WP-CLI v2.4.0 release date

Version 2.4.0 of WP-CLI will be released on Tuesday, November 12th, 2019, presumably around 15:00 UTC.

This places it in-between the release dry-run and the final release for WordPress Core 5.3, which is currently slated for November 12th at around 19:00 UTC.

Note: In case the scheduled release for WP 5.3 is adapted, we might also need to move the one for WP-CLI accordingly. In this case, I’ll send updates as needed.

There quite a few breaking “non-breaking changes” in the upcoming 5.3 release, and some of them have shown a weakness in the current packaging strategy regarding the framework package itself, which are the reason for this release to come on such short notice. Due to its very tight integration with Core, WP-CLI is very susceptible to these breaking changes, and the current packaging strategy does not always deal with this in the best way possible.

After 2.4.0, I will re-evaluate the current versioning policy regarding the framework package and how best to take interface changes in Core into account, that need us to modify signatures between Core versions to support.

We’re all looking forward to an awesome WordPress 5.3 release, so let’s make sure the ecosystem is ready for it! 👍

Paul Biron 6:51 pm on November 8, 2019

There quite a few breaking “non-breaking changes” in the upcoming 5.3 release

Will WP-CLI 2.4.0 include changes to wp media regenerate to account for the new changes in WP 5.3 around “big images” and “rotate on upload”, etc?
- Alain Schlesser 7:28 pm on November 8, 2019
  
  Yes, it will take these changes into account: https://github.com/wp-cli/media-command/pull/115
Paul Biron 7:35 pm on November 8, 2019

cool, thanx!
Ipstenu (Mika Epstein) 10:50 pm on November 8, 2019

Did you put quotes around “non-breaking changes” for emphasis like you might use italics or bold? (In American English it’s either a direct quote — which seems odd in the context — or synonymous with air-quotes — which implies sarcasm)

If there are, indeed, no breaking changes, then am I correct in assuming that the upgrade to WP-CLI does not have to be done at the same time as Core? It’s a little tough on web hosts to have to juggle both at once, so space in between would be really welcome.
- Alain Schlesser 11:20 pm on November 8, 2019
  
  Sorry, let me clear that up. The quotes were meant to signify the incorrectness of the term via air quotes.
  
  WordPress Core always claims to have few to no breaking changes at all. However, technically, this is not true, it is just interpreted based on “assumed usage”, as there are no explicit interfaces with guarantees in most parts of the code anywhere.
  
  And this is perfectly valid, it is an old code base, and we need to move forward regardless.
  
  For the upcoming release, for example, there are many changes that will break existing code if you just integrate deeply enough with the Core, which WP-CLI does.
  
  A few examples:
  
  To adapt to the new PHP 5.6 minimum, a lot of refactoring was done. This does not break using that code. However, in some instances, the actual signatures were changed, so if you instead extend that code like WP-CLI does (for example with the upgrader skin classes), then PHP fatals because of a signature mismatch.
  
  Another case is the new handling of big images, to automatically rescale them. It was built in such a way that it is not a breaking change for theme developers. However, for any integrations that integrate with it like image resizers, thumbnail regenerators, media libraries, or WP-CLI, the originial image will be hidden by default, so quality will unexpectedly drop considerably.
  
  WP-CLI works around these, and that’s why there’s this 2.4.0 release that is so tightly coupled to the WP Core 5.3 release.
  
  WP-CLI itself, as far as I know right now, should not have any breaking changes in this release.
  
  Hope this clears it up.
- Alain Schlesser 11:28 pm on November 8, 2019
  And yet another reply as I notice I didn’t actually answer your question…
  
  If there are, indeed, no breaking changes, then am I correct in assuming that the upgrade to WP-CLI does not have to be done at the same time as Core?
  
  This really depends on what you expect to do with it. WP-CLI in general will work fine, however there will be a few cases where you might hit issues with WP 5.3 and WP-CLI < 2.4.0:
  - image regeneration could produce lower quality results
  - if twentytwenty is active and you then downgrade WP Core below 4.7, it will fatal after the version change
  - install and update operations will throw strict notices and might error if these are not allowed
  I can only guess right now, but I assume most people will not immediately hit these issues.
  
  Also, in case that helps, I’m currently working on getting a nightly out there that fixes all of these issues. I think it was already built successfully, but I haven’t yet tested it.
  
  I’m sorry about the timing here, but there is a lot happening with this release that made it difficult to get everything fixed earlier, and the fixes are needed for some people as soon as 5.3 is out.

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WP-CLI v2.4.0 release date

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