wp post

Last updated: February 15, 2026

Manages posts, content, and meta.

Subcommands

CommandDescription
wp post createCreates a new post.
wp post deleteDeletes an existing post.
wp post editLaunches system editor to edit post content.
wp post existsVerifies whether a post exists.
wp post generateGenerates some posts.
wp post getGets details about a post.
wp post listGets a list of posts.
wp post metaAdds, updates, deletes, and lists post custom fields.
wp post termAdds, updates, removes, and lists post terms.
wp post updateUpdates one or more existing posts.
wp post url-to-idGets the post ID for a given URL.

wp post create

Creates a new post.

Synopsis

bash
wp post create [--post_author=<post_author>] [--post_date=<post_date>] [--post_content=<post_content>] [--post_title=<post_title>] [--post_excerpt=<post_excerpt>] [--post_status=<post_status>] [--post_type=<post_type>] [--post_name=<post_name>] [--from-post=<post_id>] [--post_parent=<post_parent>] [--menu_order=<menu_order>] [--post_category=<post_category>] [--tags_input=<tags_input>] [--tax_input=<tax_input>] [--meta_input=<meta_input>] [<file>] [--edit] [--porcelain]

Options

[--post_author=<post_author>] : The ID of the user who added the post. Default is the current user ID.

[--post_date=<post_date>] : The date of the post. Default is the current time.

[--post_content=<post_content>] : The post content. Default empty.

[--post_title=<post_title>] : The post title. Default empty.

[--post_excerpt=<post_excerpt>] : The post excerpt. Default empty.

[--post_status=<post_status>] : The post status. Default ‘draft’.

[--post_type=<post_type>] : The post type. Default ‘post’.

[--post_name=<post_name>] : The post name. Default is the sanitized post title when creating a new post.

[--from-post=<post_id>] : Post id of a post to be duplicated.

[--post_parent=<post_parent>] : Set this for the post it belongs to, if any. Default 0.

[--menu_order=<menu_order>] : The order the post should be displayed in. Default 0.

[--post_category=<post_category>] : Array of category names, slugs, or IDs.

[--tags_input=<tags_input>] : Array of tag names, slugs, or IDs. Default empty.

[--tax_input=<tax_input>] : Array of taxonomy terms keyed by their taxonomy name. Default empty.

[--meta_input=<meta_input>] : Array in JSON format of post meta values keyed by their post meta key.

[<file>] : Read post content from file. Passing - as the filename will cause post content to be read from STDIN.

[--edit] : Immediately open system’s editor to write or edit post content.

[--porcelain] : Output just the new post id.

Examples

bash
# Create post and schedule for future
$ wp post create --post_type=post --post_title='A future post' --post_status=future --post_date='2030-12-01 07:00:00'
Success: Created post 1921.

# Create post with content from given file
$ wp post create ./post-content.txt --post_category=201,345 --post_title='Post from file'
Success: Created post 1922.

# Create a post with multiple meta values.
$ wp post create --post_title='A post' --post_content='Just a small post.' --meta_input='{"key1":"value1","key2":"value2"}'
Success: Created post 1923.

# Create a duplicate post from existing posts.
$ wp post create --from-post=123 --post_title='Different Title'
Success: Created post 2350.

wp post delete

Deletes an existing post.

Synopsis

bash
wp post delete <id>... [--force] [--defer-term-counting]

Options

<id>... : One or more IDs of posts to delete.

[--force] : Skip the trash bin.

[--defer-term-counting] : Recalculate term count in batch, for a performance boost.

Examples

bash
# Delete post skipping trash
$ wp post delete 123 --force
Success: Deleted post 123.

# Delete multiple posts
$ wp post delete 123 456 789
Success: Trashed post 123.
Success: Trashed post 456.
Success: Trashed post 789.

# Delete all pages
$ wp post delete $(wp post list --post_type='page' --format=ids)
Success: Trashed post 1164.
Success: Trashed post 1186.

wp post edit

Launches system editor to edit post content.

Synopsis

bash
wp post edit <id>

Examples

bash
$ wp post edit 123

wp post exists

Verifies whether a post exists.

Synopsis

bash
wp post exists <id>

Examples

bash
# The post exists.
$ wp post exists 1337
Success: Post with ID 1337 exists.
$ echo $?
0

# The post does not exist.
$ wp post exists 10000
$ echo $?
1

wp post generate

Generates some posts. Creates a specified number of new posts with dummy data.

Synopsis

bash
wp post generate [--count=<number>] [--post_type=<type>] [--post_status=<status>] [--post_title=<post_title>] [--post_author=<login>] [--post_date=<yyyy-mm-dd-hh-ii-ss>] [--post_content] [--max_depth=<number>] [--format=<format>]

Options

[--count=<number>] : How many posts to generate? Default: 100

[--post_type=<type>] : The type of the generated posts. Default: post

[--post_status=<status>] : The status of the generated posts. Default: publish

[--post_title=<post_title>] : The post title. Default empty.

[--post_author=<login>] : The author of the generated posts.

[--post_date=<yyyy-mm-dd-hh-ii-ss>] : The date of the post. Default is the current time.

[--post_content] : If set, the command reads the post_content from STDIN.

[--max_depth=<number>] : For hierarchical post types, generate child posts down to a certain depth. Default: 1

[--format=<format>] : Render output in a particular format (progress, ids). Default: progress

Examples

bash
# Generate posts.
$ wp post generate --count=10 --post_type=page --post_date=1999-01-04
Generating posts  100% [================================================] 0:01 / 0:04

# Generate posts with fetched content.
$ curl -N https://loripsum.net/api/5 | wp post generate --post_content --count=10
Generating posts  100% [================================================] 0:01 / 0:04

# Add meta to every generated posts.
$ wp post generate --format=ids | xargs -d ' ' -I % wp post meta add % foo bar
Success: Added custom field.

wp post get

Gets details about a post.

Synopsis

bash
wp post get <id> [--field=<field>] [--fields=<fields>] [--format=<format>]

Options

<id> : The ID of the post to get.

[--field=<field>] : Instead of returning the whole post, returns the value of a single field.

[--fields=<fields>] : Limit the output to specific fields. Defaults to all fields.

[--format=<format>] : Render output in a particular format (table, csv, json, yaml).

Examples

bash
# Save the post content to a file
$ wp post get 123 --field=content > file.txt

wp post list

Gets a list of posts. Display posts based on all arguments supported by WP_Query().

Synopsis

bash
wp post list [--<field>=<value>] [--field=<field>] [--fields=<fields>] [--format=<format>]

Options

[--<field>=<value>] : One or more args to pass to WP_Query.

[--field=<field>] : Prints the value of a single field for each post.

[--fields=<fields>] : Limit the output to specific object fields.

[--format=<format>] : Render output in a particular format (table, csv, ids, json, count, yaml).

Available Fields

Default: ID, post_title, post_name, post_date, post_status

Optional: post_author, post_date_gmt, post_content, post_excerpt, comment_status, ping_status, post_password, to_ping, pinged, post_modified, post_modified_gmt, post_content_filtered, post_parent, guid, menu_order, post_type, post_mime_type, comment_count, filter, url

Examples

bash
# List post
$ wp post list --field=ID
568
829
1329
1695

# List posts in JSON
$ wp post list --post_type=post --posts_per_page=5 --format=json

# List all pages
$ wp post list --post_type=page --fields=post_title,post_status

# List ids of all pages and posts
$ wp post list --post_type=page,post --format=ids
15 25 34 37 198

wp post meta

Adds, updates, deletes, and lists post custom fields.

Subcommands

CommandDescription
wp post meta addAdd a meta field.
wp post meta clean-duplicatesCleans up duplicate post meta values on a post.
wp post meta deleteDelete a meta field.
wp post meta getGet meta field value.
wp post meta listList all metadata associated with an object.
wp post meta patchUpdate a nested value for a meta field.
wp post meta pluckGet a nested value from a meta field.
wp post meta updateUpdate a meta field.

Examples

bash
# Set post meta
$ wp post meta set 123 _wp_page_template about.php
Success: Updated custom field '_wp_page_template'.

# Get post meta
$ wp post meta get 123 _wp_page_template
about.php

# Update post meta
$ wp post meta update 123 _wp_page_template contact.php
Success: Updated custom field '_wp_page_template'.

# Delete post meta
$ wp post meta delete 123 _wp_page_template
Success: Deleted custom field.

wp post term

Adds, updates, removes, and lists post terms.

Subcommands

CommandDescription
wp post term addAdd a term to an object.
wp post term listList all terms associated with an object.
wp post term removeRemove a term from an object.
wp post term setSet object terms.

Examples

bash
# Set category post term `test` to the post ID 123
$ wp post term set 123 test category
Success: Set term.

# Set category post terms `test` and `apple` to the post ID 123
$ wp post term set 123 test apple category
Success: Set terms.

# List category post terms for the post ID 123
$ wp post term list 123 category --fields=term_id,slug
+---------+-------+
| term_id | slug  |
+---------+-------+
| 2       | apple |
| 3       | test  |
+----------+------+

# Remove category post terms `test` and `apple` for the post ID 123
$ wp post term remove 123 category test apple
Success: Removed terms.

wp post update

Updates one or more existing posts.

Synopsis

bash
wp post update <id>... [--post_author=<post_author>] [--post_date=<post_date>] [--post_content=<post_content>] [--post_title=<post_title>] [--post_excerpt=<post_excerpt>] [--post_status=<post_status>] [--post_type=<post_type>] [--post_name=<post_name>] [--post_parent=<post_parent>] [--menu_order=<menu_order>] [--post_category=<post_category>] [--tags_input=<tags_input>] [--tax_input=<tax_input>] [--meta_input=<meta_input>] [<file>] [--defer-term-counting]

Examples

bash
$ wp post update 123 --post_name=something --post_status=draft
Success: Updated post 123.

# Update a post with multiple meta values.
$ wp post update 123 --meta_input='{"key1":"value1","key2":"value2"}'
Success: Updated post 123.

# Update multiple posts at once.
$ wp post update 123 456 --post_author=789
Success: Updated post 123.
Success: Updated post 456.

# Update all posts of a given post type at once.
$ wp post update $(wp post list --post_type=page --format=ids) --post_author=123
Success: Updated post 123.
Success: Updated post 456.

wp post url-to-id

Gets the post ID for a given URL.

Synopsis

bash
wp post url-to-id <url>

Examples

bash
$ wp post url-to-id https://example.com/?p=1
1

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