Skip to main content

wp scaffold plugin-tests

Overview

Add a complete PHPUnit test suite to an existing plugin — bootstrap files, test configuration (phpunit.xml), a sample test class, and a WordPress test library installer script. Jumpstart plugin testing without configuring everything from scratch.

What It Does​

wp scaffold plugin-tests generates the files needed to run PHPUnit tests against your plugin within the WordPress test suite. It creates a test bootstrap that loads WordPress's test infrastructure so your plugin's functions can be tested in a real WordPress context.

Syntax​

wp scaffold plugin-tests [<plugin>] [OPTIONS]

Options​

FlagDescription
PLUGINPlugin slug to target (default: current directory)
--dir=DIROverride directory for test files
--forceOverwrite existing test files

Basic Usage​

wp scaffold plugin-tests my-awesome-plugin

Output:

Success: Created test files.

Generated File Structure​

wp-content/plugins/my-awesome-plugin/
└── tests/
    ├── bootstrap.php
    ├── test-sample.php
    ├── phpunit.xml.dist
    └── bin/
        └── install-wp-tests.sh

test-sample.php (Example)​

<?php
class SampleTest extends WP_UnitTestCase {
    public function test_sample() {
        $this->assertTrue( true );
    }
}

Setting Up Tests​

Step 1: Install WordPress test suite​

bash tests/bin/install-wp-tests.sh wordpress_test root password localhost latest

Step 2: Run PHPUnit​

phpunit

Output:

PHPUnit 9.6.0 by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.

...                                                                   3 / 3 (100%)

Time: 00:00.348, Memory: 26.00 MB

OK (3 tests, 3 assertions)

Best Practices​

  1. Run tests on every pull request — add to your CI/CD pipeline.
  2. Test against multiple WP versions — use the latest, nightly, and a pinned version.
  3. Don't commit /tmp/wordpress-tests-lib — add it to .gitignore.

Quick Reference​

wp scaffold plugin-tests <plugin>      # Add tests to plugin
wp scaffold plugin-tests . --force     # In current dir, overwrite

Next Steps​