wp term meta

Overview

Manage custom meta data attached to taxonomy terms, stored in wp_termmeta. Term meta holds plugin-specific settings, ACF custom fields, SEO descriptions, and any key-value data attached to categories, tags, or custom terms.

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
wp term meta get ID KEY	Retrieve a meta value
wp term meta add ID KEY VALUE	Add new meta
wp term meta update ID KEY VALUE	Update existing meta
wp term meta delete ID KEY	Delete a meta key
wp term meta list ID	List all meta for a term
wp term meta patch ID KEY SUBKEY VALUE	Update subkey in serialized meta
wp term meta pluck ID KEY SUBKEY	Read subkey from serialized meta

Basic Usage

Get a meta value

wp term meta get 12 term_image_url

Add new meta

wp term meta add 12 term_color "#FF5733"

Update existing meta

wp term meta update 12 term_icon "fa-laptop"

Delete meta key

wp term meta delete 12 _temp_flag

List all meta for a term

wp term meta list 12 --format=table

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Add category images for WooCommerce

for id in $(wp term list product_cat --field=term_id); do
  wp term meta add "$id" thumbnail_id "0"
done

Scenario 2: Audit ACF term meta fields

for id in $(wp term list category --field=term_id); do
  NAME=$(wp term get category "$id" --field=name)
  DESC=$(wp term meta get "$id" _acf_field_description 2>/dev/null)
  echo "$NAME: $DESC"
done

Scenario 3: Set term order for custom display

TERMS=($(wp term list category --orderby=name --field=term_id))
POS=1
for id in "${TERMS[@]}"; do
  wp term meta update "$id" menu_order "$POS"
  ((POS++))
done

Best Practices

1. Use list first to see existing meta before adding duplicates.
2. Prefix custom meta keys (e.g. _mysite_color) to avoid plugin conflicts.
3. Use patch for serialized or array meta values.

Quick Reference

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

Next Steps

• wp term get — retrieve core term fields.
• wp term update — update standard term fields.
• wp post meta — manage post meta fields.