# Quick Start Congratulations! You've [installed WP-CLI](/link/244) for the first time, and are ready to level-up your use of WordPress. This page contains a brief introduction to WP-CLI with some example usage. ## Introduction WP-CLI is a command line interface for WordPress. The project's goal is to offer a complete alternative to the WordPress admin; for any action you might want to perform in the WordPress admin, there should be an equivalent WP-CLI command. For instance, because you can install a plugin from the WordPress admin, you can also [install a plugin](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/plugin/install/) with WP-CLI: $ wp plugin install akismet Installing Akismet (3.1.8) Downloading install package from https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/akismet.3.1.8.zip... Unpacking the package... Installing the plugin... Plugin installed successfully. And, because you can also activate plugins from the WordPress admin, you can [activate a plugin](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/plugin/activate/) with WP-CLI: $ wp plugin activate akismet Success: Plugin 'akismet' activated. One key difference between using the WordPress admin and WP-CLI: performing any action takes many fewer clicks. As you become more familiar with the command line, you'll notice performing a given task with WP-CLI is generally much faster than performing the same task through the WordPress admin. Investing time upfront into learning how to better use WP-CLI pays dividends in the long term. ## Common Terms Throughout your usage of WP-CLI, you'll hear certain terms used over and over again. For instance, a _command_ is an atomic unit of WP-CLI functionality. `wp plugin install` is one such command, as is `wp plugin activate`. Commands represent a name (e.g. 'plugin install') and a callback, and are registered with `WP_CLI::add_command()` ([doc](/link/514)). The _synopsis_ defines which _positional_ and _associative_ arguments a command accepts. Let's take a look at the synopsis for `wp plugin install`: $ wp plugin install usage: wp plugin install ... [--version=] [--force] [--activate] [--activate-network] In this example, `...` is the accepted _positional_ argument. In fact, `wp plugin install` accepts the same positional argument (the slug, ZIP, or URL of a plugin to install) multiple times. `[--version=]` is one of the accepted _associative_ arguments. It's used to denote the version of the plugin to install. Notice, too, the square brackets around the argument definition; square brackets mean the argument is optional. WP-CLI also has a [series of _global_ arguments](/link/269) which work with all commands. For instance, including `--debug` means your command execution will display all PHP errors, and add extra verbosity to the WP-CLI bootstrap process. ## Practical Examples Ready to dive in? Here are some common examples of how WP-CLI is used: **Download and install WordPress in seconds** 1. Download the latest version of WordPress with `wp core download` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/core/download/)). ``` $ wp core download --path=wpclidemo.dev Creating directory '/srv/www/wpclidemo.dev/'. Downloading WordPress 4.6.1 (en_US)... Using cached file '/home/vagrant/.wp-cli/cache/core/wordpress-4.6.1-en_US.tar.gz'... Success: WordPress downloaded. ``` 2. Create a new wp-config.php file with `wp config create` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/create/)). ``` $ cd wpclidemo.dev $ wp config create --dbname=wpclidemo --dbuser=root --prompt=dbpass 1/10 [--dbpass=]: Success: Generated 'wp-config.php' file. ``` 3. Create the database based on wp-config.php with `wp db create` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/db/create/)). ``` $ wp db create Success: Database created. ``` 4. Install WordPress with `wp core install` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/core/install/)). ``` $ wp core install --url=wpclidemo.dev --title="WP-CLI" --admin_user=wpcli --admin_password=wpcli --admin_email=info@wp-cli.org Success: WordPress installed successfully. ``` That's it! **Update plugins to their latest version** Use `wp plugin update --all` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/plugin/update/)) to update all plugins to their latest version. ``` $ wp plugin update --all Enabling Maintenance mode... Downloading update from https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/akismet.3.1.11.zip... Unpacking the update... Installing the latest version... Removing the old version of the plugin... Plugin updated successfully. Downloading update from https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/nginx-champuru.3.2.0.zip... Unpacking the update... Installing the latest version... Removing the old version of the plugin... Plugin updated successfully. Disabling Maintenance mode... Success: Updated 2/2 plugins. +------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+ | name | old_version | new_version | status | +------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+ | akismet | 3.1.3 | 3.1.11 | Updated | | nginx-cache-controller | 3.1.1 | 3.2.0 | Updated | +------------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+ ``` **Add a user as a super-admin** On multisite, use `wp super-admin add` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/super-admin/add/)) to grant super admin capabilities to an existing user. ``` $ wp super-admin add wpcli Success: Granted super-admin capabilities. ``` **Regenerate thumbnails** If you've added or changed an image size registered with `add_image_size()`, you may want to use `wp media regenerate` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/media/regenerate/)) so your theme displays the correct image size. ``` wp media regenerate --yes Found 1 image to regenerate. 1/1 Regenerated thumbnails for "charlie-gpa" (ID 4). Success: Finished regenerating the image. ``` **Search and replace URLs** If you're moving a database from one domain to another, `wp search-replace` ([doc](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/search-replace/)) makes it easy to update all URL references in your database. To see which links will be replaced in your database, use the --dry-run flag: ``` wp search-replace 'http://oldsite.com' 'http://newsite.com' --dry-run ``` When ready to replace the links, run: ``` wp search-replace 'http://oldsite.com' 'http://newsite.com' ``` Wondering what's next? Browse through [all of WP-CLI's commands](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/) to explore your new world. For more detailed information about creating custom commands, visit the [WP-CLI Commands Cookbook](/link/236). Or, catch up with [shell friends](/link/299) to learn about helpful command line utilities.