wp transient list

Overview

Inspect all transients currently stored in the database — identify expired ones, check their expiration times, and find orphaned or unexpectedly large transients that may be bloating wp_options.

What It Does

wp transient list queries the wp_options table for all entries with a _transient_ prefix and returns their name, value, and expiration info.

Syntax

wp transient list [OPTIONS]

Options

Flag	Description
--fields=FIELDS	Fields to display: name, value, expiration
--format=FORMAT	table, json, csv, count
--expired	Filter to only show expired transients
--network	Include network transients (multisite)

Basic Usage

wp transient list

Output:

+---------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| name                            | expiration                       |
+---------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| wp_feed_cache_transient_md5_... | 2026-03-13 06:00:00              |
| my_plugin_api_data              | 2026-03-14 12:00:00              |
| _transient_doing_cron           | 0 (no expiry)                    |
+---------------------------------+----------------------------------+

Real-World Scenarios

Count total transients

wp transient list --format=count

Output:

42

List expired transients only

wp transient list --expired --format=table

Export all transients to JSON for audit

wp transient list --format=json > transients-audit.json

Quick Reference

wp transient list                         # All transients
wp transient list --expired               # Only expired
wp transient list --format=count          # Total count

Next Steps

• wp transient delete-expired — remove all expired transients.
• wp transient get — inspect a specific transient value.