WooCommerce Installation & Environment Setup

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Fetch https://developer.woocommerce.com/docs/ for the getting started guide
2. Web-search site:developer.wordpress.org cli commands for WP-CLI reference
3. Web-search woocommerce system requirements latest version for current requirements

System Requirements

Minimum Stack

Recommended PHP Extensions

curl, gd, intl, mbstring, openssl, xml, zip, sodium, imagick

Local Development Options

wp-env (Official WordPress)

WordPress's official Docker-based local environment:

• npm -g i @wordpress/env then wp-env start
• Configured via .wp-env.json in project root
• Supports specifying WordPress version, plugins, themes, PHP version
• Includes WP-CLI access: wp-env run cli wp <command>

Docker Compose

Custom Docker setup with wordpress, mysql/mariadb, optional phpmyadmin, mailhog containers. Mount plugin/theme directories into the WordPress container.

Local by Flywheel / DDEV / Lando

GUI or CLI tools that provision WordPress-ready environments with configurable PHP, MySQL, and web server versions.

WP-CLI Setup

Essential WooCommerce Commands

• wp plugin install woocommerce --activate — install and activate
• wp wc update — run WooCommerce database migrations
• wp wc setting list general — view store settings
• wp wc product list — list products
• wp wc order list — list orders
• wp wc tool run install_pages — create default WooCommerce pages (shop, cart, checkout)

Scaffold a WooCommerce Extension

• wp scaffold plugin my-woo-extension — generate boilerplate plugin
• Add WooCommerce headers: WC requires at least, WC tested up to

Project Bootstrapping

Recommended Plugin Structure

my-woo-extension/
├── my-woo-extension.php          # Main plugin file with headers
├── includes/                     # PHP classes
├── src/                          # Namespaced source (PSR-4 autoloaded)
├── assets/
│   ├── css/
│   └── js/
├── templates/                    # Overridable templates
├── languages/                    # i18n .pot/.po/.mo files
├── tests/                        # PHPUnit tests
├── composer.json                 # Dependencies + autoloading
├── package.json                  # JS build tooling (if blocks)
└── readme.txt                    # WordPress.org plugin header

Main Plugin File Headers

Required headers for WooCommerce extensions:

• Plugin Name, Plugin URI, Description, Version, Author, License
• WC requires at least: 8.0 — minimum WooCommerce version
• WC tested up to: 9.5 — tested WooCommerce version
• Requires Plugins: woocommerce — WordPress 6.5+ dependency declaration

HPOS Compatibility Declaration

Every new extension must declare HPOS compatibility:

add_action( 'before_woocommerce_init', function() {
    if ( class_exists( \Automattic\WooCommerce\Utilities\FeaturesUtil::class ) ) {
        \Automattic\WooCommerce\Utilities\FeaturesUtil::declare_compatibility(
            'custom_order_tables', __FILE__, true
        );
    }
});

Best Practices

• Always declare HPOS (custom_order_tables) compatibility in new extensions
• Use Composer autoloading (PSR-4) for namespaced classes
• Set WC requires at least and WC tested up to headers
• Use wp-env or Docker for reproducible development environments
• Run wp wc tool run install_pages after fresh WooCommerce install

Fetch the WooCommerce getting started guide and WP-CLI docs for exact commands and configuration options before setting up.