
$ _
 
 
 
 
 

⇒ magic stuff will happen!

DEMO
launching an application from the command line

• lslist directory contents

Arguments (1/2)

Syntax

ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...

Options (subset)

• -a, --allshow hidden entries
• -luse a long listing format

Arguments (2/2)

Short & Long Options

--all   ==   -a

Combined Short Options

-a -l   ==   -al

DEMO
using arguments to modify application behavior

• echo [STRING]echo a string to standard output

Navigation

• cd [DIR]change directory
• pwdprint working directory

Special Directories

• .current directory
• ..parent directory
• -previous directory
• ~current user's home directory

DEMO
navigating the command line

Autocompletion

• ⇥ (Tab key)autocomplete current command/argument

• If current text only results in 1 match, that match is used.

• If current text results in more matches, available options are shown. Reduce set by typing additional characters and try again.

DEMO
using autocompletion

Unix Philosophy

• Write programs that do one thing and do it well.

• Write programs to work together.

• Write programs to handle text streams, because that is a universal interface.

Combine small, sharp tools and the use of a common underlying format — the line-oriented, plain text file — to accomplish larger tasks.

Unix Tools

Chaining

• <cmd1> ; <cmd2>run cmd1, then run cmd2
• <cmd1> && <cmd2>run cmd1, on success run cmd2 (logical AND)
• <cmd1> || <cmd2>run cmd1, on failure run cmd2 (logical OR)

Example

~ $ mkdir dir1 && cd dir1 && mkdir dir2 && cd dir2 && echo "Success!"↵
Success!
~/dir1/dir2 $ _

Pipelines (3/3)

• <cmd1> | <cmd2>use output of cmd1 as input for cmd2

Example

~ $ ls -1 *.php | wc -l↵
42
~ $ _

Substitution (1/2)

• echo Current folder is <XYZ>.=> Current folder is <XYZ>.
• pwd=> /Users/alain
• echo Current folder is pwd.=> Current folder is /Users/alain.

Substitution (2/2)

• <cmd1> $(<cmd2>)use output of cmd2 as argument to cmd1

Example

~ $ echo "Currently in folder $(pwd)."↵
Currently in folder /Users/alain.
~ $ _

Composability

• Mix-and-match commands to get the result you need.

• Install additional tools if the provided ones are not sufficient.

• Simplify workflows and automate work by building custom scripts.

• Mix-and-match custom scripts to build entire automated systems.

Scripting (1/2)

#!/bin/sh

# This is a comment.

# Run two commands in sequence.
echo "Hello World!"
echo "How are you doing?"

Scripting (2/2)

#!/bin/sh

# This is a comment.

# Run two commands in sequence.
echo "Hello World!"
echo "How are you doing?"

$ my-first-script.sh↵
Hello World!
How are you doing?
$ _
 
 
 

Goal

WP-CLI is the official command line tool for interacting with and managing your WordPress sites.

• Goal: Fastest way to do anything with WordPress

Installation

Refer to the handbook, which starts with the section Installing .

Getting Help

• wp helpGeneral help screen with a list of commands *
• wp help <command>Help screen for a specific command

* The output might run through a "pager" like more to let you paginate. Hit q to exit that pager.

Global Parameters

• --path=<path>Path to the WordPress files
• --skip-plugins[=<plugin>]Skip loading all or some plugins
• --prompt[=<assoc>]Prompt the user to enter values for the arguments
• --quietSuppress informational messages
• --debug[=<group>]Show all PHP errors and verbose bootstrap output

Framework commands

Managing WP-CLI

• wp cli infoPrint details about the WP-CLI environment
• wp cli updateUpdate WP-CLI to the latest release

Managing WP-CLI Packages

• wp package listList installed WP-CLI packages
• wp package install <package>Install a WP-CLI package
• wp package uninstall <package>Uninstall a WP-CLI package
• wp package updateUpdate all installed WP-CLI packages

Notable Bundled Commands

• wp coreManipulate a WordPress install
• wp dbPerform basic database operations
• wp pluginManage plugins
• wp themeManage themes
• wp mediaManage attachments
• wp postManage posts
• wp userManage users
• wp commentManage comments
• wp scaffoldGenerate code for various components
• wp search-replaceSearch/replace strings in the database
• ...

Combining Commands

• xargs <command>Split input into multiple calls to <command>

Example

~ $ wp cap list 'editor' | xargs wp cap add 'author'↵
Success: Added 24 capabilities to 'author' role.
~ $ _

Create a new WordPress installation

Sites $ wp core download --path=newsite↵
Creating directory '/Users/alain/Sites/newsite/'.
Downloading WordPress 4.7.4 (en_US)...
md5 hash verified: eefcac6dcb954183fff27e5998d62b5f
Success: WordPress downloaded.
Sites $ cd newsite↵
newsite $ wp core config --dbname=newsite --dbuser=root↵
Success: Generated 'wp-config.php' file.
newsite $ wp db create↵
Success: Database created.
newsite $ wp core install --url=newsite.dev --title="New Site"
          --admin_user=mr_robot --admin_email=ea@evilcorp.com↵
Admin password: bAgvzQlmNsYY
Success: WordPress installed successfully.
newsite $ _

Run all updates

newsite $ wp core update↵
[ ... ]
Success: WordPress updated successfully.
newsite $ wp plugin update --all↵
[ ... ]
Success: Updated 4 of 4 plugins.
newsite $ wp theme update --all↵
[ ... ]
Success: Updated 1 of 1 themes.
newsite $ _

Regenerate thumbnails

newsite $ wp media regenerate --yes↵
Found 2 images to regenerate.
1/2 Regenerated thumbnails for "cropped-Banner.png" (ID 15).
2/2 Regenerated thumbnails for "Banner" (ID 14).
Success: Regenerated 2 of 2 images.
newsite $ _

Learn — WP-CLI Handbook

• https://make.wordpress.org/cli/handbook/

Discuss — WP-CLI Slack Channel

• 1. Join make.wordpress.org Slack team:
  https://make.wordpress.org/chat/

• 2. Join the #cli channel

Contribute — WP-CLI GitHub Organization

• https://github.com/wp-cli/