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wp theme install

Overview

Add new themes to your WordPress installation. Supports searching the official directory, installing from local ZIPs, or fetching from remote URLs (like GitHub).

What It Does​

wp theme install downloads the theme package, extracts it to wp-content/themes/, and verifies the installation.

Syntax​

wp theme install <theme|zip|url>... [OPTIONS]

Arguments & Options​

FlagDescription
THEMESlug from wordpress.org, path to .zip, or URL
--activateInstall and activate in one step
--version=VERSIONInstall a specific version
--forceReinstall even if already present

Basic Usage​

Install from wordpress.org​

wp theme install astra

Install and activate immediately​

wp theme install twentytwentyfour --activate

Install from a local ZIP​

wp theme install ./my-themes/pro-theme.zip

Install from a GitHub URL​

wp theme install https://github.com/user/repo/archive/main.zip

Real-World Scenarios​

Scenario 1: Quickly setting up a staging site​

# Install core theme + popular framework
wp theme install twentytwentyfour astra oceanwp

Scenario 2: Automating theme setup in a script​

#!/bin/bash
THEME="my-custom-theme"
THEME_URL="https://example.com/themes/${THEME}.zip"

if ! wp theme is-installed "$THEME"; then
  wp theme install "$THEME_URL" --activate
fi

Quick Reference​

wp theme install <slug>                # Basic install
wp theme install <slug> --activate     # Install & Activate
wp theme install <url>                 # Remote ZIP
wp theme install <path.zip>            # Local ZIP

Next Steps​