WordPress.org Plugin Deploy

Deploy your plugin to the WordPress.org repository via GitHub Actions (or locally). Uses git archive to export the tagged commit, rsyncs it into SVN trunk, and copies .wordpress-org/ to assets/.

Based on 10up/action-wordpress-plugin-deploy, rewritten in TypeScript (originally PHP) with monorepo support and local execution.

Comparison with 10up/action-wordpress-plugin-deploy

Feature	10up deploy.sh	This action wp-plugin-deploy.ts
Runs locally	No (Github action specific)	Yes (Requires Deno)
written in	bash	php typescript
Source of files	rsync from workspace OR git archive	git archive, rsync only build_dirs:
.distignore support	Yes (rsync path only)	No (intentional, hate the idea)
.gitattributes	Used as fallback	Yes — git archive respects it
Ships untracked vendor	Only with .distignore (rsync path)	No by default, use build_dirs:
Monorepo / subdirectory support	No	Yes
--build-dirs param	No	Yes — rsync extra dirs on top of the archive
BUILD_DIR env (full replace)	Yes	No
ASSETS_DIR env override	Yes — defaults to .wordpress-org	No — hardcoded to .wordpress-org
SLUG env override	Yes — defaults to repo name	No — always derived from directory name
--readme-and-assets-only	No	Yes
generate-zip default	false	true (via action.yml input default)
Dry-run mode	Yes	Yes

Required secrets

• SVN_USERNAME — WP.org username
• SVN_PASSWORD — WP.org password

Inputs

Input	Required	Description
svn_user	yes	WP.org username
svn_pass	yes	WP.org password
version	no*	Git tag to deploy (required unless readme-and-assets-only)
workdir	no	Relative path to plugin directory (slug detected from dir name)
build_dirs	no	Comma-separated dirs to rsync on top of archive (e.g. vendor)
readme-and-assets-only	no	Only update readme.txt and assets (boolean)
dry-run	no	Exit before SVN commit (boolean)
verbose	no	Verbose output (boolean)

* version is required when deploying a full release, not for readme-only updates.

Slug detection

The plugin slug is taken from basename(getcwd()) after applying workdir. For example, with workdir: plugins/my-slug, the slug becomes my-slug. The SVN URL is derived as https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/{slug}/.

Usage

- name: Deploy
  uses: nextgenthemes/action-wordpress-plugin-deploy@master
  with:
   workdir: your-plugin-slug
   version: ${{ steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION }}
   svn_user: ${{ secrets.SVN_USERNAME }}
   svn_pass: ${{ secrets.SVN_PASSWORD }}
   build_dirs: vendor
   readme-and-assets-only: false
   dry-run: false
   verbose: true

Full release example

Checkout into a directory matching the slug, deploy from it:

deploy:
 if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags') && !contains(github.ref, 'alpha')
 runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v3
    with:
     path: your-plugin-slug

  - name: Get the version
    id: get_version
    run: echo "VERSION=${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  - name: Deploy
    uses: nextgenthemes/action-wordpress-plugin-deploy@master
    with:
     workdir: your-plugin-slug
     version: ${{ steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION }}
     svn_user: ${{ secrets.SVN_USERNAME }}
     svn_pass: ${{ secrets.SVN_PASSWORD }}

Monorepo / subdirectory

If your plugin is at plugins/your-plugin-slug, omit path: and use workdir: plugins/your-plugin-slug.

Readme-and-assets-only mode

When readme-and-assets-only: true, the action:

1. Reads the stable tag from readme.txt in the plugin directory
2. Updates readme.txt in both SVN trunk and the stable tag
3. Syncs .wordpress-org/ to assets/
4. Does not require version

build_dirs

Ship directories not tracked in git (e.g. Composer vendor). Run composer install --no-dev before the deploy step, then pass build_dirs: vendor. The directory is rsynced into trunk on top of the git archive export. Exits with error if the directory doesn't exist.

- name: Install Composer dependencies
  run: composer install --no-dev --no-interaction --optimize-autoloader

- name: Deploy
  uses: nextgenthemes/action-wordpress-plugin-deploy@master
  with:
   build_dirs: vendor

What the action does

1. Creates /tmp/wp-deploy/ and checks out SVN trunk + assets
2. Runs git archive <tag>:<subdir> to export the tagged files
3. Rsyncs the archive into SVN trunk
4. If build_dirs is set, rsyncs those directories on top
5. Syncs .wordpress-org/ to SVN assets/
6. Commits the tag via svn cp trunk tags/<version>
7. Sets svn:mime-type on PNG, JPG, GIF, and SVG assets
8. Commits to SVN (or exits on dry-run)

Running locally

Requires php-cli, subversion, and rsync.

sudo apt install php-cli subversion rsync
wget -O ~/bin/wp-plugin-deploy https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nextgenthemes/action-wordpress-plugin-deploy/master/wp-plugin-deploy.php
chmod +x ~/bin/wp-plugin-deploy

Deploy a tagged version:

cd /path/to/your-plugin-slug
wp-plugin-deploy --version=1.0.0 --verbose

• Slug is taken from the directory name.
• Uses git archive for the tag — your working tree doesn't matter (except for --readme-and-assets-only).
• Without --svn-user/--svn-pass, you'll be prompted for credentials (OS keychain may remember them).
• Use --dry-run first, inspect /tmp/wp-deploy to verify.