--- title: "WP-CLI commands" description: "Every wp adminkeep command — switch features on and off, change settings, clean up comments, replace the custom CSS, set up SMTP and read the email log." source: https://adminkeep.com/docs/wp-cli/ --- Since 1.5.0, everything on the Adminkeep settings screen, plus the Custom CSS and SMTP screens, is also a [WP-CLI](https://wp-cli.org/) command. Use it to set up a new site from a script, to apply the same settings to many sites, or to let an AI agent do the work. The same reference ships inside the plugin, so it always matches the version you run: ```bash wp help adminkeep wp help adminkeep smtp set # every subcommand has its own page ``` Adminkeep must be active. Nothing here loads on a normal page view: the commands exist only while WP-CLI is running. ## At a glance | Command | What it does | |---|---| | `wp adminkeep feature list` | Every feature: id, group, label, on/off, state | | `wp adminkeep feature enable ...` | Switch features on | | `wp adminkeep feature disable ...` | Switch features off | | `wp adminkeep feature get ` | A feature's settings, and what each accepts | | `wp adminkeep feature set key=value...` | Change a feature's settings | | `wp adminkeep comments count` | How many comments `purge` would delete | | `wp adminkeep comments purge` | Delete them for good | | `wp adminkeep css get` | Print the site's Custom CSS | | `wp adminkeep css set []` | Replace it from a file or standard input | | `wp adminkeep smtp get` | SMTP settings and where each value comes from | | `wp adminkeep smtp set --host=... ...` | Change SMTP settings | | `wp adminkeep smtp test ` | Send a test email | | `wp adminkeep smtp import ` | Copy SMTP settings from another plugin (`wp-mail-smtp`) | | `wp adminkeep email-log list` | Logged email, newest first | | `wp adminkeep email-log get ` | One logged email, content included | | `wp adminkeep email-log count` | How many emails are logged | | `wp adminkeep email-log purge` | Permanently delete logged email | | `wp adminkeep email-log import ` | Copy another plugin's log in | | `wp adminkeep emails list` | WordPress core's own emails, the ones Nice Default Emails covers | | `wp adminkeep emails send ... --to=` | Send them to one address, to see how they look | | `wp adminkeep setting get []` | Plugin-level settings: key, value, type, accepted values; with a key, just its value | | `wp adminkeep setting set key=value...` | Change plugin-level settings, such as `hide_unused=true` | ## Features ```bash wp adminkeep feature list wp adminkeep feature list --enabled --fields=id --format=csv wp adminkeep feature list --group=site_lock ``` `feature list` is where the ids come from. The groups are `site_lock`, `content`, `appearance`, `admin` and `email`. | id | Feature | |---|---| | `disable_comments` | Disable Comments | | `registration_lock` | Registration Lockdown (disable user registration) | | `disable_xmlrpc` | Disable XML-RPC | | `disable_file_edit` | Disable File Editing | | `install_lock` | Installation Lockdown (block plugin and theme installs) | | `duplicate` | Duplicate | | `live_draft` | Live Draft | | `keep_url` | Keep URL | | `order` | Order | | `replace_media` | Replace Media | | `custom_css` | Custom CSS | | `user_columns` | User Registration Date | | `smtp` | SMTP | | `email_log` | Email Log | | `nice_emails` | Nice Default Emails | ### Switch a feature on or off ```bash wp adminkeep feature enable disable_comments wp adminkeep feature enable disable_xmlrpc disable_file_edit wp adminkeep feature disable install_lock ``` Only the switch changes. A feature's settings are kept while it is off, the same as on the settings screen, and the change takes effect from the next request. ### Read and change a feature's settings ```bash wp adminkeep feature get order ``` `feature get` prints one row per setting: its key, the current value, its type, and what `feature set` accepts for it. That table is the reference for a feature's keys, so there is no list to look up anywhere else. ```bash # Manual ordering for posts and pages, new posts at the top. wp adminkeep feature set order post_types=post,page new_post_position=top # Keep replaced media files for two weeks. wp adminkeep feature set replace_media retain_days=14 ``` Values are `true` or `false` for a switch, a whole number, plain text, or a comma-separated list. A list replaces what is stored, and an empty value empties it. Everything you don't name is kept. `feature set` does not switch the feature on; that is `feature enable`. What each setting means is covered in [Configuration](/docs/configuration/). ## Comments ```bash wp adminkeep comments count wp adminkeep comments purge ``` This is the same cleanup as the button under Disable Comments, with the same guards. Read [Comment cleanup](/docs/comment-cleanup/) first: it is the one thing in the plugin that deletes data, and it cannot be undone. - By default only **spam and trash** are counted and deleted. - `--approved` adds approved and pending comments. - `--woo` adds WooCommerce order notes, webhook logs and product reviews. Leave it out on a store unless you mean it. - `count` prints a bare number, so a script can read it. Give it the same flags you plan to give `purge`. - `purge` shows the number and asks before deleting. `--yes` skips the question. It runs in batches, so a very large site will not time out, and it works whether or not the Disable Comments feature is on. ## Custom CSS ```bash wp adminkeep css get > site.css wp adminkeep css set site.css cat site.css | wp adminkeep css set ``` `css get` prints the stored CSS and nothing else, so it is safe to redirect into a file. `css set` replaces the stored CSS with a file's contents, or with standard input when you leave the file out or pass `-`. The CSS is checked the way the Custom CSS screen checks it: anything that looks like an HTML tag is refused. Empty input clears the CSS. If CSS is already stored, clearing it asks for confirmation first; `--yes` skips the question. The CSS is only printed on your site while the feature is on: `wp adminkeep feature enable custom_css`. ## SMTP ```bash wp adminkeep smtp set --host=smtp.example.com --port=587 --encryption=tls wp adminkeep smtp set --auth --username=apikey printf %s "$SMTP_PASSWORD" | wp adminkeep smtp set --password-stdin wp adminkeep smtp set --from-email=hello@example.com --from-name="Example" wp adminkeep feature enable smtp wp adminkeep smtp test you@example.com wp adminkeep smtp import wp-mail-smtp --dry-run wp adminkeep smtp import wp-mail-smtp ``` `smtp set` changes only what you name; everything else is kept. | Flag | Meaning | |---|---| | `--host=` | SMTP server | | `--port=` | 1 to 65535. Usually 587 (tls) or 465 (ssl) | | `--encryption=` | `none`, `ssl` or `tls` | | `--auth` / `--no-auth` | Whether the server needs a username and password | | `--username=` | SMTP username | | `--password-stdin` | Read the password from standard input | | `--password=` | The password, in plain sight. Prefer `--password-stdin` | | `--clear-password` | Remove the saved password | | `--from-email=` | Address email is sent from. An empty value clears it | | `--from-name=` | Name email is sent from | | `--force-from` / `--no-force-from` | Use the From address even when a plugin sets its own | | `--force-name` / `--no-force-name` | Use the From name even when a plugin sets its own | **The password.** It is never printed, by any command. `--password-stdin` keeps it out of your shell history and out of the process list; `--password=` puts it in both. **Settings in `wp-config.php`.** A setting fixed by an `ADMINKEEP_SMTP_*` constant cannot be changed from the command line, the same as on the screen. `smtp get` shows where each value comes from, so you can see which ones are fixed. **The test email.** `smtp test` needs the SMTP feature on and a server configured; otherwise it stops with an error instead of reporting a success that went out some other way. When sending fails, it prints the server's side of the conversation with the username and password removed, and exits with an error. `--log` prints that conversation even when the email is sent. **Copying from WP Mail SMTP.** Since 1.10.0, `smtp import wp-mail-smtp` copies WP Mail SMTP's SMTP connection: server, port, encryption, authentication, username, password, From address and name, and whether each is forced. It replaces your current Adminkeep SMTP settings, except values held by `ADMINKEEP_SMTP_*` constants in `wp-config.php`, which are kept. WP Mail SMTP's settings are only read, and it does not need to be active. | Flag | Meaning | |---|---| | `` | Where to copy from. Today there is one: `wp-mail-smtp` | | `--dry-run` | Show what would be copied without changing anything | The output names the fields copied and the ones kept from `wp-config.php`, not their values, and says what became of the password: copied and stored encrypted, kept from `wp-config.php`, left as it was because WP Mail SMTP has none saved, or left as it was because WP Mail SMTP's saved password could not be read. In that last case set it with `smtp set --password-stdin`. Only an SMTP connection can be copied: if WP Mail SMTP is set to an API mailer such as SendLayer or the Gmail API, or has no SMTP host, the command exits 1 and names the reason. After copying, send a test email with `smtp test`, then deactivate WP Mail SMTP if it is still active, so the two plugins do not both configure the mailer. Choosing a provider, ports and the constants are covered in the [WordPress SMTP settings guide](/guides/wordpress-smtp-settings/). ## Email Log ```bash wp adminkeep email-log list --status=failed --format=json wp adminkeep email-log get 482 wp adminkeep email-log count --status=failed wp adminkeep email-log purge --older-than=90 --yes wp adminkeep email-log import email-log --dry-run ``` This is the same log as Tools → Email Log, and it works whether or not the Email Log feature is on: what was logged stays readable after logging is switched off. Read [Email Log](/docs/email-log/) first for what each status means and what is kept. - `list` takes `--status=`, `--search=` (matches the recipient, sender or subject, never the body), `--since=` (read as UTC, e.g. `2026-09-01`), `--limit=` (default 50, at most 500), and `--format=`. It never prints a body — use `get` for one email's content. - `get ` prints one email in full, including its content. - `count` takes `--status` only, and prints a bare number. - `purge` takes `--all` or `--older-than=`, never both. It asks for confirmation first, unless you pass `--yes`. This cannot be undone. - `import ` copies another plugin's log in. `email-log` is currently the only source, for the [Email Log plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/email-log/) — see [moving from the Email Log plugin](/guides/migrate-from-email-log-plugin/). It needs Email Log switched on first, and reads the other plugin's table without changing it. `--dry-run` reports the counts without writing anything. ## Core emails ```bash wp adminkeep feature enable nice_emails wp adminkeep emails list wp adminkeep emails list --format=ids wp adminkeep emails send password_reset --to=you@example.com wp adminkeep emails send new_user comment_notification --to=you@example.com wp adminkeep emails send --all --to=you@example.com ``` These are the emails WordPress core writes itself, the ones [Nice Default Emails](/docs/nice-default-emails/) dresses up. Most of them are hard to trigger on purpose (a new account, a comment held for moderation, an automatic update, a personal data request), so `send` makes WordPress send them for you. - `list` prints each email this site can send: its id, what it is, and the core function that sends it. The six multisite emails are listed only on a multisite network. Takes `--format=`. - `send` takes one or more ids from `list`, or `--all`, but not both, and needs `--to=`. It prints one row per email (id, subject, whether it was wrapped, status) and takes `--format=`. Each email is sent by the core function that sends it for real, so it arrives exactly as your site would send it: through your mailer (the SMTP feature, when on), in the Nice Default Emails layout, and recorded by Email Log when that is on. Only the recipient is changed: every email goes to `--to`, and to nobody else. What the emails need is made for the run and deleted after it: a throwaway subscriber for the account emails (no real account's password or reset link changes), a private post with two comments, personal data requests. Settings core writes while sending, such as a pending admin email change or a recovery mode key, are put back, so the links in those emails do nothing. If something could not be cleaned up, the command says what, so you can remove it by hand. `send` needs Nice Default Emails switched on; otherwise it stops rather than sending plain text. It exits 1 if any email fails, and names the one that did. ## Plugin-level settings ```bash wp adminkeep setting get wp adminkeep setting get hide_unused wp adminkeep setting set hide_unused=true wp adminkeep setting set hide_unused=false ``` Since 1.8.1. Settings that belong to the plugin itself rather than to one feature, in the same `key=value` shape as `feature set`. Today there is one: `hide_unused`, the same as the **Hide unused features** switch on the settings screen, which hides switched-off features from its nav. It is a site setting, so no `--user` is needed (WP-CLI's global `--user` is accepted and ignored). `get ` prints the value and nothing else; `get` alone lists every setting and takes `--format=json`. A wrong key or value exits 1 and writes nothing. This replaces 1.8.0's `wp adminkeep view get|hide-unused|show-all --user=`, which set the view for one administrator at a time. ## For scripts and AI agents - `feature list`, `feature get`, `smtp get`, `email-log list`, `emails list` and `emails send` take `--format=json` (also `csv`, `yaml` and `table`; `email-log list` and `emails list` also take `ids` and `count`). - Exit code 0 means the change was made. Any mistake (an unknown id, an unknown key, the wrong type of value) exits 1, names the valid choices, and writes nothing. - `comments purge` and `email-log purge` always ask first, and `css set` asks before clearing stored CSS. Pass `--yes` to skip the question. - A change takes effect from the next request. - On multisite, pick the site with WP-CLI's own `--url=`. - `wp help adminkeep` is written as a complete reference. An agent that reads it needs nothing else. A new site, set up in one go: ```bash wp plugin install adminkeep --activate wp adminkeep feature enable disable_comments disable_xmlrpc disable_file_edit wp adminkeep feature enable order wp adminkeep feature set order post_types=post,page wp adminkeep feature list --enabled --format=json ```