wp user meta

Overview

Access and manage user meta data stored in wp_usermeta. User meta holds custom fields like preferences, billing info, plugin-specific settings, and any data plugins attach to a user.

What It Does

wp user meta provides full CRUD access to user meta via get_user_meta() / update_user_meta() / delete_user_meta() under the hood.

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
wp user meta get USER KEY	Retrieve a meta value
wp user meta add USER KEY VALUE	Add (insert) a new meta entry
wp user meta update USER KEY VALUE	Update existing meta
wp user meta delete USER KEY	Delete a meta key
wp user meta list USER	List all meta for a user
wp user meta patch USER KEY SUBKEY VALUE	Update a subkey in a serialized meta value
wp user meta pluck USER KEY SUBKEY	Get a subkey from serialized meta

Basic Usage

Get a meta value

wp user meta get 14 billing_city

Add new meta

wp user meta add 14 department "Engineering"

Update existing meta

wp user meta update 14 billing_city "Singapore"

Delete meta key

wp user meta delete 14 temporary_access_flag

List all meta for a user

wp user meta list 14 --format=table

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Audit custom meta across all users

for id in $(wp user list --field=ID); do
  VAL=$(wp user meta get "$id" crm_customer_id 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -n "$VAL" ]]; then
    echo "User $id: crm_customer_id = $VAL"
  fi
done

Scenario 2: Set onboarding flag for new users

#!/bin/bash
# Mark newly created users as requiring onboarding
for id in $(wp user list --role=subscriber --field=ID); do
  EXISTING=$(wp user meta get "$id" onboarding_complete 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -z "$EXISTING" ]]; then
    wp user meta add "$id" onboarding_complete "0"
  fi
done

Scenario 3: Migrate WooCommerce meta after domain change

for id in $(wp user list --field=ID); do
  OLD=$(wp user meta get "$id" billing_email 2>/dev/null)
  NEW="${OLD/@olddomain.com/@newdomain.com}"
  if [[ "$OLD" != "$NEW" && -n "$OLD" ]]; then
    wp user meta update "$id" billing_email "$NEW"
    echo "Updated billing_email for user $id"
  fi
done

Best Practices

1. Use list before modifying to see what meta keys already exist.
2. Use --format=json with list for structured output.
3. Be careful with serialized values — use patch / pluck for array meta instead of overwriting the whole value.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
get returns empty	Meta key does not exist	Verify with wp user meta list USER
Serialized value corrupted	Directly wrote to JSON over a PHP serialized field	Use patch subcommand for nested data

Quick Reference

wp user meta get <user> <key>              # Get single meta
wp user meta add <user> <key> <value>      # Add meta
wp user meta update <user> <key> <value>   # Update meta
wp user meta delete <user> <key>           # Delete meta
wp user meta list <user> --format=table    # All meta

Next Steps

• wp user get — view core user fields.
• wp user update — update standard user fields.