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WP-CLI Plugin Commands

Plugin commands handle everything related to WordPress plugins — installing from the repository or a ZIP file, activating, deactivating, updating, and auditing what’s installed.

These are among the most frequently used WP-CLI commands in daily development work.

wp-cli-plugins — bash

Commands

wp plugin list

Lists all installed plugins with status, version, and available updates.

wp plugin list
wp plugin list --status=active
wp plugin list --status=inactive
wp plugin list --format=json

Use --status to filter by active or inactive. Use --format=json to pipe output into scripts. Useful for auditing environments before updates or deployments.

wp plugin install

Installs a plugin from the WordPress.org repository, a ZIP file, or a remote URL.

wp plugin install contact-form-7
wp plugin install contact-form-7 --activate
wp plugin install /path/to/plugin.zip
wp plugin install https://example.com/plugin.zip
wp plugin install contact-form-7 --version=5.7.0

--activate installs and activates in one step. Use a ZIP path or URL for premium or private plugins. --version pins a specific release — useful when you need to match a tested version across environments.

wp plugin activate

Activates one or more installed plugins.

wp plugin activate akismet
wp plugin activate akismet contact-form-7 woocommerce
wp plugin activate --all

Multiple plugin slugs in one command. --all activates everything that’s installed — commonly used when resetting a staging environment.

wp plugin deactivate

Deactivates one or more plugins without deleting them.

wp plugin deactivate akismet
wp plugin deactivate --all

--all is the go-to for debugging plugin conflicts — deactivate everything, then reactivate one by one to isolate the problem.

wp plugin update

Updates plugins to the latest available version.

wp plugin update akismet
wp plugin update --all
wp plugin update --all --dry-run
wp plugin update akismet --version=5.3.0

--all updates every plugin at once. --dry-run shows what would be updated without making changes — useful before running updates on production. --version allows downgrading to a specific version.

wp plugin delete

Removes a plugin from the filesystem.

wp plugin delete akismet
wp plugin delete akismet contact-form-7

Plugin must be deactivated first. This permanently removes the plugin files — not just from the admin, from disk.

wp plugin get

Returns details about a specific plugin.

wp plugin get akismet
wp plugin get akismet --format=json

Shows name, status, version, description, and author. Useful in scripts that need to check plugin state before running other operations.

wp plugin is-installed

Checks whether a plugin is installed.

wp plugin is-installed akismet

Returns exit code 0 if installed, 1 if not. Use in shell scripts to conditionally install:

if ! wp plugin is-installed akismet; then
  wp plugin install akismet --activate
fi

wp plugin search

Searches the WordPress.org plugin repository.

wp plugin search caching
wp plugin search seo --per-page=5 --format=table

Useful when you don’t know the exact slug. Returns plugin name, slug, rating, and number of active installs.

wp plugin verify-checksums

Verifies plugin files against official WordPress.org checksums.

wp plugin verify-checksums --all
wp plugin verify-checksums akismet

Detects modified or corrupted plugin files. Use during security audits or after a suspected compromise.

Common Workflows

Environment setup — install required plugins

wp plugin install acf --activate
wp plugin install wordpress-seo --activate
wp plugin install woocommerce --activate
wp plugin install redis-cache

Standard setup script for a new environment. Install everything needed, activate what should run immediately.

Maintenance update sequence

wp plugin list --update=available --format=json
wp db export backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql
wp plugin update --all

Check what needs updating, export the database first, then update. Safe pattern for production.

Debug plugin conflict

wp plugin deactivate --all
wp plugin activate plugin-a
wp plugin activate plugin-b

Deactivate everything, then reactivate plugins one by one until the conflict reappears. Much faster than toggling through the admin panel.

Audit plugin state across sites

wp plugin list --status=inactive --format=csv

Pipe to a file or script to audit unused plugins across environments. Inactive plugins are still a security risk if outdated.

Related Command Groups

  • Core — manage WordPress itself before plugins
  • Themes — same pattern, different group
  • Database — always export before bulk updates

Practice Cases