Respira CLI for WordPress

The WordPress CLI for the AI coding agent era.

Respira CLI is a modern WordPress command line interface built for developers working with AI coding agents like Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex. It understands Elementor, Divi, Bricks, WPBakery, Beaver Builder, Oxygen, Breakdance, Brizy, Thrive Architect, Flatsome, Gutenberg, and WooCommerce. It runs on your local machine. It never requires SSH.

Built on a WordPress-native execution cycle. Extensions and callbacks arrive in v0.2.

npm install -g @respira/cli
respira auth login
respira sites list

Not a WP-CLI replacement

Respira CLI is not a WP-CLI replacement. WP-CLI is excellent for server-side WordPress administration and the two tools are complementary.

	WP-CLI	Respira CLI
Runs on	your WordPress server	your local machine
Transport	PHP / shell	Respira API over HTTPS
Requires SSH	yes	no
Understands page builder content	limited	yes, natively
Built for	sysadmin tasks	AI coding agent workflows
Works on managed hosts (WP Engine, Kinsta)	yes, with shell access	yes, always

Use WP-CLI for server maintenance. Use Respira CLI for builder-native content work driven by agents.

Why Respira CLI

• Local-first: runs on your Mac, Linux, or Windows workstation. No SSH.
• Builder-native: reads and writes Elementor, Divi, Bricks, and more in their native formats, not as generic WordPress posts.
• Agent-ready: scriptable through @respira/sdk, JSON-first output, a command surface designed for Claude Code and Cursor.
• Safety-first: every destructive operation snapshots first. --dry-run and --diff on every write.

Architecture

Respira CLI is built on a six-phase execution cycle. Every command you run moves through the same deterministic runtime:

LoadContext -> PreHooks -> Resolve -> Execute -> PostHooks -> Return

Four things ship in v0.1:

• The execution cycle. Six named phases. Every command runs through all of them. Nothing skips phases. Nothing reorders them. Deterministic by design, traceable with --verbose.
• The hook framework. Five framework-level hook points are live: before_resolve, filter_plan, before_execute, filter_result, after_execute. In v0.1 no callbacks register here yet. The contracts are frozen. v0.2 adds callback registration and extension manifests on top, without changing anything you see in v0.1.
• Tool Chain Functions. Every command is a typed function with a capability class, domain tags, and prerequisite declarations. Read, write, or destructive. Elementor, pages, write. Site connected and licensed. The cycle reads these and routes accordingly.
• Structured tracing. --verbose on any command emits a JSON trace of the invocation: which phase ran, how long each took, what the tool chain function received and returned. Saved to ~/.respira/traces/. Useful when a coding agent needs to understand why something did or did not do what was expected.

Full details at respira.press/cli/docs/architecture and respira.press/cli/docs/hooks.

Elementor CLI

Manage Elementor sites from the terminal. Read page trees as JSON, target any widget, and edit typography or layout in place.

respira read page mysite.com about
respira write edit-element mysite.com about heading-123 --set=text="welcome"
respira tools list --for=elementor

Divi CLI

Divi 4 shortcodes and Divi 5 blocks, both handled. Respira CLI parses the tree so you edit attributes, not regex.

respira read page mysite.com home --as=html
respira write edit-element mysite.com home module-42 --set=text_font_size=48px

Bricks CLI

Bricks Builder support with element-level targeting and global-class awareness.

respira read design-system mysite.com
respira find-element mysite.com home --type=heading

WPBakery CLI

Read WPBakery shortcodes as structured JSON. Edit rows and columns without touching the raw content.

Beaver Builder CLI, Oxygen CLI, Breakdance CLI, Brizy CLI, Thrive Architect CLI, Flatsome CLI

Respira CLI auto-detects your builder and exposes builder-aware tools. See respira.press/cli for per-builder documentation.

WooCommerce CLI

Product catalog, orders, attributes, and store settings, all from the command line.

respira read posts mysite.com --type=product --limit=100
respira write create-post mysite.com --type=product --title="new widget"

Gutenberg CLI

Native block editor support. Read blocks as JSON, edit attributes, or rewrite entire block trees.

WordPress MCP CLI for AI coding agents

Respira CLI pairs with the Respira MCP server so Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, and GitHub Copilot CLI can all use the same tool surface.

respira init-claude-code          # sets up .claude/ in the current directory

Installation

npm install -g @respira/cli
# or
pnpm add -g @respira/cli
# or
yarn global add @respira/cli

Homebrew and standalone binaries are coming soon.

Requires Node.js 18 or later.

Quick start

# 1. authenticate
respira auth login

# 2. connect a site
respira sites connect https://mysite.com

# 3. read a page
respira read page mysite.com about

# 4. list the tools available for your builder
respira tools list --for=elementor

# 5. run a script
respira exec scripts/audit.ts

Command reference

auth

respira auth login
respira auth logout
respira auth status
respira auth whoami

sites

respira sites list
respira sites info <site>
respira sites health <site>
respira sites connect <url>
respira sites disconnect <site>

read

respira read page <site> <page> [--as=builder|html|portable]
respira read pages <site> [--builder=elementor]
respira read posts <site> [--type=product]
respira read media <site> [--type=image]
respira read taxonomy <site> <taxonomy>
respira read structure <site>        # works on any public site
respira read design-system <site>    # works on any public site

write

respira write create-page <site> --title="..."
respira write edit-page <site> <page> --set=path=value
respira write edit-element <site> <page> <selector> --set=key=value
respira write create-post <site> --from-markdown=<file>
respira write update-design-system <site> --from=<file>
respira write upload-media <site> <file>
respira write delete-page <site> <page> --confirm

tools, docs, snapshots, exec, init-claude-code

See respira <command> --help.

Using with AI agents

Claude Code

respira init-claude-code

This creates .claude/skills/respira-wordpress-cli/SKILL.md and a couple of shortcut commands in .claude/commands/. Claude Code picks up the skill automatically.

Cursor

Point the Cursor MCP client at the Respira MCP server or call respira directly from the terminal.

CI and automation

Set RESPIRA_API_KEY in your CI environment.

- name: audit production WordPress
  env:
    RESPIRA_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.RESPIRA_API_KEY }}
  run: |
    respira read structure https://mysite.com > audit.json

Subscription tiers

• Anonymous (no license): respira read structure and respira read design-system against any public WordPress URL, respira tools list, respira docs.
• Lite (free): monthly write quota against your own connected sites.
• Maker, Studio, Agency: higher quotas and advanced tools. See respira.press/pricing.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. The Respira community hangs out on Discord and Slack. Join from respira.press/community.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

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WordPress is a registered trademark of the WordPress Foundation. Respira CLI for WordPress is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WordPress.org, Automattic, or the WordPress Foundation.

Built by Mihai Dragomirescu in Brașov, Romania. respira.press · @mihai_respira · @Respira_press