Running CLI Commands

You can run any command on the web server container using the composer server exec command. You need to prepend the command with the options delimiter --.

For example to run a composer installed binary like phpcs run:

composer server exec -- vendor/bin/phpcs

Or to show all environment variables:

composer server exec -- printenv

WP CLI

Local Server provides special support for WP CLI commands via the composer server cli -- command. Prepend all your commends with composer server cli -- and drop the proceeding wp. For example, to list all posts:

composer server cli -- post list

To install a new language file and activate it:

composer server cli -- language core install fr_FR

CLI commands via Local Server also support piping for more complex shell commands.

Importing a database backup

To import a database backup with local server, you will need to have a database backup file in a location that is accessible from the project root.

composer server cli -- db import database.sql

Note: For privacy reasons any database backups that are version controlled should have any personally identifiable information removed and extra care should be taken to avoid committing database backup files containing personal data.

Default Site URL

Altis supports specifying a default site URL that can be different from the root URL of the local environment. This is particularly useful in scenarios where the default site resides at a subpath rather than the root of the local URL. By configuring this option, users can ensure WP-CLI commands operate on the correct site by default.

You can define the default site URL in your project’s composer.json file under the extra.altis.modules.local-server.default-site-url property. Here’s an example:

{
    "extra": {
        "altis": {
            "modules": {
                "local-server": {
                    "default-site-url": "my-site.altis.dev/en/"
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Note: By setting default-site-url, the default site URL will only be overridden for WP-CLI commands. It does not affect other components or tools in your environment.