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wp post meta

Overview

Manage custom post meta (stored in wp_postmeta) for any post or custom post type. Post meta holds plugin-specific settings, custom fields, SEO data, and any key-value data attached to a post.

Subcommands​

SubcommandDescription
wp post meta get ID KEYRetrieve a meta value
wp post meta add ID KEY VALUEAdd new meta entry
wp post meta update ID KEY VALUEUpdate existing meta
wp post meta delete ID KEYDelete a meta key
wp post meta list IDList all meta for a post
wp post meta patch ID KEY SUBKEY VALUEPatch subkey in serialized meta
wp post meta pluck ID KEY SUBKEYGet subkey from serialized meta

Basic Usage​

Get a meta value​

wp post meta get 42 _yoast_wpseo_title

Add new meta​

wp post meta add 42 featured_video_url "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc"

Update existing meta​

wp post meta update 42 _price "29.99"

Delete meta key​

wp post meta delete 42 _temp_flag

List all meta​

wp post meta list 42 --format=table

Real-World Scenarios​

Scenario 1: Set SEO title across all posts missing it​

for id in $(wp post list --post_type=post --post_status=publish --field=ID); do
  EXISTING=$(wp post meta get "$id" _yoast_wpseo_title 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ -z "$EXISTING" ]]; then
    TITLE=$(wp post get "$id" --field=post_title)
    wp post meta add "$id" _yoast_wpseo_title "$TITLE | My Site"
  fi
done

Scenario 2: Update WooCommerce product price in bulk​

for id in $(wp post list --post_type=product --post_status=publish --field=ID); do
  OLD=$(wp post meta get "$id" _price)
  NEW=$(echo "$OLD * 1.10" | bc)  # 10% increase
  wp post meta update "$id" _price "$NEW"
  wp post meta update "$id" _regular_price "$NEW"
done

Scenario 3: Audit all posts with a specific meta flag​

for id in $(wp post list --field=ID --post_type=post); do
  VAL=$(wp post meta get "$id" _needs_review 2>/dev/null)
  if [[ "$VAL" == "1" ]]; then
    TITLE=$(wp post get "$id" --field=post_title)
    echo "Needs review: ID $id — $TITLE"
  fi
done

Best Practices​

  1. Use list first to discover existing meta keys before adding duplicates.
  2. Use patch for serialized/array meta data instead of overwriting the whole value.
  3. Prefix custom meta keys (e.g. _mysite_feature) to avoid collisions with plugins.

Quick Reference​

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

Next Steps​