Quick-create WordPress sites locally with Laravel Valet + WP-CLI + MariaDB. Interactive or pass arguments. macOS.

wp-valet-quickstart.sh

#!/bin/bash

# =============================================================================
# wp-valet-quickstart.sh
# Quick-create a WordPress site locally using Laravel Valet + WP-CLI + MariaDB
#
# Run interactively (prompts for everything):
#   ./wp-valet-quickstart.sh
#
# Or pass arguments to skip prompts:
#   ./wp-valet-quickstart.sh --name=mysite --dir=~/Sites \
#     --db-user=root --db-pass=secret --db-host=127.0.0.1 \
#     --wp-user=admin --wp-pass=secret \
#     --wp-email=you@example.com --wp-title="My Site" \
#     --secure
#
# Prerequisites: Homebrew, PHP, Composer, Laravel Valet, WP-CLI, MariaDB/MySQL
# Full Valet setup guide: https://gist.github.com/ajithrn/8f23dec6b162448c992b38f61f5afcb7
# =============================================================================

set -e

# Colors for output
RED='\033[0;31m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
CYAN='\033[0;36m'
NC='\033[0m' # No Color

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Dependency checks
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
check_dependency() {
  if ! command -v "$1" &> /dev/null; then
    echo -e "${RED}Error: '$1' is not installed or not in PATH.${NC}"
    echo "Please install it before running this script."
    echo "See: https://gist.github.com/ajithrn/8f23dec6b162448c992b38f61f5afcb7"
    exit 1
  fi
}

check_dependency wp
check_dependency valet
check_dependency mariadb

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Defaults
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME=""
SITES_DIR=""
DB_USER="root"
DB_PASS=""
DB_HOST="127.0.0.1"
WP_USER="admin"
WP_PASS=""
WP_EMAIL="admin@example.com"
WP_TITLE=""
SECURE="false"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Parse command-line arguments
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
for arg in "$@"; do
  case $arg in
    --name=*)
      SITE_NAME="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --dir=*)
      SITES_DIR="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --db-user=*)
      DB_USER="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --db-pass=*)
      DB_PASS="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --db-host=*)
      DB_HOST="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --wp-user=*)
      WP_USER="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --wp-pass=*)
      WP_PASS="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --wp-email=*)
      WP_EMAIL="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --wp-title=*)
      WP_TITLE="${arg#*=}"
      ;;
    --secure)
      SECURE="true"
      ;;
    --help|-h)
      echo "Usage: $0 [OPTIONS]"
      echo ""
      echo "Quick-create a WordPress site with Laravel Valet, WP-CLI, and MariaDB."
      echo ""
      echo "Options:"
      echo "  --name=NAME         Site folder name (used for domain: NAME.test)"
      echo "  --dir=PATH          Parent directory where site folder will be created"
      echo "  --db-user=USER      Database user (default: root)"
      echo "  --db-pass=PASS      Database password"
      echo "  --db-host=HOST      Database host (default: 127.0.0.1)"
      echo "  --wp-user=USER      WordPress admin username (default: admin)"
      echo "  --wp-pass=PASS      WordPress admin password"
      echo "  --wp-email=EMAIL    WordPress admin email (default: admin@example.com)"
      echo "  --wp-title=TITLE    WordPress site title (default: site name)"
      echo "  --secure            Enable HTTPS via Valet"
      echo "  --help, -h          Show this help message"
      echo ""
      echo "If options are not provided, the script will prompt interactively."
      echo ""
      echo "Full Valet setup guide:"
      echo "  https://gist.github.com/ajithrn/8f23dec6b162448c992b38f61f5afcb7"
      exit 0
      ;;
    *)
      echo -e "${RED}Unknown option: $arg${NC}"
      echo "Use --help for usage information."
      exit 1
      ;;
  esac
done

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Interactive prompts for missing values
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo -e "${CYAN}========================================${NC}"
echo -e "${CYAN}  WordPress Site Creator (Valet + WP-CLI)${NC}"
echo -e "${CYAN}========================================${NC}"
echo ""

if [ -z "$SITE_NAME" ]; then
  read -p "Site folder name (used as domain, e.g. mysite -> mysite.test): " SITE_NAME
fi

if [ -z "$SITE_NAME" ]; then
  echo -e "${RED}Error: Site name is required.${NC}"
  exit 1
fi

# Validate site name (only lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens)
if [[ ! "$SITE_NAME" =~ ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9]$|^[a-z0-9]$ ]]; then
  echo -e "${RED}Error: Site name should only contain lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens.${NC}"
  exit 1
fi

if [ -z "$SITES_DIR" ]; then
  read -p "Parent directory for the site [$(pwd)]: " SITES_DIR
  SITES_DIR="${SITES_DIR:-$(pwd)}"
fi

# Expand ~ in SITES_DIR
SITES_DIR="${SITES_DIR/#\~/$HOME}"

# Check if directory already exists
if [ -d "$SITES_DIR/$SITE_NAME" ] && [ "$(ls -A "$SITES_DIR/$SITE_NAME" 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
  echo -e "${RED}Error: Directory '$SITES_DIR/$SITE_NAME' already exists and is not empty.${NC}"
  exit 1
fi

read -p "Database user [$DB_USER]: " input_db_user
DB_USER="${input_db_user:-$DB_USER}"

if [ -z "$DB_PASS" ]; then
  read -sp "Database password (leave empty if none): " DB_PASS
  echo ""
fi

read -p "Database host [$DB_HOST]: " input_db_host
DB_HOST="${input_db_host:-$DB_HOST}"

# Test database connection before proceeding
echo -e "${CYAN}Testing database connection...${NC}"
if [ -z "$DB_PASS" ]; then
  if ! mariadb -u "$DB_USER" -h "$DB_HOST" -e "SELECT 1;" &> /dev/null; then
    echo -e "${RED}Error: Cannot connect to database. Check your credentials.${NC}"
    exit 1
  fi
else
  if ! mariadb -u "$DB_USER" -p"$DB_PASS" -h "$DB_HOST" -e "SELECT 1;" &> /dev/null; then
    echo -e "${RED}Error: Cannot connect to database. Check your credentials.${NC}"
    exit 1
  fi
fi
echo -e "${GREEN}Database connection OK.${NC}"
echo ""

read -p "WordPress admin username [$WP_USER]: " input_wp_user
WP_USER="${input_wp_user:-$WP_USER}"

if [ -z "$WP_PASS" ]; then
  read -sp "WordPress admin password: " WP_PASS
  echo ""
fi

if [ -z "$WP_PASS" ]; then
  echo -e "${RED}Error: WordPress admin password is required.${NC}"
  exit 1
fi

read -p "WordPress admin email [$WP_EMAIL]: " input_email
WP_EMAIL="${input_email:-$WP_EMAIL}"

if [ -z "$WP_TITLE" ]; then
  read -p "Site title [$SITE_NAME]: " WP_TITLE
  WP_TITLE="${WP_TITLE:-$SITE_NAME}"
fi

if [ "$SECURE" = "false" ]; then
  read -p "Enable HTTPS/SSL? (y/n) [y]: " secure_input
  secure_input="${secure_input:-y}"
  if [[ "$secure_input" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
    SECURE="true"
  fi
fi

# Derive database name from site name (replace hyphens with underscores)
DB_NAME=$(echo "$SITE_NAME" | tr '-' '_')

# Determine URL scheme
if [ "$SECURE" = "true" ]; then
  SITE_URL="https://$SITE_NAME.test"
else
  SITE_URL="http://$SITE_NAME.test"
fi

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Confirm before proceeding
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo ""
echo -e "${YELLOW}--- Configuration Summary ---${NC}"
echo -e "  Site name:       ${GREEN}$SITE_NAME${NC}"
echo -e "  Site directory:  ${GREEN}$SITES_DIR/$SITE_NAME${NC}"
echo -e "  Site URL:        ${GREEN}$SITE_URL${NC}"
echo -e "  Database:        ${GREEN}$DB_NAME${NC}"
echo -e "  DB user:         ${GREEN}$DB_USER${NC}"
echo -e "  DB host:         ${GREEN}$DB_HOST${NC}"
echo -e "  WP admin user:   ${GREEN}$WP_USER${NC}"
echo -e "  WP admin email:  ${GREEN}$WP_EMAIL${NC}"
echo -e "  WP title:        ${GREEN}$WP_TITLE${NC}"
echo -e "  SSL/HTTPS:       ${GREEN}$SECURE${NC}"
echo ""

read -p "Proceed with installation? (y/n) [y]: " confirm
confirm="${confirm:-y}"
if [[ ! "$confirm" =~ ^[Yy]$ ]]; then
  echo -e "${RED}Installation cancelled.${NC}"
  exit 0
fi

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Create site
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo ""
echo -e "${CYAN}[1/6] Creating directory...${NC}"
mkdir -p "$SITES_DIR/$SITE_NAME"
cd "$SITES_DIR/$SITE_NAME"

echo -e "${CYAN}[2/6] Downloading WordPress...${NC}"
wp core download

echo -e "${CYAN}[3/6] Creating database '$DB_NAME'...${NC}"
if [ -z "$DB_PASS" ]; then
  mariadb -u "$DB_USER" -h "$DB_HOST" -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS \`$DB_NAME\`;"
else
  mariadb -u "$DB_USER" -p"$DB_PASS" -h "$DB_HOST" -e "CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS \`$DB_NAME\`;"
fi

echo -e "${CYAN}[4/6] Creating wp-config.php...${NC}"
wp config create \
  --dbname="$DB_NAME" \
  --dbuser="$DB_USER" \
  --dbpass="$DB_PASS" \
  --dbhost="$DB_HOST"

echo -e "${CYAN}[5/6] Installing WordPress...${NC}"
wp core install \
  --url="$SITE_URL" \
  --title="$WP_TITLE" \
  --admin_user="$WP_USER" \
  --admin_password="$WP_PASS" \
  --admin_email="$WP_EMAIL"

echo -e "${CYAN}[6/6] Linking to Valet...${NC}"
# valet link/secure may require sudo password — macOS will prompt if needed
valet link "$SITE_NAME"

if [ "$SECURE" = "true" ]; then
  echo -e "${CYAN}      Securing with SSL (may require sudo password)...${NC}"
  valet secure "$SITE_NAME"
  wp option update siteurl "https://$SITE_NAME.test"
  wp option update home "https://$SITE_NAME.test"
fi

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Done
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
echo ""
echo -e "${GREEN}========================================${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}  Site ready!${NC}"
echo -e "${GREEN}========================================${NC}"
echo -e "  URL:      ${CYAN}$SITE_URL${NC}"
echo -e "  Admin:    ${CYAN}$SITE_URL/wp-admin${NC}"
echo -e "  User:     ${CYAN}$WP_USER${NC}"
echo -e "  Email:    ${CYAN}$WP_EMAIL${NC}"
echo -e "  Database: ${CYAN}$DB_NAME${NC}"
echo -e "  Path:     ${CYAN}$SITES_DIR/$SITE_NAME${NC}"
echo ""
echo -e "For more Valet options, see:"
echo -e "  ${CYAN}https://gist.github.com/ajithrn/8f23dec6b162448c992b38f61f5afcb7${NC}"
echo ""

wp-valet-quickstart.sh

Quick-create WordPress sites locally on macOS using Laravel Valet + WP-CLI + MariaDB.

Features

• Fully interactive — prompts for all values when run without arguments
• Non-interactive mode — pass all options as flags for scripting
• Mix and match — provide some args, get prompted for the rest
• Validates site name and checks for existing directories
• Tests database connection before proceeding
• Optionally secures site with HTTPS/SSL via Valet
• Dependency checks on startup (wp, valet, mariadb)

Prerequisites

• macOS
• Homebrew
• PHP (brew install php)
• Composer (brew install composer)
• Laravel Valet (composer global require laravel/valet && valet install)
• WP-CLI (brew install wp-cli)
• MariaDB or MySQL (brew install mariadb && brew services start mariadb)

For full setup instructions, see: Laravel Valet on macOS: Complete Setup Guide

Usage

Interactive (prompts for everything)

./wp-valet-quickstart.sh

Non-interactive (pass all options)

./wp-valet-quickstart.sh \
  --name=mysite \
  --dir=~/Sites \
  --db-user=root \
  --db-pass=secret \
  --wp-user=admin \
  --wp-pass=secret \
  --wp-email=you@example.com \
  --wp-title="My Site" \
  --secure

Partial (mix args + prompts for the rest)

./wp-valet-quickstart.sh --name=blog --secure

Show help

./wp-valet-quickstart.sh --help

Options

Option	Description	Default
--name=NAME	Site folder name (becomes the .test domain)	(prompted)
--dir=PATH	Parent directory for the site folder	Current directory
--db-user=USER	Database user	root
--db-pass=PASS	Database password	(prompted)
--db-host=HOST	Database host	127.0.0.1
--wp-user=USER	WordPress admin username	admin
--wp-pass=PASS	WordPress admin password	(prompted)
--wp-email=EMAIL	WordPress admin email	admin@example.com
--wp-title=TITLE	WordPress site title	Site name
--secure	Enable HTTPS via Valet SSL	Disabled
--help, -h	Show help message	—

What it does

1. Creates the site directory
2. Downloads latest WordPress core via WP-CLI
3. Creates a MariaDB/MySQL database
4. Generates wp-config.php
5. Runs the WordPress install
6. Links the site to Valet (and optionally secures with SSL)

Notes

• Site name must be lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only
• Database name is derived from site name (hyphens become underscores)
• Valet link/secure commands may prompt for your macOS sudo password
• The script tests the DB connection before proceeding
• Won't overwrite an existing non-empty directory

Related

• Laravel Valet on macOS: Complete Setup Guide — full walkthrough covering Valet installation, PATH config, database setup, phpMyAdmin, and more.