---
name: woocommerce-headless-setup
category: devops
description: Deploy WordPress + WooCommerce via Docker, automatically configure HTTPS with Caddy, and programmatically generate WooCommerce REST API keys without accessing the WP Admin UI.
---

# Headless WooCommerce Setup & API Key Generation

This skill provides a fully automated, UI-free method to deploy a secure WooCommerce store and extract its REST API credentials (Consumer Key & Secret). This is especially useful when spinning up stores for ERP integrations (like AtomK) or testing, completely bypassing the need for brittle browser automation (Playwright/DrissionPage).

## 1. Docker Compose Stack

Use Caddy for zero-config HTTPS. 

**Pitfall**: When using the official `wordpress:cli` image alongside the `wordpress` image, you might encounter a `no matching entries in passwd file` error if you specify `user: xfs`. Use `user: "33:33"` (the `www-data` user/group) to ensure WP-CLI has the correct permissions to write to the shared `/var/www/html` volume.

```yaml
# docker-compose.yml
services:
  caddy:
    image: caddy:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
      - caddy_data:/data
      - caddy_config:/config
    depends_on:
      - wordpress
      
  db:
    image: mariadb:10.6
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: secretrootpassword
      MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
      MYSQL_USER: wpuser
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: wppassword
    volumes:
      - db_data:/var/lib/mysql
      
  wordpress:
    image: wordpress:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wpuser
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wppassword
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
    volumes:
      - wp_data:/var/www/html
    depends_on:
      - db
      
  wpcli:
    image: wordpress:cli
    user: "33:33"
    command: tail -f /dev/null
    volumes:
      - wp_data:/var/www/html
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wpuser
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: wppassword
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
    depends_on:
      - db
      - wordpress

volumes:
  caddy_data:
  caddy_config:
  db_data:
  wp_data:
```

```caddyfile
# Caddyfile
example.com {
    reverse_proxy wordpress:80
}
```

## 2. Automated Installation via WP-CLI

Once containers are running (`docker compose up -d`), execute the installation:

```bash
# Install WordPress Core
docker compose exec wpcli wp core install \
    --url=https://example.com \
    --title="My Store" \
    --admin_user=admin \
    --admin_password="password123!" \
    --admin_email=admin@example.com \
    --skip-email

# Install WooCommerce and Theme
docker compose exec wpcli wp plugin install woocommerce --activate
docker compose exec wpcli wp theme install storefront --activate
```

## 3. Programmatic API Key Generation

Generating WooCommerce API keys usually requires clicking through the web UI. You can completely bypass this by injecting the keys directly into the database using a PHP script executed via `wp eval-file`.

Create `create_wc_key.php`:

```php
<?php
// Ensure this runs in WP context
if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) { exit; }
global $wpdb;

$username = 'admin'; // MUST match your --admin_user
$user = get_user_by( 'login', $username );
if ( ! $user ) { die("User not found\n"); }

// Generate WooCommerce API key pair
$consumer_key    = 'ck_' . wc_rand_hash();
$consumer_secret = 'cs_' . wc_rand_hash();

$data = array(
    'user_id'         => $user->ID,
    'description'     => 'Auto-generated API Key',
    'permissions'     => 'read_write',
    'consumer_key'    => wc_api_hash( $consumer_key ),
    'consumer_secret' => $consumer_secret,
    'truncated_key'   => substr( $consumer_key, -7 )
);

$wpdb->insert(
    $wpdb->prefix . 'woocommerce_api_keys',
    $data,
    array('%d', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s', '%s')
);

echo "CONSUMER_KEY:" . $consumer_key . "\n";
echo "CONSUMER_SECRET:" . $consumer_secret . "\n";
```

### Execution
The file must be accessible inside the container's file system (e.g., mapped via the `wp_data` volume).

```bash
# Copy into the shared docker volume
sudo cp create_wc_key.php /var/lib/docker/volumes/<project>_wp_data/_data/

# Execute via wp-cli
docker compose exec wpcli wp eval-file create_wc_key.php
```

## 4. Programmatic Application Password Generation

If you need a standard WordPress Application Password (e.g., for REST API integration that isn't WooCommerce-specific), you can generate one instantly via WP-CLI:

```bash
# Outputs only the raw password (e.g., kYdQ y7ei zea7 fwaL 8Cg6 qEEd)
docker compose exec wpcli wp user application-password create admin "My App Name" --porcelain
```

## Pitfalls & Lessons Learned
- **Local Port Conflicts**: If running on a VM, an existing web server (like Nginx/Apache) might be binding ports 80/443. Check with `sudo lsof -i :80`. Stop and disable it (`sudo systemctl stop nginx && sudo systemctl disable nginx`) before starting Caddy.
- **Background Startup**: When running `docker compose up -d` in automation, ensure it is run as a background task (`background=true`) or it will hang the execution context.
- **Avoid UI Automation for Setup**: Bypassing the WordPress Admin UI for configuration is vastly superior, significantly faster, and far more stable than trying to use headless browsers to click through setup wizards.