Wp Playground

Spins up ephemeral WordPress instances in the browser or locally via the Playground CLI, no Docker or full LAMP stack required. It runs WP in WebAssembly with SQLite, so you can auto-mount a plugin or theme, switch PHP or WordPress versions on the fly, run Blueprint JSON configs for reproducible setups, or build snapshots for CI and bug reports. Xdebug support is built in for local debugging. The CLI needs Node 20.18+, and everything is disposable by design, which makes it perfect for quick plugin tests or version compatibility checks without polluting your dev environment. If you need real MySQL or exotic PHP extensions, fall back to wp-env, but for throwaway testing this is fast and frictionless.

skills.sh installs: 317
GitHub stars: 211
last updated: Jun 3, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add automattic/agent-skills --skill wp-playground --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

WordPress Playground

When to use

Spin up a disposable WordPress to test a plugin/theme without full stack setup.
Run or iterate on Playground Blueprints (JSON) locally.
Build a reproducible snapshot of a site for sharing or CI.
Switch WP/PHP versions quickly to reproduce issues.
Debug plugin/theme code with Xdebug in an isolated Playground.

Inputs required

Host machine readiness: Node.js ≥ 20.18, npm/npx available.
Project path to mount (--auto-mount or explicit mount mapping).
Desired WP version/PHP version (optional; defaults to latest WP, PHP 8.3).
Blueprint location/URL if running a blueprint.
Port preference if 9400 conflicts.
Whether Xdebug is needed.

Procedure

0) Guardrails

Playground instances are ephemeral and SQLite-backed; never point at production data.
Confirm Node ≥ 20.18 (node -v) before running CLI.
If mounting local code, ensure it is clean of secrets; Playground copies files into an in-memory FS.