Add `--skip-locale-check` flag to `wp core download` for locale fallback by Copilot · Pull Request #322 · wp-cli/core-command

Copilot · 2026-03-20T11:35:52Z

When a new WordPress release hasn't been translated yet, wp core download --locale=fr_FR crashes because the version-check API returns only en_US offers, causing get_core_download_offer() to return false.

As an opt-in behavior, a new --skip-locale-check flag falls back to the latest version that is available for the requested locale rather than erroring.

How it works

When get_core_download_offer($locale) returns false and --skip-locale-check is set, the new find_latest_offer_for_locale() method queries https://api.wordpress.org/translations/core/1.0/ to find the locale's latest translated version
Constructs a download offer using the existing get_download_url() helper and emits a warning
If the locale has no translations at all, the original error is preserved

# Previously crashed with: Error: The requested locale (fr_FR) was not found.
$ wp core download --locale=fr_FR --skip-locale-check
Warning: The latest WordPress version is not yet available in the fr_FR locale. Downloading version 6.2.2 instead.
...
Success: WordPress downloaded.

Changes

src/Core_Command.php: Added [--skip-locale-check] option; extracted WpOrgApi instantiation to a named variable; added private find_latest_offer_for_locale(string $locale, bool $insecure): array|false helper
features/core-download.feature: Three new scenarios covering: locale unavailable without flag (error), locale unavailable with flag (fallback success + warning), and flag set but locale has no translation at all (error)

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>wp core download crash when latest WP version is not in the desired locale</issue_title>
<issue_description>## Bug Report

wp core download --locale=xx_XX crash when lastest WP version is not in the desired locale

wp core download && wp language core install fr_FR --activate
is broken too (install ok but not the lang, switching to FR in admin break the website with sql errors)

Example

wp --allow-root core download --locale=fr_FR --force
crash with :
Error: The requested locale (fr_FR ) was not found.

Temp fix force previous version

wp --allow-root core download --locale=fr_FR --version=6.2.2 --force

Solution
allow this command to download the lastest version (6.2.2, instead of 6.3 in the example) to use the desired locale.
wp --allow-root core download --locale=fr_FR --force

or add a flag to allow downloading the previous working version.
</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)
@danielbachhuber Thanks for the report, @neoteknic !
This is a known issue that unfortunately occurs until the locale release is ready.

allow this command to download the lastest version (6.2.2, instead of 6.3 in the example) to use the desired locale. wp --allow-root core download --locale=fr_FR --force

or add a flag to allow downloading the previous working version.

I don't think we should automatically downgrade. Making it a specific opt-in behavior with a flag seems fine, though.

Feel free to submit a pull request, if you'd like. Here is some guidance on our pull request best practices.

Fixes wp core download crash when latest WP version is not in the desired locale #240

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codecov · 2026-03-20T11:46:27Z

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 86.48649% with 5 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/Core_Command.php	86.48%	5 Missing ⚠️

📢 Thoughts on this report? Let us know!

…version Co-authored-by: swissspidy <841956+swissspidy@users.noreply.github.com>

features/core-download.feature

Copilot

Pull request overview

Adds an opt-in fallback for wp core download --locale=… when the latest WordPress release isn’t yet translated for the requested locale, via a new --skip-locale-check flag that consults the WordPress.org translations API.

Changes:

Adds --skip-locale-check to wp core download to fall back to the latest available translated version when the locale isn’t offered for the latest release.
Introduces find_latest_offer_for_locale() to query https://api.wordpress.org/translations/core/1.0/ and construct a usable download offer.
Adds Behat scenarios covering the error case, fallback + warning case, and “no translations exist” case.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

File	Description
`src/Core_Command.php`	Implements the `--skip-locale-check` fallback behavior and translations API lookup helper.
`features/core-download.feature`	Adds Behat coverage for locale-unavailable behavior with and without the new flag.

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Copilot · 2026-03-20T21:50:53Z

features/core-download.feature

+    When I try `wp core download --locale=de_DE --skip-locale-check`
+    Then the wp-settings.php file should exist
+    And STDERR should contain:
+      """
+      Warning: The latest WordPress version is not yet available in the de_DE locale. Downloading version 4.4.2 instead.
+      """


This scenario expects a successful download, but it uses When I try ... and doesn’t assert a zero exit code. To make the test reliably fail when the command fails, use When I run ... (or explicitly assert Then the return code should be 0).

Copilot · 2026-03-20T21:50:53Z

src/Core_Command.php

 use WP_CLI\Extractor;
 use WP_CLI\Iterators\Table as TableIterator;
 use WP_CLI\Utils;
+use WP_CLI\Path;


use WP_CLI\Path; introduces a WP_CLI\Path dependency, but this package doesn’t define that class anywhere (and the rest of this file uses the WP_CLI\Utils\… function helpers). Unless WP_CLI\Path is guaranteed to exist in the supported wp-cli/wp-cli versions, this will cause a fatal error. Consider reverting these changes back to Utils\trailingslashit() / Utils\phar_safe_path() (or importing the correct helper namespace/class if a Path helper is intended).

Suggested change

use WP_CLI\Path;

Copilot · 2026-03-20T21:50:53Z

src/Core_Command.php

 		// Set SCRIPT_FILENAME to the actual WordPress index.php if available.
-		if ( file_exists( Utils\trailingslashit( ABSPATH ) . 'index.php' ) ) {
-			$_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = Utils\trailingslashit( ABSPATH ) . 'index.php';
+		if ( file_exists( Path::trailingslashit( ABSPATH ) . 'index.php' ) ) {
+			$_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'] = Path::trailingslashit( ABSPATH ) . 'index.php';
 		}


Path::trailingslashit() is used here, but this file previously relied on the Utils\trailingslashit() function. If WP_CLI\Path is not available (or doesn’t provide trailingslashit()), this will fatal at runtime. Please keep this consistent with the rest of the command by using the existing Utils\trailingslashit() helper (or confirm the correct Path helper import and API).

Copilot · 2026-03-20T21:50:54Z

src/Core_Command.php

 	private static function get_template_path( $template ) {
-		$command_root  = Utils\phar_safe_path( dirname( __DIR__ ) );
+		$command_root  = Path::phar_safe( dirname( __DIR__ ) );
 		$template_path = "{$command_root}/templates/{$template}";



Path::phar_safe() appears to replace the existing Utils\phar_safe_path() helper. If WP_CLI\Path/phar_safe() isn’t part of the supported WP-CLI API, this will break template resolution at runtime. Consider reverting to Utils\phar_safe_path() or updating to the correct, verified helper name/namespace.

Copilot · 2026-03-20T21:50:54Z

src/Core_Command.php

 		}
-		$abspath_realpath_trailing = Utils\trailingslashit( $abspath_realpath );
+		$abspath_realpath_trailing = Path::trailingslashit( $abspath_realpath );



Same Path::trailingslashit() concern applies here: if WP_CLI\Path isn’t available (or doesn’t implement trailingslashit()), file cleanup will fatal. Using the existing Utils\trailingslashit() helper keeps this consistent with the rest of the codebase and avoids introducing an unverified dependency.

Initial plan

871a308

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and swissspidy Mar 20, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of swissspidy March 20, 2026 11:35 View session

github-actions bot added bug command:core-download Related to 'core download' command state:unconfirmed labels Mar 20, 2026

Add --skip-locale-check flag to wp core download for fallback locale …

97f024c

…version Co-authored-by: swissspidy <841956+swissspidy@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Fix wp core download crash for unsupported locale~~ Add --skip-locale-check flag to wp core download for locale fallback Mar 20, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from swissspidy March 20, 2026 11:55

Copilot finished work on behalf of swissspidy March 20, 2026 11:55

swissspidy reviewed Mar 20, 2026

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swissspidy added 2 commits March 20, 2026 22:28

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swissspidy marked this pull request as ready for review March 20, 2026 21:46

swissspidy requested a review from a team as a code owner March 20, 2026 21:46

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 20, 2026 21:46

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of swissspidy March 20, 2026 21:46 View session

swissspidy added this to the 2.1.26 milestone Mar 20, 2026

swissspidy merged commit 1f518df into main Mar 20, 2026
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swissspidy deleted the copilot/fix-wp-core-download-crash branch March 20, 2026 21:50

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Add `--skip-locale-check` flag to `wp core download` for locale fallback#322

Add `--skip-locale-check` flag to `wp core download` for locale fallback#322
swissspidy merged 4 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-wp-core-download-crash

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