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populate-log

Testing & Quality
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Populates the event log with test data via WP-CLI. Use when adding sample events, generating test data, or benchmarking with realistic activity.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/bonny/WordPress-Simple-History/blob/HEAD/.claude/skills/populate-log/SKILL.md

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Populate Event Log

Add test events to the Simple History event log using WP-CLI.

Prerequisites

  • Commands run from /Users/bonny/Projects/_docker-compose-to-run-on-system-boot
  • Requires SIMPLE_HISTORY_DEV constant set to true

Base Command

cd /Users/bonny/Projects/_docker-compose-to-run-on-system-boot && docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate [OPTIONS]

Options

OptionDefaultDescription
--count=<n>1000Number of events to create
--type=<type>mixedType of events (see below)
--days=<n>90Spread events over this many days
--reactionsoffAdd 1-10 random reactions to each event

Event Types (--type)

TypeDescriptionUse Case
mixedRealistic distribution: 40% posts, 25% plugins, 15% users, 10% options, 10% customGeneral testing, realistic log
postsPost/page events: created, updated, trashed, restoredTesting post-related UI/filters
pluginsPlugin events: activated, deactivated, updated, installedTesting plugin-related UI/filters
usersUser events: login, logout, profile edits, user creationTesting user-related UI/filters
simpleGeneric SimpleLogger messages (backups, cron, API, forms)Testing fallback search
largeEvents with ~2MB context data (simulated API responses)Performance/memory benchmarking
showcaseCurated set of specific events (ignores --count), see belowUI testing with diverse event types

Common Recipes

# Quick: 50 mixed events for general UI testing
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate --count=50 --days=7

# Realistic: 1000 mixed events over 90 days (default)
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate

# Heavy: 5000 events for performance testing
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate --count=5000

# Type-specific
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate --count=200 --type=posts
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate --count=200 --type=plugins
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate --count=200 --type=users

# Large events for memory/export benchmarking
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate --count=100 --type=large --days=30

# Showcase: curated set of specific events for UI testing (ignores --count)
docker compose run --rm wpcli_mariadb simple-history dev populate --type=showcase

Showcase Events

The showcase type creates a fixed curated set (ignores --count):

  1. Successful login (with IP and user agent)
  2. Failed login — known user, wrong password (with IP)
  3. Failed login — unknown username (bot user agent)
  4. Plugin updated (WooCommerce 9.4.3 → 9.5.1)
  5. Plugin installed (Query Monitor with full details)
  6. Page updated with content diff (About Us)
  7. Blog post published
  8. Post trashed
  9. Plugin activated (Yoast SEO)
  10. Plugin deactivated (Hello Dolly)

Workflow

  1. Ask the user what kind of test data they need (if not specified):
    • What type of events? (mixed, posts, plugins, users, simple, large)
    • How many? (default: 50 for quick testing)
    • Over how many days? (default: 7 for recent data, 90 for realistic spread)
  2. Run the populate command
  3. Confirm the result

Realistic Features Built Into Populate

The command automatically generates realistic patterns:

  • Timestamps: Weekdays 3x more active than weekends, business hours bias, random spike days
  • Initiators: ~60% WP_USER, ~15% WP_CLI, ~15% WORDPRESS, ~5% WEB_USER, ~5% OTHER
  • IP addresses: ~40% of events get public IPs, some with X-Forwarded-For headers
  • Context data: Realistic metadata matching each logger's format

Implementation

Source: inc/services/wp-cli-commands/class-wp-cli-populate-command.php

Available loggers in populate: SimplePluginLogger, SimplePostLogger, SimpleUserLogger, SimpleOptionsLogger, SimpleLogger.