Create and manage WordPress posts, pages, media, categories, and menus. Workflow: determine content type, choose method (WP-CLI or REST API), execute, verify. Use when creating blog posts, updating pages, uploading media, managing categories and tags, updating menus, or doing bulk content operations on WordPress sites.
Create, update, and manage WordPress content — posts, pages, media, categories, tags, and menus. Produces live content on the site via WP-CLI or the REST API.
wordpress.config.json or wp-cli.yml| Task | Best Method |
|---|---|
| Create/edit single post or page | WP-CLI wp post create/update |
| Bulk create posts | WP-CLI loop or REST API batch |
| Upload images/media | WP-CLI wp media import |
| Manage categories/tags | WP-CLI wp term |
| Update navigation menus | WP-CLI |
wp menu| Scheduled posts | WP-CLI with --post_date |
| Complex HTML content | Write to temp file, pass to WP-CLI |
| No SSH access available | REST API with Application Password |
# Simple post
wp @site post create \
--post_type=post \
--post_title="My New Blog Post" \
--post_content="<p>Post content here.</p>" \
--post_status=draft \
--post_category=3,5
# Post from HTML file (better for long content)
wp @site post create ./post-content.html \
--post_type=post \
--post_title="My New Blog Post" \
--post_status=draft \
--post_excerpt="A brief summary of the post." \
--post_category=3,5 \
--tags_input="tag1,tag2"
Post statuses: draft, publish, pending, future (use with --post_date)
wp @site post create \
--post_type=page \
--post_title="About Us" \
--post_content="<h2>Our Story</h2><p>Content here...</p>" \
--post_status=publish \
--post_parent=0 \
--menu_order=10
wp @site post create \
--post_type=post \
--post_title="Scheduled Post" \
--post_content="<p>This goes live tomorrow.</p>" \
--post_status=future \
--post_date="2026-02-23 09:00:00"
# Upload from URL
wp @site media import "https://example.com/image.jpg" \
--title="Product Photo" \
--alt="Product front view" \
--caption="Our latest product"
# Upload from local file (requires SCP first for remote sites)
scp ./image.jpg user@host:/tmp/image.jpg
wp @site media import /tmp/image.jpg --title="Local Upload"
# Import and set as featured image in one step
wp @site media import "https://example.com/hero.jpg" \
--title="Hero" --featured_image --post_id={id}
# List media
wp @site post list --post_type=attachment --fields=ID,post_title,guid
# Regenerate thumbnails
wp @site media regenerate --yes
Set featured image on a post:
# Get the attachment ID from the import output, then:
wp @site post meta update {post_id} _thumbnail_id {attachment_id}
# List categories
wp @site term list category --fields=term_id,name,slug,count
# Create category
wp @site term create category "News" --slug=news --description="Company news and updates"
# Create child category
wp @site term create category "Product News" --slug=product-news --parent=5
# Update category
wp @site term update category {term_id} --name="Updated Name"
# Assign category to post
wp @site post term add {post_id} category news
# List tags
wp @site term list post_tag --fields=term_id,name,slug,count
# Create tag
wp @site term create post_tag "new-tag"
# Add tags during post creation
wp @site post create --post_title="..." --tags_input="seo,marketing,tips"
# Add tags to existing post
wp @site post term add {post_id} post_tag seo marketing tips
# List menus
wp @site menu list --fields=term_id,name,slug,count
# List items in a menu
wp @site menu item list main-menu --fields=db_id,type,title,link,position
# Add page to menu
wp @site menu item add-post main-menu {page_id} --title="About Us"
# Add custom link
wp @site menu item add-custom main-menu "Contact" "https://example.com/contact/"
# Add category archive to menu
wp @site menu item add-term main-menu category {term_id}
# Reorder (set position)
wp @site menu item update {item_id} --position=3
# Delete menu item
wp @site menu item delete {item_id}
# Update post title and content
wp @site post update {post_id} \
--post_title="Updated Title" \
--post_content="<p>New content.</p>"
# Update from file
wp @site post update {post_id} ./updated-content.html
# Search posts
wp @site post list --s="search term" --fields=ID,post_title
# Bulk update status
wp @site post list --post_type=post --post_status=draft --field=ID | \
xargs -I {} wp @site post update {} --post_status=publish
# Delete (trash)
wp @site post delete {post_id}
# Delete permanently
wp @site post delete {post_id} --force
# Get all meta for a post
wp @site post meta list {post_id} --fields=meta_key,meta_value
# Get specific meta
wp @site post meta get {post_id} meta_key
# Set meta
wp @site post meta update {post_id} meta_key "meta_value"
# Add meta (allows duplicates)
wp @site post meta add {post_id} meta_key "meta_value"
# Delete meta
wp @site post meta delete {post_id} meta_key
ACF stores fields with both the field value and a reference key (_field_name -> field_abc123).
# Dry run first — always
wp @site search-replace "old text" "new text" --dry-run
# Execute
wp @site search-replace "old text" "new text" --precise
# Limit to specific table
wp @site search-replace "old" "new" wp_posts --precise
# Limit to specific column
wp @site search-replace "old" "new" wp_posts post_content --precise
# Export all content
wp @site export --dir=/tmp/
# Export specific post type
wp @site export --post_type=post --dir=/tmp/
# Import
wp @site import /path/to/file.xml --authors=mapping.csv
# Check the post
wp @site post get {post_id} --fields=ID,post_title,post_status,guid
# Get the live URL
wp @site post get {post_id} --field=guid
# List recent posts
wp @site post list --post_type=post --posts_per_page=5 --fields=ID,post_title,post_status,post_date
Provide the admin URL and live URL:
https://example.com/wp-admin/post.php?post={id}&action=edithttps://example.com/{slug}/When WP-CLI is not available, use the WordPress REST API with Application Password auth.
# Base64 encode credentials
AUTH=$(echo -n "username:xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx" | base64)
# Use in requests
curl -s https://example.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts \
-H "Authorization: Basic $AUTH" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
| Resource | Endpoint |
|---|---|
| Posts | /wp-json/wp/v2/posts |
| Pages | /wp-json/wp/v2/pages |
| Media | /wp-json/wp/v2/media |
| Categories | /wp-json/wp/v2/categories |
| Tags | /wp-json/wp/v2/tags |
All support GET (list/single), POST (create), PUT (update), DELETE.
curl -s https://example.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts \
-H "Authorization: Basic $AUTH" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"title": "My New Post",
"content": "<p>Post content here.</p>",
"status": "draft",
"categories": [3, 5],
"tags": [10, 12],
"excerpt": "Brief summary",
"featured_media": 456
}' | jq '{id, link, status}'
curl -s https://example.com/wp-json/wp/v2/pages \
-H "Authorization: Basic $AUTH" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"title": "About Us",
"content": "<h2>Our Story</h2><p>Content...</p>",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0
}'
curl -s https://example.com/wp-json/wp/v2/media \
-H "Authorization: Basic $AUTH" \
-H "Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=photo.jpg" \
-H "Content-Type: image/jpeg" \
--data-binary @photo.jpg | jq '{id, source_url}'
curl -s https://example.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories \
-H "Authorization: Basic $AUTH" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name": "News", "slug": "news", "description": "Company updates"}'
| Parameter | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
per_page | Results per page (max 100) | ?per_page=50 |
page | Pagination | ?page=2 |
search | Search term | ?search=keyword |
status | Filter by status | ?status=draft |
categories | Filter by category ID | ?categories=3 |
orderby | Sort field | ?orderby=date |
order | Sort direction | ?order=desc |
_fields | Limit response fields | ?_fields=id,title,link |
Menus: Navigation menus have limited REST API support. The /wp-json/wp/v2/navigation endpoint exists for block-based navigation in FSE themes. For classic menus, use WP-CLI.
For anything beyond a sentence, write HTML to a temp file and pass it:
cat > /tmp/post-content.html << 'EOF'
<h2>Section Heading</h2>
<p>Paragraph content with <strong>bold</strong> and <a href="/link">links</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li>List item one</li>
<li>List item two</li>
</ul>
EOF
wp @site post create /tmp/post-content.html --post_title="My Post" --post_status=draft
Shell quoting in --post_content is fragile for complex HTML.
For creating many posts, use a loop with verification:
while IFS=, read -r title slug content_file category; do
wp @site post create "$content_file" \
--post_type=post \
--post_title="$title" \
--post_name="$slug" \
--post_category="$category" \
--post_status=draft
sleep 0.5
done < posts.csv
Always create as draft first, review, then bulk-publish.