Notes from WCEU: A guide to automating WooCommerce through WC-CLI

For developers using WooCommerce, one way to increase their efficiency and stay ahead of the curve is to embrace the power of the dedicated WooCommerce Command Line Interface (WC-CLI) to automate tasks. Last week at WCEU 2024, Jesús Amieiro Becerra shared insights on how to harness WC-CLI, WooCommerce’s dedicated CLI tool, to enhance productivity and reduce errors in his workshop, “Efficiency Unleashed: A Guide to Automating WooCommerce through CLI”.

Let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from the workshop and how you can leverage the power of WC-CLI to automate your WooCommerce tasks and boost your productivity.

Understanding WC-CLI vs. WP-CLI

Before diving into the specifics of WC-CLI, it’s essential to understand its relationship with WP-CLI, WordPress’s general-purpose CLI tool. While WP-CLI offers a wide range of commands for managing WordPress installations, WC-CLI extends these capabilities specifically for WooCommerce.

• Scope: WP-CLI focuses on WordPress core functionalities, whereas WC-CLI is tailored for WooCommerce extensions and plugins.
• Integration: WC-CLI integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, providing commands that directly interact with WooCommerce-specific features and settings.
• Ease of Use: For WooCommerce users, WC-CLI simplifies the process of managing WooCommerce-related tasks, offering a more streamlined experience compared to using WP-CLI alone.

Getting Started with WC-CLI

To start benefiting from WC-CLI, follow these steps:

• Installation: Ensure you have WP-CLI installed on your system. Ensure you are running WooCommerce 3.0.0 or later. Run wp wc --info to verify that WC-CLI is available.
• Exploring Commands: Familiarize yourself with the available WC-CLI commands.

Key benefits of using WC-CLI

• Automation: Automate repetitive tasks, such as updating product prices across multiple stores or generating reports, saving significant time and reducing the potential for human error.
• Customization: Tailor scripts to fit your unique business needs, allowing for highly customized automation solutions that go beyond what’s possible with GUI-based tools.
• Consistency: Achieve consistent execution of tasks across different environments, ensuring uniformity in your WooCommerce operations.

Try it and tell us

Jesús’ talk offered a comprehensive guide on effectively automating numerous WooCommerce tasks through WC-CLI. Coupled with the resources shared during the workshop and the WC-CLI developer documentation, we hope that you’ll find WC-CLI instrumental in simplifying your WooCommerce management. This tool significantly enhances your WooCommerce operations by providing robust features that enable task automation, saving time, enhancing productivity, and minimizing the likelihood of human error.