WP-CLI

WP-CLI is available on every plan, against every environment, through the SSH gateway. It’s the upstream wp you already know — there’s no managed.dev-specific dialect to learn and nothing to install on the server. You connect to an environment and run wp exactly as you would anywhere else, with the session scoped to that environment’s isolated database and files.

This page assumes you’ve added an SSH key. If you only need a quick command, run it inline; for a sequence of commands, open an interactive shell.

run a command

You can invoke wp over SSH without holding a session open:

Inline against production

ssh acme-store@ssh.managed.dev "wp plugin list --status=active"

Or open a shell and work interactively:

acme-store — wp-cli

~/acme-store ❯ ssh acme-store@ssh.managed.dev
acme-store ❯ wp plugin list –status=active –field=name
woocommerce
wordpress-seo
✓ 2 active plugins

targeting branch vs production

The environment is chosen at connection time by qualifying the username — there’s no --url gymnastics and no risk of running against the wrong database, because each environment is fully isolated.

Production

Production

ssh acme-store@ssh.managed.dev "wp cache flush"

Branch environment

The feature/checkout branch environment

ssh acme-store+feature-checkout@ssh.managed.dev "wp cache flush"

The suffix after + is the branch route name with slashes normalised to dashes, so feature/checkout becomes feature-checkout. See preview environments for how a pushed branch becomes an addressable environment in the first place.

Dry-run first on writes

Anything that mutates the database — wp search-replace, wp db query, wp option update — should be tried against a branch environment first, and run with --dry-run where the command supports it. Mistakes are recoverable with snapshots, but it’s faster to not make them.

worked examples

Inventory plugins and their update state

wp plugin list --fields=name,status,version,update

Preview a domain swap without changing anything

wp search-replace 'staging.example.com' 'example.com' --dry-run --all-tables

Drop the --dry-run once the report looks right.

Export the database for a local copy

wp db export - | gzip > acme-store-$(date +%F).sql.gz

Streaming to stdout (-) lets you pipe the dump straight off the gateway to your machine in a single command.

Run a stuck WP-Cron event by hand

wp cron event list
wp cron event run woocommerce_scheduled_subscription_payments

Regenerate the search index after a content import

wp transient delete --all
wp rewrite flush

a .forge-term session, end to end

A typical “fix it on a branch, then promote” loop looks like this — work on the preview, verify, and let git deploy carry it to production:

acme-store — search-replace on a preview

~ ❯ ssh acme-store+feature-rebrand@ssh.managed.dev
acme-store ❯ wp search-replace ‘Old Brand’ ‘New Brand’ –dry-run
+————+–––––––+–––––––+——+
| Table      | Column       | Replacements | Type |
+————+–––––––+–––––––+——+
| wp_posts   | post_content | 34           | PHP  |
+————+–––––––+–––––––+——+
acme-store ❯ wp search-replace ‘Old Brand’ ‘New Brand’
✓ Made 34 replacements.acme-store ❯ wp cache flush
✓ The cache was flushed.https://acme-store-feature-rebrand-a1b2c3.preview.managed.dev

common recipes

Goal	Command
List users with roles	wp user list --fields=ID,user_login,roles
Reset a password	wp user update admin --user_pass='…'
Check core / plugin versions	wp core version · wp plugin list
Activate a plugin	wp plugin activate woocommerce
Inspect an option	wp option get blogname
Flush rewrite rules	wp rewrite flush
Clear all caches	wp cache flush

Tip

Because it’s plain WP-CLI over SSH, the same commands work in CI. Wrap them in an ssh acme-store+<branch>@ssh.managed.dev "<command>" step to run migrations or smoke checks against a preview before you promote.

next steps

SSH gatewayHow the gateway authenticates you and scopes each session.

Preview environmentsEvery branch you push becomes an isolated environment to run WP-CLI against.

Snapshots & rollbackTake a point-in-time snapshot before a risky write, restore in a click.

The mf CLIRun exec against an environment from the public API client (developer preview).