Introducing InstaWP CLI: WordPress Sites From Your Terminal

InstaWP CLI (@instawp/cli) is an open-source command-line tool that creates and manages WordPress sites directly from your terminal. It provisions cloud sites on InstaWP infrastructure and spins up local sites using WordPress Playground, with zero configuration files, no Docker, and no MySQL. If you are a developer, agency owner, or AI agent looking for the fastest way to go from nothing to a running WordPress environment, this is the tool.

Source: github.com/InstaWP/cli | License: MIT | Requires: Node.js 18+

npm i -g @instawp/cli

npm i -g @instawp/cli

Key Takeaway

InstaWP CLI gives you cloud WordPress sites and local WordPress sites from a single tool, with one install and zero configuration files.

Local sites run on WordPress Playground (WASM PHP + SQLite). You do not need Docker, MySQL, or Apache installed on your machine.

Clone any InstaWP cloud site to your local machine with one command. The CLI handles database conversion, URL replacement, file sync, and auto-login automatically.

CI/CD-ready out of the box. Use INSTAWP_TOKEN in GitHub Actions to create ephemeral preview sites per pull request.

Why Another CLI When WP-CLI Exists?

WP-CLI is an essential tool. It manages an existing WordPress installation beautifully. But it does not create environments. It does not provision servers. It does not handle the gap between “I need a WordPress site” and “I have a WordPress site to manage.”

That gap is exactly where InstaWP CLI lives. Think of it this way: WP-CLI is what you use after your site exists. InstaWP CLI is what you use to make the site exist in the first place, both in the cloud and on your local machine, and then keep those two environments in sync.

The traditional WordPress developer workflow in 2026 still looks something like this for many teams: install Docker or Local by Flywheel, configure a local environment, build locally, manually export the database, push files over FTP or rsync, run search-replace, hope nothing breaks. InstaWP CLI compresses that entire sequence into a handful of commands.

How to Get Started With InstaWP CLI

Getting InstaWP CLI running on your machine takes less than two minutes. You need Node.js 18 or higher installed, and that is the only prerequisite. No Docker. No MySQL. No server configuration. Here is how to go from zero to a running WordPress site in three steps.

Step 1: Install InstaWP CLI globally

Open your terminal and run the following command to install InstaWP CLI as a global npm package:

npm i -g @instawp/cli@beta

npm i -g @instawp/cli@beta

This installs the instawp binary on your system. Once the installation finishes, you can run instawp from any directory in your terminal. If you are using yarn, you can run yarn global add @instawp/cli@beta instead.

To confirm the installation worked, run:

instawp --help

instawp --help

You should see the full list of available commands.

Step 2: Authenticate with your InstaWP account

Next, connect the CLI to your InstaWP account:

instawp login

instawp login

This opens your default browser and walks you through a quick OAuth flow. Once you authorize, the CLI stores your credentials locally and you are ready to go.

If you are setting this up inside a CI/CD pipeline, a Docker container, or any environment without a browser, use token-based authentication instead:

instawp login --token <your-api-token>

instawp login --token <your-api-token>

You can generate API tokens from your InstaWP dashboard under Account > API Tokens. This is the recommended approach for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and automated scripts.

To verify your session is active, run:

instawp whoami

instawp whoami

This shows your current user, active team, and session status.

Step 3: Create your first WordPress site

Now create a cloud WordPress site with a single command:

instawp create --name my-site --php 8.4

instawp create --name my-site --php 8.4

The CLI provisions a full WordPress environment on InstaWP’s cloud infrastructure and shows real-time progress as each step completes.

# Provisioning WordPress...
  Setting up server environment... (38%)
✓ PHP 8.4 configured
  Issuing SSL certificate... (66%)
✓ SSL certificate issued
  Installing WordPress... (79%)
✓ WordPress installed

Ready in 42.3s → https://my-site-abc123.instawp.link

  Username: developer
  Password: xK9#mP2$vL
  WP Admin: https://my-site-abc123.instawp.link/wp-admin
  Magic Login: https://app.instawp.io/wordpress-auto-login?site=abc123

# Provisioning WordPress...
  Setting up server environment... (38%)
✓ PHP 8.4 configured
  Issuing SSL certificate... (66%)
✓ SSL certificate issued
  Installing WordPress... (79%)
✓ WordPress installed

Ready in 42.3s → https://my-site-abc123.instawp.link

  Username: developer
  Password: xK9#mP2$vL
  WP Admin: https://my-site-abc123.instawp.link/wp-admin
  Magic Login: https://app.instawp.io/wordpress-auto-login?site=abc123

Within about 40 seconds, you have a live WordPress site with SSL, admin credentials, and a magic login link. Click the WP Admin URL or the magic login link, and you are inside the WordPress dashboard.

That is it. Three commands, and you have a production-grade WordPress environment running in the cloud. If you want to create a local site instead (running entirely on your machine with no cloud dependency), skip step 2 and run:

instawp local create --name my-site

instawp local create --name my-site

This spins up a WordPress site locally using WordPress Playground. No internet connection required after the initial install.

It uses WordPress Playground under the hood — WASM-compiled PHP and SQLite for the database. The browser opens automatically. You are logged in as admin. Start editing. Run it in the background if you prefer:

instawp local create --name blog --background

instawp local create --name blog --background

You can also stop the local blog site one command:

instawp local stop blog

instawp local stop blog

Managing multiple local sites is straightforward:

instawp local list

instawp local list

As you run this command, you get the lis of all the local sites.

Compare this to the traditional WordPress local development setup. Local by Flywheel requires a separate desktop application download and has its own resource overhead. Docker-based setups (wp-env, custom docker-compose) require Docker Desktop, which consumes significant memory on macOS and has known volume-mounting performance issues.

MAMP and XAMPP involve manual server configuration and do not offer any built-in way to sync with a cloud environment.

InstaWP CLI sidesteps all of that. One npm install. One command. Running site.

Clone Cloud to Local: The Workflow That Saves Hours

This is where InstaWP CLI truly separates itself from every other local development tool. With one command, you can take a live InstaWP cloud site and replicate it on your local machine.

instawp local clone my-cloud-site

instawp local clone my-cloud-site

One command. No manual database exports. No phpMyAdmin. No search-replace scripts. No broken URLs.

Here is everything the CLI handles for you automatically during a clone:

1. Exports the MySQL database from the cloud site via SSH (wp db export)
2. Converts the MySQL dump to SQLite using mysql2sqlite
3. Renames the table prefix to wp_ and fixes meta keys
4. Runs search-replace on all tables (cloud URL to http://127.0.0.1:<port>)
5. Pulls wp-content via rsync (plugins, themes, uploads)
6. Pulls non-core root files (.htaccess, wp-cli.yml, etc.)
7. Writes a blueprint with WP_SQLITE_AST_DRIVER=true for complex plugin compatibility
8. Installs an error-suppression mu-plugin (WASM PHP is sensitive to deprecation warnings)
9. Starts Playground and opens the browser, logged in as the actual admin user

For agencies managing client sites, this means you can pull any client’s live WordPress staging site onto your laptop in under a minute, debug an issue locally without touching the production environment, fix it, and push the changes back.

Push Local to Cloud: Close the Loop

Editing locally is only half the story. The other half is getting your changes back to the cloud without a messy manual deployment process.

instawp local push blog my-cloud-site

instawp local push blog my-cloud-site

Or omit the cloud site name to auto-create one

instawp local push blog

instawp local push blog

Only changed files are transferred via incremental rsync. No full re-uploads. No FTP. No waiting. You can preview what will be transferred before committing:

instawp local push blog my-cloud-site --dry-run

instawp local push blog my-cloud-site --dry-run

And pulling works in the other direction too:

instawp local pull blog my-cloud-site

instawp local pull blog my-cloud-site

This bidirectional sync between local and cloud is what makes InstaWP CLI more than a local dev tool. It is a complete development workflow. Build locally, push to cloud for client review, pull client feedback changes back, iterate, and eventually migrate to production hosting when the project is ready.

Remote Command Execution: Two Transports

InstaWP CLI supports running commands on any cloud site without manually setting up SSH keys. The CLI generates a key pair on first use, uploads it to InstaWP, enables SSH on the target site, and caches the connection for one hour. All of that happens transparently.

SSH (Default)

instawp exec my-site ls -la
instawp exec my-site php -v
instawp exec my-site cat wp-config.php

# WP-CLI shorthand (prepends `wp` automatically)
instawp wp my-site plugin list
instawp wp my-site option get siteurl
instawp wp my-site user list

instawp exec my-site ls -la
instawp exec my-site php -v
instawp exec my-site cat wp-config.php

# WP-CLI shorthand (prepends `wp` automatically)
instawp wp my-site plugin list
instawp wp my-site option get siteurl
instawp wp my-site user list

API Transport

For restricted networks or CI pipelines where SSH is not available:

instawp exec my-site ls -la --api
instawp wp my-site plugin list --api

instawp exec my-site ls -la --api
instawp wp my-site plugin list --api

No SSH setup needed. Commands run through the InstaWP API.

Interactive SSH

instawp ssh my-site

instawp ssh my-site

Opens a full interactive shell session on the site. Useful for debugging, log inspection, or running complex WP-CLI operations that need real-time interaction.

Team Management

Agencies working across multiple client accounts will appreciate team switching. You can move between teams without logging out or affecting your web session. The team context is stored locally and injected into all API requests.

instawp teams list

instawp teams list

And you will have the complete list of the teams listed with your InstaWP account.

This is especially relevant for agencies that manage WordPress sites at scale across different client accounts and need clean separation between projects.

PHP Settings: View and Update in One Command

No more logging into a dashboard to change a PHP setting. View and update PHP version and ini settings for any cloud site directly from the terminal.

instawp sites php my-site

instawp sites php my-site

You can also update PHP version and settings in one command.

instawp sites php my-site --version 8.3 --memory-limit 512 --max-execution-time 120

instawp sites php my-site --version 8.3 --memory-limit 512 --max-execution-time 120

CI/CD Integration: Ephemeral Preview Sites Per Pull Request

One of the most powerful use cases for InstaWP CLI is creating disposable preview sites for every pull request. Use INSTAWP_TOKEN to skip interactive login in automated environments.

GitHub Actions Example

name: WordPress Preview
on: pull_request

jobs:
  preview:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - run: npm i -g @instawp/cli@beta

      - name: Create preview site
        run: instawp create --name pr-${{ github.event.number }} --wp 6.8 --php 8.2 --json
        env:
          INSTAWP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.INSTAWP_TOKEN }}

      - name: Run smoke test
        run: instawp wp pr-${{ github.event.number }} option get siteurl --api
        env:
          INSTAWP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.INSTAWP_TOKEN }}

      - name: Cleanup
        if: always()
        run: instawp sites delete pr-${{ github.event.number }} --force
        env:
          INSTAWP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.INSTAWP_TOKEN }}

name: WordPress Preview
on: pull_request

jobs:
  preview:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - run: npm i -g @instawp/cli@beta

      - name: Create preview site
        run: instawp create --name pr-${{ github.event.number }} --wp 6.8 --php 8.2 --json
        env:
          INSTAWP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.INSTAWP_TOKEN }}

      - name: Run smoke test
        run: instawp wp pr-${{ github.event.number }} option get siteurl --api
        env:
          INSTAWP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.INSTAWP_TOKEN }}

      - name: Cleanup
        if: always()
        run: instawp sites delete pr-${{ github.event.number }} --force
        env:
          INSTAWP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.INSTAWP_TOKEN }}

Every pull request gets its own isolated WordPress environment. Reviewers can click a link and see the exact changes running on a real site. When the PR is merged or closed, the site is automatically cleaned up. No leftover staging environments. No manual provisioning.

This fits naturally into any team that already uses GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Bitbucket Pipelines for their deployment workflow.

For AI Agents: Built for Automation

InstaWP CLI is designed to be used by AI coding assistants like Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and similar tools. Every command supports --json for machine-readable output, making it straightforward for AI agents to parse responses and chain commands together.

Key Facts for Agents

• Package: @instawp/cli on npm. Install with npm i -g @instawp/cli@beta.
• Binary name: instawp
• Auth: instawp login for interactive, INSTAWP_TOKEN env var for automation
• JSON mode: Add --json to any command. Output format: { "success": true, "data": {...} } on success, { "success": false, "error": "..." } on failure.

Site Resolution

The <site> argument in all commands accepts three formats. Numeric ID (instawp exec 4821 php -v), site name (instawp exec my-site php -v), or domain (instawp exec my-site-abc123.instawp.link php -v). Lookups are cached for 10 minutes.

Common Automation Patterns

1. Create a site and capture its URL: URL=$(instawp create --name test-site --json | jq -r '.data.url')
2. Run WP-CLI and get structured output: instawp wp my-site plugin list --json | jq '.data'
3. Create a local site in background for testing: instawp local create --name test --background --no-open
4. Clone, modify, push back: instawp local clone my-cloud-site –name local-copy

Full Command Reference

<site> can be a site ID, name, or domain. The CLI resolves it automatically. All commands support --json for machine-readable output.

Limitations Worth Knowing

No tool is perfect, and being transparent about limitations helps you plan your workflow better.

1. Local sites use SQLite instead of MySQL. Most plugins work through the WordPress Playground AST SQLite driver, but plugins that rely on raw MySQL queries or MySQL-specific features may have edge cases that fail. WooCommerce and most popular plugins work without issues.
2. The local clone command requires rsync and sqlite3 to be available on your machine. SSH commands require ssh and ssh-keygen. These are standard on macOS and Linux. On Windows, you will need Git Bash or WSL for SSH and rsync features.
3. The --api transport for exec and wp commands does not support interactive commands or real-time streaming. For those, use the default SSH transport.

Where InstaWP CLI Fits in Your Workflow

If you are already using InstaWP for managed WordPress cloud hosting, the CLI is the fastest way to interact with your sites from the terminal. Create WordPress sandbox sites for quick tests, clone production to local for debugging, push fixes back, and manage PHP settings without opening a browser.

If you are evaluating InstaWP for the first time, the CLI is the best way to experience the speed of the platform. Install it, create a local site, see how fast it starts, and then try provisioning a cloud site. The entire experience takes less than five minutes.

For agencies delivering client projects, the combination of CLI-driven local development, cloud staging, and one-click migration to production creates a repeatable workflow that scales from one project to a hundred.

Conclusion

InstaWP CLI is a single tool that handles both local and cloud WordPress development, with the sync workflows to keep them connected. No Docker dependencies. No manual database migrations. No fragmented toolchain.

Whether you are debugging a client site locally, spinning up preview environments in CI/CD, or letting an AI agent provision sites automatically, the CLI brings WordPress site management closer to how modern developers already work: in the terminal.

Get started with $25 in free credits and create your first site from the terminal today.

• GitHub: github.com/InstaWP/cli
• Issues: github.com/InstaWP/cli/issues
• npm: @instawp/cli

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