wordpress

WordPress CLI and MCP server

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the wordpress-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:

   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install wordpress --cli-only
   

2. Verify: wordpress-cli --version
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.4 or newer). This installs into $GOPATH/bin (default $HOME/go/bin), so add that directory to $PATH instead:

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/marketing/wordpress/cmd/wordpress-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

Publish and manage WordPress pages, posts, media, and taxonomies via the REST API - built for AI agents authoring landing pages with on-page SEO.

Command Reference

categories - List, read, and create post categories

• wordpress-cli categories create - Create a category
• wordpress-cli categories get - Get one category
• wordpress-cli categories list - List categories

media - Upload, list, read, update, and delete media library items (images, video, audio, PDF)

• wordpress-cli media upload - Upload an image, video, audio, or document and return its media id
• wordpress-cli media delete - Delete a media item
• wordpress-cli media get - Get one media item by id
• wordpress-cli media list - List media library items
• wordpress-cli media update - Update media metadata (title, alt text, caption)

pages - Create, read, update, delete WordPress pages - the primary landing-page surface

• wordpress-cli pages create - Create a page - pass full HTML content, optionally a blank/canvas template and SEO meta
• wordpress-cli pages delete - Delete a page (trash, or force-delete)
• wordpress-cli pages get - Get one page by id
• wordpress-cli pages list - List pages (filter by status, search, slug, parent)
• wordpress-cli pages update - Update a page (WordPress accepts POST for updates)

posts - Create, read, update, delete blog posts with categories and tags

• wordpress-cli posts create - Create a post
• wordpress-cli posts delete - Delete a post
• wordpress-cli posts get - Get one post by id
• wordpress-cli posts list - List posts
• wordpress-cli posts update - Update a post

settings - Read and update site-level settings (limited; requires admin auth)

• wordpress-cli settings get - Get site settings
• wordpress-cli settings update - Update site settings

tags - List, read, and create post tags

• wordpress-cli tags create - Create a tag
• wordpress-cli tags get - Get one tag
• wordpress-cli tags list - List tags

users - List and read users (for author assignment)

• wordpress-cli users get - Get one user by id
• wordpress-cli users list - List users

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

wordpress-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match - fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Auth Setup

Run wordpress-cli auth setup to print the URL and steps for getting a key (add --launch to open the URL). Then set:

export WORDPRESS_BASIC_AUTH="<your-key>"

To persist credentials, use wordpress-cli auth set-token <token>. Stored secrets live in credentials.toml under the data dir, not in config.toml.

Run wordpress-cli doctor to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

• Pipeable - JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

• Filterable - --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

  wordpress-cli categories list --agent --select id,name,status
  

• Previewable - --dry-run shows the request without sending

• Offline-friendly - sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

• Non-interactive - never prompts, every input is a flag

• Explicit retries - use --idempotent only when an already-existing create should count as success, and --ignore-missing only when a missing delete target should count as success

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (--json, --csv, --compact, --quiet, --plain, --select) is set - piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout.

Paths and state

Agents should treat the CLI's path resolver as part of the runtime contract:

• Use --home <dir> for one invocation, or set WORDPRESS_HOME=<dir> to relocate all four path kinds under one root.

• Use per-kind env vars only when a specific kind must diverge: WORDPRESS_CONFIG_DIR, WORDPRESS_DATA_DIR, WORDPRESS_STATE_DIR, WORDPRESS_CACHE_DIR.

• Resolution order is per-kind env var, --home, WORDPRESS_HOME, XDG (XDG_CONFIG_HOME, XDG_DATA_HOME, XDG_STATE_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME), then platform defaults.

• config contains settings like config.toml and profiles. data contains credentials.toml, data.db, cookies, and auth sidecars. state contains persisted queries, jobs, and teach.log. cache contains regenerable HTTP/cache files.

• Stored secrets live in credentials.toml under the data dir. Existing legacy config.toml secrets are read for compatibility and leave config.toml on the first auth write.

• Run wordpress-cli doctor --fail-on warn to surface path and credential-location warnings. agent-context exposes a schema v4 paths block for agents that need the resolved dirs.

• For MCP, pass relocation through the MCP host config. The MCP binary does not inherit CLI flags:

  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "wordpress": {
        "command": "wordpress-mcp",
        "env": {
          "WORDPRESS_HOME": "/srv/wordpress"
        }
      }
    }
  }
  

Fleet precedence: an inherited per-kind env var overrides an explicit --home for that kind. Use WORDPRESS_HOME or per-kind vars as durable fleet levers, and use --home only for a single invocation. Relocation is not reversible by unsetting env vars; move files manually before clearing WORDPRESS_HOME, or doctor will not find credentials left under the former root.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

wordpress-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
wordpress-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
wordpress-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally as feedback.jsonl under the resolved data dir. They are never POSTed unless WORDPRESS_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or WORDPRESS_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - for example a nightly job that always lists draft pages on one client's site.

wordpress-cli profile save briefing --json
wordpress-cli --profile briefing categories list
wordpress-cli profile list --json
wordpress-cli profile show briefing
wordpress-cli profile delete briefing --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

1. Empty, help, or --help → show wordpress-cli --help output
2. Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
3. Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)

MCP Server Installation

1. Install the MCP server:

   go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/marketing/wordpress/cmd/wordpress-mcp@latest
   

2. Register with Claude Code:

   claude mcp add wordpress-mcp -- wordpress-mcp
   

3. Verify: claude mcp list

Direct Use

1. Check if installed: which wordpress-cli If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
2. Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
3. Execute with the --agent flag:

   wordpress-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
   

4. If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: wordpress-cli <command> --help.