wp-cli

Terminal-first WordPress operations. Safer than wp-admin for bulk work, scriptable, SSH-friendly, and won't time out on 10k-row updates.

Only inspection commands and wp db export (which takes a backup) run without a prompt. Every mutating command — search-replace, db import, db reset, plugin/theme installs, user and post writes — prompts before it runs. That friction is deliberate: this skill routinely points at production.

Reference files live in ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/.

When NOT to use

• One-off edits a content editor would do in 10 seconds in the admin UI. CLI is overkill and error-prone for single-row clicks.
• Data transformations that span millions of rows — WP's ORM will be slow; consider a direct SQL migration with an explicit transaction.
• Anything that needs to run inside a WordPress plugin's hook lifecycle (e.g., REST validation, custom post type registration) — that's PHP code, not CLI.
• Destructive commands without a current backup. wp db reset, wp db clean, bulk deletes — always snapshot first.

Preflight

Always verify before doing anything: