Consider adding --dry-run as an option for destructive wp post and wp user commands

[davemac]

When deleting post and user data/meta, it would be handy to have a --dry-run option to see what the results of running that command may be.

[danielbachhuber]

Hi @davemac,

Thanks for the suggestion. Can you explain in greater detail how this might work? What's the problem you're trying to solve?

[davemac]

@danielbachhuber I recently ran the following on a staging site (deletes all thumbnail images from a post type):

wp post list --post_type=dmc-sief-project --fields=ID --format=csv | xargs -I % wp post meta delete % _thumbnail_id
If there was a --dry-run option for wp post meta delete that worked in a similar way to the --dry-run option for wp search-replace then I could see a list of posts/meta that will be affected before running the actual (destructive) command.

The --dry-run option would be useful for any command that potentially deletes post or user meta.

Of course, this would not substitute for backing up the database.

[danielbachhuber]

then I could see a list of posts/meta that will be affected before running the actual (destructive) command.

Just to tease out the idea further, how would this be helpful? Can't you already do this with xargs -I % wp post meta get % _thumbnail_id

[davemac]

You are correct, and in fact I ran that command before doing the delete. That's when I thought maybe just adding a --dry-run to the delete would be a nice option and make dry runs more accessible to users.

If done globally on destructive wp post and wp user commands, it would bring consistency with wp search-replace - but I do take your point.

[danielbachhuber]

Makes sense, thanks @davemac. I think implementing a --dry-run flag as you describe would be non-trivial. Given there's a reasonable alternative, let's defer to the alternative for now.

[bjmgeek]

I think this would be useful for lots of different commands. For instance, wp option delete or wp db drop could provide a dry-run option to show what would be done, without actually doing anything.