Deploy to WPEngine Using Git Push

Prerequisites

• WPEngine account with a site installed
• SSH key — see SSH cheatsheet

1. Add SSH Key to WPEngine

In your WPEngine dashboard, select the environment (production/staging/dev) → GitPush in the side menu → add your public key.

Key publishing takes up to 45 minutes. Connecting before it’s ready will error.

Check which sites your key has access to

ssh git@git.wpengine.com info

The key must be added to each environment independently.

2. Get the Remote URL

After adding your key, copy the remote Git URL from the GitPush screen.

3. Init Local Repo

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

4. Add Remotes

git remote add staging git@git.wpengine.com:your-remote-repo-url.git

Optional — add a GitHub remote too:

git remote add origin git@github.com:yourusername/repo-name.git

5. Add .gitignore

The repo is initialised at the WordPress root so a .gitignore is essential. Typically you deploy theme files only and exclude everything else.

WPEngine recommended .gitignore

*~
.DS_Store
.svn
.cvs
*.bak
*.swp
Thumbs.db

# wordpress specific
wp-config.php
wp-content/uploads/
wp-content/blogs.dir/
wp-content/upgrade/*
wp-content/upgrade-temp-backup/*
wp-content/backup-db/*
wp-content/advanced-cache.php
wp-content/wp-cache-config.php
wp-content/cache/*
wp-content/cache/supercache/*

# wpengine specific
.smushit-status
.gitattributes
_wpeprivate*
wp-content/object-cache.php
wp-content/mu-plugins/mu-plugin.php
wp-content/mu-plugins/slt-force-strong-passwords.php
wp-content/mu-plugins/stop-long-comments.php
wp-content/mu-plugins/force-strong-passwords*
wp-content/mu-plugins/wpengine-common*
wp-content/mysql.sql
wp-content/mu-plugins/wpengine-security-auditor.php
wp-content/mu-plugins/wpe-wp-sign-on-plugin*

# wp core
/db-config.php
/index.php
/license.txt
/readme.html
/wp-activate.php
/wp-blog-header.php
/wp-comments-post.php
/wp-config-sample.php
/wp-cron.php
/wp-login.php
/wp-settings.php
/wp-signup.php
/xmlrpc.php
/wp-admin
/wp-includes
/wp-content/index.php
/wp-content/themes/twenty*
/wp-content/themes/index.php
/wp-content/plugins/*

# large/disallowed file types
*.mp3
*.ogg
*.m4a
*.mp4
*.mpeg
*.mov
*.webm
*.flv
*.avi
*.exe
*.dll
*.dmg
*.iso

6. Push

git push staging master

Git push to WPEngine also clears the server cache automatically.

Troubleshooting

Gitignore changes not taking effect — clear the git cache:

git rm -r --cached .
git add .
git commit -m "clear git cache"
git push staging master

Large files — WPEngine will reject files over the size limit. Use a CDN for media.

More Info

WPEngine Git Push docs