Show automation: "I use wp search-replace in deployment scripts for URL updates, wp cron event run to test scheduled tasks, and wp scaffold block to generate block boilerplate. Anything repeatable gets scripted with WP-CLI."
WP-CLI is essential for: bulk operations (wp post delete, wp user create), database management (wp db export, wp search-replace), plugin/theme management (wp plugin install, wp plugin update), scaffolding (wp scaffold plugin, wp scaffold block), cron management (wp cron event list, wp cron event run), and maintenance (wp cache flush, wp rewrite flush). Significantly easier than UI: bulk user imports, search-replace across serialised data, running cron events on demand, and scripting repeatable deployment steps. Strong candidates describe: using WP-CLI in deployment scripts, custom WP-CLI commands for project-specific tasks, and piping WP-CLI output to other tools.
Tests professional workflow maturity. Candidates who do everything through the admin UI are slower and less reliable for operations tasks. Those who integrate WP-CLI into their workflow can automate deployments, manage environments, and handle bulk operations efficiently.