WordPress Playground
When to use
- •Spin up a disposable WordPress to test a plugin/theme without full stack setup.
- •Run or iterate on Playground Blueprints (JSON) locally.
- •Build a reproducible snapshot of a site for sharing or CI.
- •Switch WP/PHP versions quickly to reproduce issues.
- •Debug plugin/theme code with Xdebug in an isolated Playground.
Inputs required
- •Host machine readiness: Node.js ≥ 20.18,
npm/npxavailable. - •Project path to mount (
--auto-mountor explicit mount mapping). - •Desired WP version/PHP version (optional; defaults to latest WP, PHP 8.3).
- •Blueprint location/URL if running a blueprint.
- •Port preference if 9400 conflicts.
- •Whether Xdebug is needed.
Procedure
0) Guardrails
- •Playground instances are ephemeral and SQLite-backed; never point at production data.
- •Confirm Node ≥ 20.18 (
node -v) before running CLI. - •If mounting local code, ensure it is clean of secrets; Playground copies files into an in-memory FS.
1) Quick local spin-up (auto-mount)
bash
cd <plugin-or-theme-root> npx @wp-playground/cli@latest server --auto-mount
- •Opens on http://localhost:9400 by default. Auto-detects plugin/theme and installs it.
- •Add
--wp=<version>/--php=<version>as needed. - •For classic full installs already present, add
--skip-wordpress-setupand mount the whole tree.
2) Manual mounts or multiple mounts
- •Use
--mount=/host/path:/vfs/path(repeatable) when auto-mount is insufficient (multi-plugin, mu-plugins, custom content). - •Mount before install with
--mount-before-installfor bootstrapping installer flows. - •Reference:
references/cli-commands.md
3) Run a Blueprint (no server needed)
bash
npx @wp-playground/cli@latest run-blueprint --blueprint=<file-or-url>
- •Use for scripted setup/CI validation. Supports remote URLs and local files.
- •Allow bundled assets in local blueprints with
--blueprint-may-read-adjacent-fileswhen required. - •See
references/blueprints.mdfor structure and common flags.
4) Build a snapshot for sharing
bash
npx @wp-playground/cli@latest build-snapshot --blueprint=<file> --outfile=./site.zip
- •Produces a ZIP you can load in Playground or attach to bug reports.
5) Debugging with Xdebug
- •Start with
--xdebug(or--enable-xdebugdepending on CLI release) to expose an IDE key, then connect VS Code/PhpStorm to the host/port shown in CLI output. - •Combine with
--auto-mountfor plugin/theme debugging. - •Checklist:
references/debugging.md
6) Version switching
- •Use
--wp=to pin WP (e.g., 6.9.0) and--php=to test compatibility. - •If feature depends on Gutenberg trunk, prefer the latest WP release plus plugin if available; Playground images track stable WP plus bundled Gutenberg.
7) Browser-only workflows (no CLI)
- •Launch quick previews with URL fragments or query params:
- •Fragment:
https://playground.wordpress.net/#<base64-or-json-blueprint> - •Query:
https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=<public-url-or-zip>
- •Fragment:
- •Use the live Blueprint Editor (playground.wordpress.net) to author blueprints with schema help; paste JSON and copy a shareable link.
Verification
- •Verify mounted code is active (plugin listed/active; theme selected).
- •For blueprints/snapshots, re-run with
--verbosity=debugto confirm steps executed. - •Run targeted smoke (e.g.,
wp plugin listinside Playground shell via browser terminal if exposed) or UI click-path.
Failure modes / debugging
- •CLI exits complaining about Node: upgrade to ≥ 20.18.
- •Mount not applied: check path, use absolute path, add
--verbosity=debug. - •Blueprint cannot read local assets: add
--blueprint-may-read-adjacent-files. - •Port already used:
--port=<free-port>. - •Slow/locked UI: disable
--experimental-multi-workerif enabled; or enable it to improve throughput on CPU-bound runs.
Escalation
- •If PHP extensions or native DB access are required, Playground may be unsuitable; fall back to full WP stack or wp-env/Docker.
- •For browser-only embedding or VS Code extension specifics, consult the upstream docs: https://wordpress.github.io/wordpress-playground/