Title: wp config update
Published: October 6, 2026
Last modified: October 27, 2026

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# 󠀁[wp config update ](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/update/)󠁿

Updates or adds a constant or variable in the wp-config.php file.

## In this article

 * [Options](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/update/?output_format=md#options)
 * [Examples](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/update/?output_format=md#examples)
 * [Global Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/update/?output_format=md#global-parameters)

 [ ⌊GitHub⌉ ](https://github.com/wp-cli/config-command)

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This command runs on the `before_wp_load` hook, just before the WP load process 
begins.

>  **Note:** This command is not part of a stable WP-CLI release yet. To use it 
> now, [switch to the nightly build](https://make.wordpress.org/cli/handbook/guides/installing/#updating-wp-cli)
> with `wp cli update --nightly`. If you installed the command as a separate package,
> updating that package may be enough.

 This command will add the constant or variable if it doesn’t exist, or update it
if it does.

### 󠀁[Options](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/update/?output_format=md#options)󠁿

 See the [argument syntax](https://make.wordpress.org/cli/handbook/references/argument-syntax/)
reference for a detailed explanation of the syntax conventions used.  <name> Name
of the wp-config.php constant or variable. <value> Value to set the wp-config.php
constant or variable to. [–raw] Place the value into the wp-config.php file as is,
instead of as a quoted string. [–anchor=<anchor>] Anchor string where additions 
of new values are anchored around. Defaults to “/* That’s all, stop editing!”. The
special case “EOF” string uses the end of the file as the anchor. [–placement=<placement
>] Where to place the new values in relation to the anchor string. — default: ‘before’
options: – before – after — [–separator=<separator>] Separator string to put between
an added value and its anchor string. The following escape sequences will be recognized
and properly interpreted: ‘\n’ => newline, ‘\r’ => carriage return, ‘\t’ => tab.
Defaults to a single EOL (“\n” on *nix and “\r\n” on Windows). [–type=<type>] Type
of the config value to update. Defaults to ‘all’. — default: all options: – constant–
variable – all — [–config-file=<path>] Specify the file path to the config file 
to be modified. Defaults to the root of the WordPress installation and the filename“
wp-config.php”.

### 󠀁[Examples](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/update/?output_format=md#examples)󠁿

    ```
    # Update or add the WP_DEBUG constant to the wp-config.php file.
    $ wp config update WP_DEBUG true --raw
    Success: Updated the constant 'WP_DEBUG' in the 'wp-config.php' file with the raw value 'true'.
    ```

### 󠀁[Global Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/config/update/?output_format=md#global-parameters)󠁿

 These [global parameters](https://make.wordpress.org/cli/handbook/config/) have
the same behavior across all commands and affect how WP-CLI interacts with WordPress.

  |  **Argument** |  **Description** |  
   |  `--path=<path>` |  Path to the WordPress files. |  
 |  `--url=<url>` |  Pretend request came from given URL. In multisite, this argument is how the target site is specified. |  
 |  `--ssh=[<scheme>:][<user>@]<host\|container>[:<port>][<path>]` |  Perform operation against a remote server over SSH (or a container using scheme of “docker”, “docker-compose”, “docker-compose-run”, “vagrant”). |  
 |  `--ssh-args=<args>` |  Pass additional arguments to SSH (or other tools specified by –ssh scheme). |  
 |  `--http=<http>` |  Perform operation against a remote WordPress installation over HTTP. |  
 |  `--user=<id\|login\|email>` |  Set the WordPress user. |  
 |  `--skip-plugins[=<plugins>]` |  Skip loading all plugins, or a comma-separated list of plugins. Note: mu-plugins are still loaded. |  
 |  `--skip-themes[=<themes>]` |  Skip loading all themes, or a comma-separated list of themes. |  
 |  `--skip-packages` |  Skip loading all installed packages. |  
 |  `--require=<path>` |  Load PHP file before running the command (may be used more than once). |  
 |  `--exec=<php-code>` |  Execute PHP code before running the command (may be used more than once). |  
 |  `--context=<context>` |  Load WordPress in a given context. |  
 |  `--[no-]color` |  Whether to colorize the output. |  
 |  `--debug[=<group>]` |  Show all PHP errors and add verbosity to WP-CLI output. Built-in groups include: bootstrap, commandfactory, and help. |  
 |  `--prompt[=<assoc>]` |  Prompt the user to enter values for all command arguments, or a subset specified as comma-separated values. |  
 |  `--quiet` |  Suppress informational messages. |  
 |  `--alias=<name>` |  Name of the alias to use. Aliases can reference local WordPress installations or remote SSH connections. Aliases are defined in the wp-cli.yml file. |  
 |  `--assume-https` |  Set $_SERVER[‘HTTPS’] to make WordPress treat the site as HTTPS. Use when WordPress is behind an HTTPS proxy or load balancer. |

 _Command documentation is regenerated at every release. To add or update an example,
please submit a pull request against the corresponding part of the codebase._