Installation

Requirements

Tool	Notes
Node.js `>= 24`	Use a native install for your machine’s architecture. On Apple Silicon, avoid a Rosetta Node.
WP-CLI (`wp`)	On `PATH`.
PHP and Composer	On `PATH`. Used at init and by `wonderpress lint`.
MySQL or Docker	The `host` backend needs a running MySQL. The `wp-env` backend needs Docker Desktop.

A note on the backends: wp-env replaces local MySQL, and that is all it replaces. wp core download still runs on your machine, and Composer still produces the phpcs that wonderpress lint uses. Both backends need all four tools.

Install the CLI

code

$ npm install -g @wndrfl/wonderpress-cli$ wonderpress version

The package is @wndrfl/wonderpress-cli on npm. That is the only thing you install by hand. Everything else (the development environment, the theme, Static Kit, wonderpress-core) is fetched and assembled by wonderpress init.

Verify

code

$ which wonderpress && wonderpress version && npm ls -g @wndrfl/wonderpress-cli

If npm ls -g shows an arrow and a filesystem path, you are running a linked development checkout rather than the published release. That is fine if you meant to do it and confusing if you did not.

Next: the Quickstart.