Title: wp core download
Published: February 5, 2018
Last modified: October 11, 2026

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

Downloads core WordPress files.

## In this article

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

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/core/download/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

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

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

>  **Note:** The following options are not part of a stable WP-CLI release yet: `--
> skip-locale-check`. To use them 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.

 Options added later: `--insecure` (2.5.0), `--extract` (2.7.0). Downloads and extracts
WordPress core files to the specified path. Uses current directory when no path 
is specified. Downloaded build is verified to have the correct md5 and then cached
to the local filesystem. Subsequent uses of command will use the local cache if 
it still exists.

### 󠀁[Options](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/core/download/?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.  [<download-
url>] Download directly from a provided URL instead of fetching the URL from the
wordpress.org servers. [–path=<path>] Specify the path in which to install WordPress.
Defaults to current directory. [–locale=<locale>] Select which language you want
to download. [–version=<version>] Select which version you want to download. Accepts
a version number, ‘latest’ or ‘nightly’. [–skip-content] Download WP without the
default themes and plugins. [–force] Overwrites existing files, if present. [–insecure]
Retry download without certificate validation if TLS handshake fails. Note: This
makes the request vulnerable to a MITM attack. [–extract] Whether to extract the
downloaded file. Defaults to true. [–skip-locale-check] If specified, allows downloading
an older version of WordPress when the requested locale is not available for the
latest release.

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

    ```
    $ wp core download --locale=nl_NL
    Downloading WordPress 4.5.2 (nl_NL)...
    md5 hash verified: c5366d05b521831dd0b29dfc386e56a5
    Success: WordPress downloaded.
    ```

### 󠀁[Global Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/cli/commands/core/download/?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._