Title: /vip-config directory
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: December 11, 2020
Last modified: August 8, 2024

---

 1. [WordPress VIP skeleton](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/)
 2. /vip-config directory

#  /vip-config directory

The `/vip-config` directory contains a file named `vip-config.php`.

On the VIP Platform, settings that are usually added to `wp-config.php` (e.g. [domain redirects](https://docs.wpvip.com/redirects/domain-redirects-in-vip-config-php/))
in typical WordPress installs should instead be added to `vip-config.php`.

 * Most of WordPress (e.g., WordPress Core, all of VIP MU plugins, and all theme
   and plugin files) is not available when this file is loaded, and many WordPress
   constants are not yet defined. No classes or functions defined in plugins or 
   themes are available, and calling them in this file will result in a fatal error.
 * **Do not store API keys and secrets in `vip-config.php`.** Define API keys and
   secrets by [setting environment variables with VIP-CLI](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/environments/manage-environment-variables/).

**Caution**

**Fatal or syntax errors in this file are likely to cause an entire site or multisite
to be unavailable.** All updates made to `vip-config.php` should be tested in a 
non-production environment before deploying to production.

## WordPress constants

Several WordPress constants typically found in `wp-config.php` are already defined
by the VIP Platform and cannot be redefined and overridden by the customer. These
constants include [database settings](https://developer.wordpress.org/apis/wp-config-php/#configure-database-settings),
[security keys](https://developer.wordpress.org/apis/wp-config-php/#security-keys),
as well as:

 * `MULTISITE`
 * `SUBDOMAIN_INSTALL`
 * `DOMAIN_CURRENT_SITE`
 * `PATH_CURRENT_SITE`
 * `SITE_ID_CURRENT_SITE`
 * `BLOG_ID_CURRENT_SITE`
 * `WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE`

Attempts to redefine these constants in `vip-config.php` will fail and potentially
generate warnings and errors that can negatively affect the ability for the VIP 
Dashboard and VIP-CLI to interact with the environment.

Last updated: August 08, 2024