wp plugin get

Overview

Get detailed, low-level metadata about a specific installed plugin — file header data, version, status, author, and more. More detailed than wp plugin status, and ideal for scripting and automated audits.

What It Does

wp plugin get reads the plugin's PHP file header to extract all registered metadata fields, then combines that with the current activation status and update information. It returns structured data, making it perfect for scripting.

Syntax

wp plugin get <plugin> [--field=<field>] [--fields=<fields>] [--format=<format>]

Arguments & Options

Argument / Flag	Description
PLUGIN	Plugin slug to inspect
--field=FIELD	Return only a single field value
--fields=FIELDS	Comma-separated list of fields to show
--format=FORMAT	Output: table, json, csv, yaml

Available Fields

Field	Description
name	Plugin slug (folder/file name)
title	Plugin display name
author	Plugin author
version	Installed version
status	active, inactive, must-use, dropin
description	Plugin description (from header)
author_uri	Author website URL
plugin_uri	Plugin homepage URL
network	Requires network activation flag
requires_wp	Minimum WordPress version required
requires_php	Minimum PHP version required
update	available or none
update_version	Available update version number
auto_update	on or off

Basic Usage

Get all plugin details

wp plugin get woocommerce

Output:

+--------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Field        | Value                                       |
+--------------+---------------------------------------------+
| name         | woocommerce                                 |
| title        | WooCommerce                                 |
| author       | Automattic                                  |
| version      | 9.0.1                                       |
| status       | active                                      |
| update       | available                                   |
| update_version | 9.1.0                                     |
| requires_wp  | 6.4                                         |
| requires_php | 7.4                                         |
| auto_update  | off                                         |
+--------------+---------------------------------------------+

Get a specific field

wp plugin get woocommerce --field=version

Output:

9.0.1

JSON output for scripting

wp plugin get woocommerce --format=json

Get only specific fields

wp plugin get woocommerce --fields=name,version,status,update_version

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Capture plugin version in a deployment script

WC_VERSION=$(wp plugin get woocommerce --field=version)
echo "WooCommerce installed: ${WC_VERSION}"

Scenario 2: Enforce minimum PHP version requirement

REQUIRED_PHP=$(wp plugin get woocommerce --field=requires_php)
CURRENT_PHP=$(php -r "echo PHP_MAJOR_VERSION.'.'.PHP_MINOR_VERSION;")

echo "Plugin requires PHP ${REQUIRED_PHP}; server runs PHP ${CURRENT_PHP}"

Scenario 3: Generate a plugin inventory report

PLUGINS=$(wp plugin list --field=name)
echo "name,version,status,author" > plugin-inventory.csv

for plugin in $PLUGINS; do
  wp plugin get "${plugin}" --fields=name,version,status,author --format=csv 2>/dev/null | tail -1 >> plugin-inventory.csv
done

cat plugin-inventory.csv

Scenario 4: Check if requires_wp is compatible with current WordPress

WP_VERSION=$(wp core version)
REQUIRED_WP=$(wp plugin get woocommerce --field=requires_wp)
echo "WordPress: ${WP_VERSION} | WooCommerce requires: ${REQUIRED_WP}"

wp plugin get vs wp plugin status

Feature	wp plugin get	wp plugin status
Raw file header data	✅	❌
requires_wp / requires_php fields	✅	❌
plugin_uri / author_uri	✅	❌
Scriptable JSON output	✅	Partial
Summary view of all plugins	❌	✅
Better for audit scripting	✅	❌

Best Practices

1. Use --field=version in scripts instead of parsing full output.
2. Use --format=json for machine-readable output in automation pipelines.
3. Use --fields to limit output to only what you need — faster and cleaner.
4. Loop over wp plugin list --field=name to build per-plugin reports with wp plugin get.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Error: The plugin could not be found	Wrong slug	Check with wp plugin list --field=name
Empty field values	Plugin header missing that field	Not all plugins declare all header fields
requires_php not shown	Old plugin format	Check plugin header file manually

Quick Reference

wp plugin get woocommerce                        # Full details
wp plugin get woocommerce --field=version        # Version only
wp plugin get woocommerce --format=json          # JSON for scripting
wp plugin get woocommerce --fields=name,version,status,update_version

Next Steps

• wp plugin status — human-friendly status overview.
• wp plugin list — compare all plugins at once.
• wp plugin path — get the filesystem path to the plugin.