Title: Update a local environment to load application code Author: WordPress VIP Documentation Published: August 17, 2022 Last modified: December 31, 2025 --- 1. [VIP Local Development Environment](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-local-development-environment/) 2. Update a local environment to load application code # Update a local environment to load application code The [VIP Local Development Environment](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-local-development-environment/) is designed specifically for code development and testing for a VIP Platform application. A VIP Local Development Environment can be configured to run with a local `git` clone of an application’s [wpcomvip GitHub repository](https://docs.wpvip.com/wpcomvip-github-repository/). A local environment running with application code will respond to updates made to the local code without restarting, including code changes resulting from branch switching initiated by a `git` command. Branch switching and pushing code updates to an application’s GitHub repository must be managed by `[git](https://git-scm.com/)` or a [`git` GUI client](https://git-scm.com/downloads/guis). **Prerequisites** On the user’s local machine: * A VIP Local Development Environment has been [successfully created and is running](https://docs.wpvip.com/local-development/use-the-vip-local-development-environment/). * `[git](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git)` is installed. ## Clone an application’s GitHub repository To be accessible by a VIP Local Development Environment, a clone of [an application’s GitHub repository](https://docs.wpvip.com/wpcomvip-github-repository/) must exist locally. 1. Obtain the URL for the application’s wpcomvip GitHub repository (e.g., `https:// github.com/wpcomvip/example-repo`). This can be found in [the dashboard panel](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-dashboard/dashboard/) of the application’s [VIP Dashboard](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-dashboard/). 2. Navigate to the application’s wpcomvip GitHub repository URL in a web browser. 3. Follow GitHub’s instructions for [cloning a repository to a local machine](https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/creating-and-managing-repositories/cloning-a-repository). For most users, this step can be completed with a `git` command. In this `git clone` command example, a repository found at the URL `https://github. com/wpcomvip/example-repo` is cloned to a local machine: ```wp-block-preformatted git clone git@github.com:wpcomvip/example-repo.git ``` The repository does not need to be cloned to a specific location on the local machine. ## Update the `--app-code` option The next steps assume that a user has [created a VIP Local Development Environment](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-local-development-environment/create/) with an assigned `--slug` value `example-site`, and has cloned an application’s wpcomvip GitHub repository code to their local machine. 1. Identify the absolute local path for the `git`-cloned application repository directory. For example, a repository that has been cloned locally to a macOS Desktop will have a path that looks similar to: `/Users/example-user/Desktop/example-repo` 2. Use the `vip dev-env update` command to update the `--app-code` option for the local environment to with the path to the local repository directory. In this command example, the `--app-code` option is updated with the absolute path example from Step 1: `vip dev-env update --app-code=/Users/example-user/Desktop/example- repo --slug=example-site` 3. Restart the environment: ```wp-block-preformatted vip dev-env start --slug=example-site ``` 5. Confirm that the environment is up and running by copying the first listed `NGINX URLS` value and loading it in a browser window: `http://example-site.vipdev.lndo. site/` A successfully running environment will have a [core WordPress theme](https://wordpress.org/themes/author/wordpressdotorg/) enabled and display a default “Hello World!” post on the home page. 6. Access the WordPress login portal for the running environment by copying the `LOGIN URL` value and loading it in a browser window: `http://example-site.vipdev.lndo. site/wp-admin/ ` 7. Retrieve [the default login credentials for a VIP Local Development Environment](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-local-development-environment/basic-usage/#h-default-wordpress-login-credentials) with the `info` command: ```wp-block-preformatted vip dev-env info --slug=example-site ``` 8. Access the WordPress Admin dashboard of the running environment by entering the default login credentials then select the button labeled “**Log in**“. 9. Navigate to the [Plugins screen](https://wordpress.org/support/article/plugins-screen/). If the local environment is running with the locally cloned code, plugins from that repository will be listed in the Plugins screen. ## Theme and plugin directories on the local environment On a local environment that has been successfully configured to run application code from a `git`-cloned repository: * The path `/wp-content/themes/` is mapped to the [`/themes`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/themes-directory/) [ directory](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/themes-directory/) in the root of the cloned repository. For new themes to load on the local environment, they must be added to the `/themes` directory of the cloned repository. **For local environments that are created as a multisite:** Themes will not be listed in a network site’s [Themes screen](https://wordpress.org/support/article/appearance-themes-screen/) until they are [network enabled or enabled per site](https://codex.wordpress.org/Network_Admin_Themes_Screen). * The path `/wp-content/plugins/` is mapped to the [`/plugins` directory](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/plugins-directory/) in the root of the cloned repository. For new plugins to load on the local environment, they must be added to the `/plugins` directory of the cloned repository. * The path `/wp-content/mu-plugins/` is mapped to the [`/client-mu-plugins` directory](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/client-mu-plugins-directory/) in the root of the cloned repository. For a plugin to load on the local environment as a [Must Use (MU) plugin](https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/must-use-plugins/), the plugin must be added to the `/client-mu-plugins` directory of the cloned repository, and [loaded programmatically](https://docs.wpvip.com/activate-plugins-through-code/) with a [`plugin-loader.php`](https://github.com/Automattic/vip-go-skeleton/blob/master/client-mu-plugins/plugin-loader.php) file. --- After a local environment is successfully running with a local clone of application code, a [database backup](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-dashboard/backups/) from a VIP Platform environment can be [synced or imported to the local environment](https://docs.wpvip.com/dev-env-add-content/). Last updated: December 31, 2025