wp scaffold child-theme

Overview

Generate a child theme with all required files in seconds — style.css with correct Template header, functions.php with the parent stylesheet enqueue, and optionally a screenshot. Never manually create child theme files again.

What It Does

wp scaffold child-theme creates a new directory in wp-content/themes/ with a correctly structured style.css (child theme header) and a functions.php that enqueues the parent theme stylesheet. This is the safest, fastest way to start a child theme.

Syntax

wp scaffold child-theme <slug> [OPTIONS]

Options

Flag	Description
SLUG	Child theme directory name
--parent_theme=SLUG	Parent theme slug (required)
--theme_name=NAME	Human-readable theme name
--author=NAME	Theme author name
--author_uri=URL	Author URL
--theme_uri=URL	Theme URL
--activate	Activate the child theme after creation
--force	Overwrite existing files

Basic Usage

wp scaffold child-theme my-theme \
  --parent_theme=twentytwentyfour \
  --theme_name="My Custom Theme" \
  --author="Jane Doe" \
  --activate

Output:

Success: Created '/var/www/html/wp-content/themes/my-theme'.
Activating 'my-theme'...
Success: Switched to 'my-theme' theme.

Generated Files

style.css

/*
 Theme Name:   My Custom Theme
 Author:       Jane Doe
 Template:     twentytwentyfour
 Version:      1.0.0
*/

functions.php

<?php
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_theme_enqueue_styles' );
function my_theme_enqueue_styles() {
    wp_enqueue_style(
        'parent-style',
        get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css'
    );
}

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Scaffold and activate immediately

wp scaffold child-theme my-client-theme \
  --parent_theme=astra \
  --theme_name="Client Theme" \
  --author="Agency Name" \
  --activate

Scenario 2: Create child theme for staging review

wp scaffold child-theme staging-child \
  --parent_theme=generatepress \
  --theme_name="Staging Child" \
  --author="Dev Team"

Best Practices

1. Always scaffold from a child theme — never modify parent theme files directly.
2. Use --activate to immediately switch to the child theme after creation.
3. Commit to version control right after creation so changes are tracked from the start.

Quick Reference

wp scaffold child-theme <slug> --parent_theme=<slug>      # Basic
wp scaffold child-theme <slug> --parent_theme=<slug> --activate  # Activate immediately

Next Steps

• wp theme activate — activate manually if not using --activate.
• wp scaffold block — add Gutenberg blocks to the child theme.