plugin-sqlite-database-integration

SQLite Database Integration

Run WordPress on SQLite.

Overview

The plugin provides a wp-content/db.php database drop-in powered by MySQL on SQLite. WordPress and plugins continue to use the wpdb API while the driver translates and emulates MySQL queries for SQLite.

Usage

To set up SQLite, do the following steps in your WordPress admin:

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Open Settings > SQLite integration and select Install SQLite database.

On multisite installs, use Network Admin.

Important

Enabling SQLite creates a separate SQLite database. It does not migrate data from MySQL or MariaDB. Disabling it reconnects WordPress to the original database.

See readme.txt for the plugin FAQ and changelog.

Database storage

By default, the SQLite database is stored in a randomized path under WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/database'. The full path is recorded in db-path.php and exposed by the DB_PATH constant at runtime.

For example:

1. Database path: WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/database/.ht.020a33c5d9e5407e8e93b43e55abf62e/.ht.sqlite'
2. Recorded in: WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/database/db-path.php' as return __DIR__ . '/...';
3. Exposed by: DB_PATH

The random path makes the database location difficult to guess when it is not otherwise protected.

To properly secure the SQLite database, define the DB_PATH constant to an explicit path that is protected from public web access. An explicit DB_PATH value is used as-is without randomization. Define it in wp-config.php:

// Use protected DB path that is not exposed by the web server.
define( 'DB_PATH', '/private/wordpress/database.sqlite' );

Caution

An explicit DB_PATH must point to a protected location that your web server does not expose. Store the database outside the web root and make sure it's protected.

The value of DB_PATH must be an absolute path to the SQLite database file, or :memory: for an in-memory SQLite database. The database directory must be writable by PHP. Changing DB_PATH selects a different database without moving an existing one.

Integrations should always read DB_PATH after WordPress loads instead of assuming a fixed database path.

Development

Run these commands from the repository root:

composer install
composer run check-cs
composer run wp-test-sqlite-plugin-php
composer run wp-test-sqlite-plugin-php-multisite

See the repository README for the WordPress test environment commands.

Build an installable plugin ZIP with:

composer run build-sqlite-plugin-zip

The archive is written to build/plugin-sqlite-database-integration.zip.

Requirements

• WordPress: 6.4+
• PHP: 7.2+
• PHP extensions: pdo, pdo_sqlite
• SQLite: 3.37.0+

License

SQLite Database Integration is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 or later.