wp db

Performs basic database operations using credentials stored in wp-config.php.

wp search replace command works with DB as well.

Commands Description
wp db create Creates a new database.
wp db drop Deletes the existing database.
wp db reset Removes all tables from the database.
wp db clean Removes all tables with $table_prefix from the database.
wp db check Checks the current status of the database.
wp db optimize Optimizes the database.
wp db repair Repairs the database.
wp db cli Opens a MySQL console using credentials from wp-config.php
wp db query Executes a SQL query against the database.
wp db export Exports the database to a file or to STDOUT.
wp db import Imports a database from a file or from STDIN.
wp db tables Lists the database tables.
wp db size Displays the database name and size.
wp db prefix Displays the database table prefix.
wp db search Finds a string in the database.
wp db columns Displays information about a given table.

Examples

# Create a new database.
$ wp db create
Success: Database created.

# Drop an existing database.
$ wp db drop --yes
Success: Database dropped.

# Reset the current database.
$ wp db reset --yes
Success: Database reset.

# Execute a SQL query stored in a file.
$ wp db query < debug.sql

Source code of the commands

On Windows you may encounter an error:

'mysql' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

This video shows how to solve the problem

wp db create

Creates a new database.

Runs CREATE_DATABASE SQL statement using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

Usage

wp db create [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.

Examples

$ wp db create
Success: Database created.

wp db drop

Deletes the existing database.

Runs DROP_DATABASE SQL statement using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

Usage

wp db drop [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--yes]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--yes]
Answer yes to the confirmation message.

Examples

$ wp db drop --yes
Success: Database dropped.

wp db reset

Removes all tables from the database.

Runs DROP_DATABASE and CREATE_DATABASE SQL statements using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

Usage

wp db reset [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--yes]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--yes]
Answer yes to the confirmation message.

Examples

$ wp db reset --yes
Success: Database reset.

wp db clean

Removes all tables with $table_prefix from the database.

Runs DROP_TABLE for each table that has a $table_prefix as specified in wp-config.php.

Usage

wp db clean [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--yes]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--yes]
Answer yes to the confirmation message.

Examples

# Delete all tables that match the current site prefix.
$ wp db clean --yes
Success: Tables dropped.

wp db check

Checks the current status of the database.

Runs mysqlcheck utility with --check using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

See docs for more details on the CHECK TABLE statement.

Usage

wp db check [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--{field}={value}]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysqlcheck. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysqlcheck. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--{field}={value}]
Extra arguments to pass to mysqlcheck. Refer to mysqlcheck docs.

Examples

$ wp db check
Success: Database checked.

wp db optimize

Optimizes the database.

Runs mysqlcheck utility with --optimize=true using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

See docs for more details on the OPTIMIZE TABLE statement.

Usage

wp db optimize [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--{field}={value}]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysqlcheck. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysqlcheck. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--{field}={value}]
Extra arguments to pass to mysqlcheck. Refer to mysqlcheck docs.

Examples

$ wp db optimize
Success: Database optimized.

wp db repair

Repairs the database.

Runs mysqlcheck utility with --repair=true using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

See docs for more details on the REPAIR TABLE statement.

Usage

wp db repair [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--{field}={value}]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysqlcheck. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysqlcheck. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--{field}={value}]
Extra arguments to pass to mysqlcheck. Refer to mysqlcheck docs.

Examples

$ wp db repair
Success: Database repaired.

wp db cli

Opens a MySQL console using credentials from wp-config.php

Usage

wp db cli [--database={database}] [--default-character-set={character-set}] [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--{field}={value}]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--database={database}]
Use a specific database. Defaults to DB_NAME.
[--default-character-set={character-set}]
Use a specific character set. Defaults to DB_CHARSET when defined.
[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--{field}={value}]
Extra arguments to pass to mysql. Refer to mysql docs.

Examples

# Open MySQL console
$ wp db cli
mysql>

wp db query

Executes a SQL query against the database.

Executes an arbitrary SQL query using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

Usage

wp db query [{sql}] [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--{field}={value}]

You can specify global options and the following:

[{sql}]
A SQL query. If not passed, will try to read from STDIN.
[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--{field}={value}]
Extra arguments to pass to mysql. Refer to mysql docs.

Examples

# Execute a query stored in a file
$ wp db query < debug.sql
# Check all tables in the database
$ wp db query "CHECK TABLE $(wp db tables | paste -s -d, -);"
+---------------------------------------+-------+----------+----------+
| Table                                 | Op    | Msg_type | Msg_text |
+---------------------------------------+-------+----------+----------+
| wordpress_dbase.wp_users              | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_usermeta           | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_posts              | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_comments           | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_links              | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_options            | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_postmeta           | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_terms              | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_term_taxonomy      | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_term_relationships | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_termmeta           | check | status   | OK       |
| wordpress_dbase.wp_commentmeta        | check | status   | OK       |
+---------------------------------------+-------+----------+----------+
# Pass extra arguments through to MySQL
$ wp db query 'SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name="home"' --skip-column-names
+---+------+------------------------------+-----+
| 2 | home | http://wordpress-develop.dev | yes |
+---+------+------------------------------+-----+

wp db export

Exports the database to a file or to STDOUT.

Runs mysqldump utility using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php.

Usage

wp db export [{file}] [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--{field}={value}] [--tables={tables}] [--exclude_tables={tables}] [--porcelain]

You can specify global options and the following:

[{file}]
The name of the SQL file to export. If '-', then outputs to STDOUT. If omitted, it will be '{dbname}-{Y-m-d}-{random-hash}.sql'.
[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysqldump. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysqldump. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--{field}={value}]
Extra arguments to pass to mysqldump. Refer to mysqldump docs.
[--tables={tables}]
The comma separated list of specific tables to export. Excluding this parameter will export all tables in the database.
[--exclude_tables={tables}]
The comma separated list of specific tables that should be skipped from exporting. Excluding this parameter will export all tables in the database.
[--porcelain]
Output filename for the exported database.

Examples

# Export database with drop query included
$ wp db export --add-drop-table
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Export certain tables
$ wp db export --tables=wp_options,wp_users
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Export all tables matching a wildcard
$ wp db export --tables=$(wp db tables 'wp_user*' --format=csv)
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Export all tables matching prefix
$ wp db export --tables=$(wp db tables --all-tables-with-prefix --format=csv)
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Export certain posts without create table statements
$ wp db export --no-create-info=true --tables=wp_posts --where="ID in (100,101,102)"
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Export relating meta for certain posts without create table statements
$ wp db export --no-create-info=true --tables=wp_postmeta --where="post_id in (100,101,102)"
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Skip certain tables from the exported database
$ wp db export --exclude_tables=wp_options,wp_users
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Skip all tables matching a wildcard from the exported database
$ wp db export --exclude_tables=$(wp db tables 'wp_user*' --format=csv)
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Skip all tables matching prefix from the exported database
$ wp db export --exclude_tables=$(wp db tables --all-tables-with-prefix --format=csv)
Success: Exported to 'wordpress_dbase-db72bb5.sql'.
# Export database to STDOUT.
$ wp db export -
-- MySQL dump 10.13  Distrib 5.7.19, for osx10.12 (x86_64)
--
-- Host: localhost    Database: wpdev
-- ------------------------------------------------------
-- Server version   5.7.19
...

wp db import

Imports a database from a file or from STDIN.

Runs SQL queries using DB_HOST, DB_NAME, DB_USER and DB_PASSWORD database credentials specified in wp-config.php. This does not create database by itself and only performs whatever tasks are defined in the SQL.

Usage

wp db import [{file}] [--dbuser={value}] [--dbpass={value}] [--{field}={value}] [--skip-optimization]

You can specify global options and the following:

[{file}]
The name of the SQL file to import. If '-', then reads from STDIN. If omitted, it will look for '{dbname}.sql'.
[--dbuser={value}]
Username to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_USER.
[--dbpass={value}]
Password to pass to mysql. Defaults to DB_PASSWORD.
[--{field}={value}]
Extra arguments to pass to mysql. Refer to mysql binary docs.
[--skip-optimization]
When using an SQL file, do not include speed optimization such as disabling auto-commit and key checks.

Examples

# Import MySQL from a file.
$ wp db import wordpress_dbase.sql
Success: Imported from 'wordpress_dbase.sql'.

wp db tables

Lists the database tables.

Defaults to all tables registered to the $wpdb database handler.

Usage

wp db tables [{table}...] [--scope={scope}] [--network] [--all-tables-with-prefix] [--all-tables] [--format={format}]

You can specify global options and the following:

[{table}...]
List tables based on wildcard search, e.g. 'wp_*_options' or 'wp_post?'.
[--scope={scope}]
Can be all, global, ms_global, blog, or old tables. Defaults to all.
[--network]
List all the tables in a multisite install.
[--all-tables-with-prefix]
List all tables that match the table prefix even if not registered on $wpdb. Overrides --network.
[--all-tables]
List all tables in the database, regardless of the prefix, and even if not registered on $wpdb. Overrides --all-tables-with-prefix.
[--format={format}]

Render output in a particular format.
Default: list
Can be:

  • list
  • csv

Examples

# List tables for a single site, without shared tables like 'wp_users'
$ wp db tables --scope=blog --url=sub.example.com
wp_3_posts
wp_3_comments
wp_3_options
wp_3_postmeta
wp_3_terms
wp_3_term_taxonomy
wp_3_term_relationships
wp_3_termmeta
wp_3_commentmeta
# Export only tables for a single site
$ wp db export --tables=$(wp db tables --url=sub.example.com --format=csv)
Success: Exported to wordpress_dbase.sql

wp db size

Displays the database name and size.

Display the database name and size for DB_NAME specified in wp-config.php. The size defaults to a human-readable number.

Usage

wp db size [--size_format] [--tables] [--human-readable] [--format] [--scope={scope}] [--network] [--all-tables-with-prefix] [--all-tables]

You can specify global options and the following:

[--size_format]

Display the database size only, as a bare number.
Default: b
Can be:

  • b (bytes)
  • kb (kilobytes)
  • mb (megabytes)
  • gb (gigabytes)
  • tb (terabytes)
  • B (ISO Byte setting, with no conversion)
  • KB (ISO Kilobyte setting, with 1 KB = 1,000 B)
  • KiB (ISO Kibibyte setting, with 1 KiB = 1,024 B)
  • MB (ISO Megabyte setting, with 1 MB = 1,000 KB)
  • MiB (ISO Mebibyte setting, with 1 MiB = 1,024 KiB)
  • GB (ISO Gigabyte setting, with 1 GB = 1,000 MB)
  • GiB (ISO Gibibyte setting, with 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB)
  • TB (ISO Terabyte setting, with 1 TB = 1,000 GB)
  • TiB (ISO Tebibyte setting, with 1 TiB = 1,024 GiB)
[--tables]
Display each table name and size instead of the database size.
[--human-readable]
Display database sizes in human readable formats.
[--format]

table, csv, json
Default: table
Can be:

  • table
  • csv
  • json
[--scope={scope}]
Can be all, global, ms_global, blog, or old tables. Defaults to all.
[--network]
List all the tables in a multisite install.
[--all-tables-with-prefix]
List all tables that match the table prefix even if not registered on $wpdb. Overrides --network.
[--all-tables]
List all tables in the database, regardless of the prefix, and even if not registered on $wpdb. Overrides --all-tables-with-prefix.

Examples

$ wp db size
+-------------------+------+
| Name              | Size |
+-------------------+------+
| wordpress_default | 6 MB |
+-------------------+------+
$ wp db size --tables
+-----------------------+-------+
| Name                  | Size  |
+-----------------------+-------+
| wp_users              | 64 KB |
| wp_usermeta           | 48 KB |
| wp_posts              | 80 KB |
| wp_comments           | 96 KB |
| wp_links              | 32 KB |
| wp_options            | 32 KB |
| wp_postmeta           | 48 KB |
| wp_terms              | 48 KB |
| wp_term_taxonomy      | 48 KB |
| wp_term_relationships | 32 KB |
| wp_termmeta           | 48 KB |
| wp_commentmeta        | 48 KB |
+-----------------------+-------+
$ wp db size --size_format=b
5865472
$ wp db size --size_format=kb
5728
$ wp db size --size_format=mb
6

wp db prefix

Displays the database table prefix.

Display the database table prefix, as defined by the database handler's interpretation of the current site.

Usage

wp db prefix

Examples

$ wp db prefix
wp_

Finds a string in the database.

Searches through all or a selection of database tables for a given string, Outputs colorized references to the string.

Defaults to searching through all tables registered to $wpdb. On multisite, this default is limited to the tables for the current site.

Usage

wp db search {search} [{tables}...] [--network] [--all-tables-with-prefix] [--all-tables] [--before_context={num}] [--after_context={num}] [--regex] [--regex-flags={regex-flags}] [--regex-delimiter={regex-delimiter}] [--table_column_once] [--one_line] [--matches_only] [--stats] [--table_column_color={color_code}] [--id_color={color_code}] [--match_color={color_code}]

You can specify global options and the following:

{search}
String to search for. The search is case-insensitive by default.
[{tables}...]
One or more tables to search through for the string.
[--network]
Search through all the tables registered to $wpdb in a multisite install.
[--all-tables-with-prefix]
Search through all tables that match the registered table prefix, even if not registered on $wpdb. On one hand, sometimes plugins use tables without registering them to $wpdb. On another hand, this could return tables you don't expect. Overrides --network.
[--all-tables]
Search through ALL tables in the database, regardless of the prefix, and even if not registered on $wpdb. Overrides --network and --all-tables-with-prefix.
[--before_context={num}]
Number of characters to display before the match.
Default: 40
[--after_context={num}]
Number of characters to display after the match.
Default: 40
[--regex]
Runs the search as a regular expression (without delimiters). The search becomes case-sensitive (i.e. no PCRE flags are added). Delimiters must be escaped if they occur in the expression.
[--regex-flags={regex-flags}]
Pass PCRE modifiers to the regex search (e.g. 'i' for case-insensitivity).
[--regex-delimiter={regex-delimiter}]
The delimiter to use for the regex. It must be escaped if it appears in the search string. The default value is the result of chr(1).
[--table_column_once]
Output the 'table:column' line once before all matching row lines in the table column rather than before each matching row.
[--one_line]
Place the 'table:column' output on the same line as the row id and match ('table:column:id:match'). Overrides --table_column_once.
[--matches_only]
Only output the string matches (including context). No 'table:column's or row ids are outputted.
[--stats]
Output stats on the number of matches found, time taken, tables/columns/rows searched, tables skipped.
[--table_column_color={color_code}]
Percent color code to use for the 'table:column' output. For a list of available percent color codes, see below. Default '%G' (bright green).
[--id_color={color_code}]
Percent color code to use for the row id output. For a list of available percent color codes, see below. Default '%Y' (bright yellow).
[--match_color={color_code}]
Percent color code to use for the match (unless both before and after context are 0, when no color code is used). For a list of available percent color codes, see below. Default '%3%k' (black on a mustard background).

The percent color codes available are:

Code Color
%y Yellow (dark) (mustard)
%g Green (dark)
%b Blue (dark)
%r Red (dark)
%m Magenta (dark)
%c Cyan (dark)
%w White (dark) (light gray)
%k Black
%Y Yellow (bright)
%G Green (bright)
%B Blue (bright)
%R Red (bright)
%M Magenta (bright)
%C Cyan (bright)
%W White
%K Black (bright) (dark gray)
%3 Yellow background (dark) (mustard)
%2 Green background (dark)
%4 Blue background (dark)
%1 Red background (dark)
%5 Magenta background (dark)
%6 Cyan background (dark)
%7 White background (dark) (light gray)
%0 Black background
%8 Reverse
%U Underline
%F Blink (unlikely to work)

They can be concatenated. For instance, the default match color of black on a mustard (dark yellow) background %3%k can be made black on a bright yellow background with %Y%0%8.

Examples

# Search through the database for the 'wordpress-develop' string
$ wp db search wordpress-develop
wp_
	Can be:
option_value
1:http://wordpress-develop.dev
wp_
	Can be:
option_value
1:http://example.com/foo
	...
# Search through a multisite database on the subsite 'foo' for the 'example.com' string
$ wp db search example.com --url=example.com/foo
wp_2_comments:comment_author_url
1:http://example.com/
wp_2_
	Can be:
option_value
	...
# Search through the database for the 'https?://' regular expression, printing stats.
$ wp db search 'https?://' --regex --stats
wp_comments:comment_author_url
1:https://wordpress.org/
	...
Success: Found 99146 matches in 10.752s (10.559s searching). Searched 12 tables, 53 columns, 1358907 rows. 1 table skipped: wp_term_relationships.
# SQL search database table 'wp_options' where 'option_name' match 'foo'
wp db query 'SELECT * FROM wp_options WHERE option_name like "%foo%"' --skip-column-names
+----+--------------+--------------------------------+-----+
| 98 | foo_options  | a:1:{s:12:"_multiwidget";i:1;} | yes |
| 99 | foo_settings | a:0:{}                         | yes |
+----+--------------+--------------------------------+-----+
# SQL search and delete records from database table 'wp_options' where 'option_name' match 'foo'
wp db query "DELETE from wp_options where option_id in ($(wp db query "SELECT GROUP_CONCAT(option_id SEPARATOR ',') from wp_options where option_name like '%foo%';" --silent --skip-column-names))"

wp db columns

Displays information about a given table.

Usage

wp db columns [{table}] [--format]

You can specify global options and the following:

[{table}]
Name of the database table.
[--format]

Render output in a particular format.
Default: table
Can be:

  • table
  • csv
  • json
  • yaml

Examples

$ wp db columns wp_posts
+-----------------------+---------------------+------+-----+---------------------+----------------+
|         Field         |        Type         | Null | Key |       Default       |     Extra      |
+-----------------------+---------------------+------+-----+---------------------+----------------+
| ID                    | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   | PRI |                     | auto_increment |
| post_author           | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   | MUL | 0                   |                |
| post_date             | datetime            | NO   |     | 0000-00-00 00:00:00 |                |
| post_date_gmt         | datetime            | NO   |     | 0000-00-00 00:00:00 |                |
| post_content          | longtext            | NO   |     |                     |                |
| post_title            | text                | NO   |     |                     |                |
| post_excerpt          | text                | NO   |     |                     |                |
| post_status           | varchar(20)         | NO   |     | publish             |                |
| comment_status        | varchar(20)         | NO   |     | open                |                |
| ping_status           | varchar(20)         | NO   |     | open                |                |
| post_password         | varchar(255)        | NO   |     |                     |                |
| post_name             | varchar(200)        | NO   | MUL |                     |                |
| to_ping               | text                | NO   |     |                     |                |
| pinged                | text                | NO   |     |                     |                |
| post_modified         | datetime            | NO   |     | 0000-00-00 00:00:00 |                |
| post_modified_gmt     | datetime            | NO   |     | 0000-00-00 00:00:00 |                |
| post_content_filtered | longtext            | NO   |     |                     |                |
| post_parent           | bigint(20) unsigned | NO   | MUL | 0                   |                |
| guid                  | varchar(255)        | NO   |     |                     |                |
| menu_order            | int(11)             | NO   |     | 0                   |                |
| post_type             | varchar(20)         | NO   | MUL | post                |                |
| post_mime_type        | varchar(100)        | NO   |     |                     |                |
| comment_count         | bigint(20)          | NO   |     | 0                   |                |
+-----------------------+---------------------+------+-----+---------------------+----------------+