WP-Node

📘 Documentation

👉 View Full Documentation at rnaga.github.io/wp-node →

What is WP-Node?

WP-Node is a Node.js project written in TypeScript that mirrors the WordPress database schema and functionality. It enables developers to build scalable, modern backends on top of existing WordPress data.

Key benefits include:

• No need to run WordPress PHP
• Type-safe interaction with WordPress tables (posts, users, terms, comments, etc.)
• Utility classes for querying posts, terms, users, comments, and metadata
• Supports both Single Site and Multi Site WordPress setups
• CLI tools to seed databases and run custom commands
• Clean architecture with Dependency Injection and decorators

Quick Start Example

Here's an example of how to initialize WP-Node app and access WordPress post:

import Application from "@rnaga/wp-node/application";

(async () => {
  // Initialize WP-Node application
  const wp = await Application.getContext();

  // Fetch a post with ID 1
  const post = await wp.utils.query.posts((query) => {
    query.where("ID", 1);
  });

  process.exit(0);
})();

Features

• TypeScript-first: Fully typed interfaces and schema validation using Zod
• Knex.js Integration: Query builder with SQL injection prevention and fluent chaining
• Dependency Injection: Built-in decorator-based system for injecting services like PostUtil, TermUtil, and MetaUtil, enabling clean separation of concerns and easier testing
• Hooks API: Inspired by WordPress hooks (do_action, apply_filters), and supports implementation as async-compatible functions

Use Cases

WP-Node is ideal for scenarios where you need direct access to WordPress database without relying on the full WordPress stack. Example use cases include:

• Running background jobs or cron tasks that update WordPress records — without needing a full WordPress installation
• Building a lightweight REST API using Node.js and TypeScript that interacts with WordPress data
• Debugging or inspecting database records from a modern TypeScript environment
• Creating a web app (e.g., using Next.js) that needs to pull or push data from a WordPress database, without relying on PHP codebase

Requirements

• Node.js >=22.0.0
• MySQL or MariaDB
• nvm: Make sure you have nvm command installed on your local machine.
• Optional: Docker for local WordPress database setup

Installation

To spin up a sample environment with WordPress and database in Docker:

docker network inspect wpnet >/dev/null 2>&1 || docker network create wpnet && \
docker run -d --name wpdb --network wpnet -p 33306:3306 \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=example \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=wordpress \
  -e MYSQL_USER=wp \
  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=wp \
  mariadb && \
docker run -d --name wp --network wpnet -p 8080:80 \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_HOST=wpdb:3306 \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_USER=wp \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD=wp \
  -e WORDPRESS_DB_NAME=wordpress \
  wordpress

Visit http://localhost:8080 in your browser to complete the WordPress setup.

Initialize WP-Node Project

To get started, create a new folder for your project. This folder will serve as the root directory for your WP-Node application.

mkdir wp-node
cd wp-node

Then, run the command to initialize the project and follow the prompts:

npx @rnaga/wp-node-cli -- init

✔ Enter your database hostname: · localhost
✔ Enter your database port: · 33306
✔ Enter your database username: · wp
✔ Enter your database password: · **
✔ Enter your database name: · wordpress
✔ Is it a multi-site? · No
✔ Enter your static assets path: · public

Project Structure

After initialization, your project will look like this:

./
├── _wp
│   ├── config
│   │   ├── index.d.ts
│   │   └── wp.json
│   └── settings.ts
├── .env
├── index.ts
├── package-lock.json
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

Key files

• _wp/config/wp.json: Holds configuration for WP-Node such as public path and multisite info. This file is imported by settings.ts.
• _wp/settings.ts: Initializes the WP-Node Context, including config, database access and hooks.
• index.ts: The main entry point for your WP-Node app. A basic sample is provided.
• .env: Stores sensitive environment variables, including your database credentials and other configuration values required at runtime.

Run the App

Once the config is initialized, run the app using:

mvn use 22
npx ts-node ./index.ts

If everything is working correctly, you’ll see SQL output like:

select * from `wp_posts` as `posts_5` where `posts_5`.`ID` = 1
[
  {
    ID: 1,
    post_author: 1,
    post_title: 'Hello world!',
    ...
  }
]

CLI

WP-Node CLI provides a convenient way to interact with WordPress data without writing any code.

To query a post (e.g. ID = 1), run:

npx @rnaga/wp-node-cli -- post get 1 -Z table -F ID,post_title,post_type

┌────────────┬────────────────┐
│ (index)    │ Values         │
├────────────┼────────────────┤
│ ID         │ 1              │
│ post_title │ 'Hello world!' │
│ post_type  │ 'post'         │
└────────────┴────────────────┘

Listing Available Commands

To view all available CLI commands, run:

npx @rnaga/wp-node-cli -- -h

output:

Usage: <command> <subcommand> [options]

Commands:
   blog             Blog commands
   comment          Comment commands
   config           Generate WP config files
   init             Initialize WP with Node. (Generate wp.json and install dependencies)
   install          Initialize a new blog and create a user
   meta             Meta commands (post, comment, blog, term, user, site)
   option           Options commands
   post             Post commands
   repl             Start a REPL
   role             Role commands
   site             Site commands
   term             Term commands
   user             User commands

Develop your CLI using decorators:

Example:

@command("page", { description: "Page commands" })
export class PageCli extends Cli {
  @subcommand("list", { description: "List pages" })
  async list() {
    const context = await Application.getContext();
    const posts = await context.postUtil.findByType("page");
    console.log(posts);
  }
}

Dependency Injection

WP-Node uses a custom @component() decorator to support DI scopes:

• Singleton: One instance for entire app
• Context: One instance per context (e.g. HTTP request)
• Transient: New instance every time

@component({ scope: Scope.Transient })
export class Post {
  constructor(
    public meta: Meta,
    private logger: Logger,
    private queryUtil: QueryUtil,
    ...
  ) {}
}

Hooks System

• Filter: Modify data in chainable handlers (similar to apply_filters)
• Action: Fire off side effects (do_action equivalent)

Limitations

WP-Node Core is designed specifically to interact with the WordPress database. It does not support traditional WordPress features such as:

• Themes and appearance settings, including updating styling
• WordPress Template rendering or theming APIs
• WordPress plugins

Its scope is intentionally limited to providing a type-safe, programmatic interface to WordPress data — not replicating the full behavior of the WordPress runtime.

Contributing

Feel free to fork, open issues, or suggest improvements. This project is in active development.

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License

MIT License.