The Plugin Machine CLI lets you add features to existing plugins from the command line in your IDE. You can also use it to create release-ready ZIP files from your plugins.
The CLI is under development. It is fairly stable, but may change before version 1.
Install
Requires Node 16 or later.
Some commands require Docker
To install from npm:
npm i plugin-machine -g
Test Things Worked
Check that the version command works:
plugin-machine version
Usage
Login
To login, you will need an API token. This can be found in the “Settings” page of the Plugin Machine dashboard. Go here when logged in. Copy that and use it in place of <token>
plugin-machine login <token>
Finding Your API Token

Working With Plugins
The “pluginMachine.json” file contains important information for the CLI and for the plugin builder, and webpack. If you created your plugin with Plugin Machine, it should include a pluginMachine.json To update that file, based on the latest settings:
plugin-machine plugin config <pluginId>
All “plugin” commands require Docker, which you can download here. Docker is used to run npm, composer and wpcli commands during the build process of your plugins.
Add A Feature
To add a feature to your plugin:
plugin-machine add
Build Plugin For Release
This command runs the build steps (npm, composer, etc.) specified in the pluginMachine.json’s build.prod key:
plugin-machine plugin build
Optionally, you can run the build process and then copy the files that are supposed to be included in a release:
plugin-machine plugin build --buildDir=output
The buildDir argument is relative to the plugin’s main dir.
Zip Plugin For Release
This command does not run the build process. Make sure to run build command first.
Create a ZIP file, with only the files that are supposed to be included in a release:
plugin-machine plugin zip
Alternatively, you can zip any folder:
plugin-machine plugin zip --buildDir=output
Build A WordPress Plugin For Release And Zip Results
Run the build commands and then create a ZIP of the plugin:
plugin-machine plugin build
plugin-machine plugin zip
Run the build commands, copy needed files to a separate directory and then zip that directory:
plugin-machine plugin build --buildDir=space-people
plugin-machine plugin zip --buildDir=space-people
Uploading A Release Zip File
View Source
The Plugin Machine CLI is open-source. You can view source on Github: