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wp cap list

Overview

Display every capability registered to a WordPress role. Use this for security audits, debugging access issues, and documenting role configurations before making changes.

What It Does​

wp cap list reads the capabilities array for a given role from wp_user_roles and outputs each capability with its granted (true/false) state.

Syntax​

wp cap list <role> [OPTIONS]

Arguments & Options​

FlagDescription
--allowedShow only capabilities where value is true
--deniedShow only capabilities where value is false
--format=FORMATOutput format: table, json, csv, yaml

Basic Usage​

List all capabilities for the editor role​

wp cap list editor

List only granted capabilities​

wp cap list editor --allowed

Output as JSON for scripting​

wp cap list editor --format=json

Real-World Scenarios​

Scenario 1: Pre-change capability snapshot​

wp cap list editor --format=csv > editor-caps-before.csv
# Make changes...
wp cap list editor --format=csv > editor-caps-after.csv
diff editor-caps-before.csv editor-caps-after.csv

Scenario 2: Audit a custom role after plugin activation​

echo "=== Custom Role Capabilities ==="
wp cap list custom_role --allowed --format=table

Scenario 3: Find which role can manage_options​

for role in $(wp role list --field=role); do
  if wp cap list "$role" --allowed | grep -q "manage_options"; then
    echo "$role has manage_options"
  fi
done

Quick Reference​

wp cap list <role>                  # All capabilities
wp cap list <role> --allowed        # Granted only
wp cap list <role> --format=json    # JSON output

Next Steps​