Installing Composer Packages in WordPress Without SSH

Cross-posted from the Loopress docs

Loopress is a toolset to make WordPress reproducible and reviewable via Git. Versioned snippets, Composer without SSH, and more coming...

, rather than the official directory.

Installing a package

Here's what that looks like from the admin, in under a minute:

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. instead.

require_once WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/loopress/vendor/autoload.php';



use GuzzleHttp\Client;



add_filter('the_content', function ($content) {

    if (!in_the_loop() || !is_main_query()) {

        return $content;

    }



    $client = new Client();

    $response = $client->get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts', ['query' => ['_limit' => 5]]);

    $posts = json_decode($response->getBody()->getContents(), true);



    $list = '<ul>';

    foreach ($posts as $post) {

        $list .= '<li style="color: red">' . esc_html($post['title']) . '</li>';

    }

    $list .= '</ul>';



    return $content . $list;

});

Why this matters for agencies

If you manage multiple client sites, the usual Composer workflow means either:

• Maintaining SSH access to every server


• Teaching clients how to run terminal commands (not happening)


• Keeping a pile of FTP credentials and manually uploading vendor/ directories

With Loopress, the dependency management surface moves into the WordPress admin. You can install, update, and remove packages from the same interface you use to manage everything else. No server access required.

Seeing what's installed

The Dependencies panel shows:

• All installed packages with their current versions


• Available updates from Packagist


• A one-click update path

This is the equivalent of composer show and composer outdated, surfaced in the UI.

What Loopress doesn't replace

Loopress's dependency management is designed for adding libraries to a running WordPress site, pulling in packages that your snippets or custom code need. It's not a replacement for a full Bedrock/Composer setup where WordPress itself is a Composer dependency.

If you're building on Roots/Bedrock, you already have a proper Composer workflow and probably don't need this. Loopress fills the gap for the other 90% of WordPress sites that aren't running a full stack framework: sites on shared hosting, client sites where the server environment is opaque, or projects where "set up Bedrock" isn't a conversation you can have.

Loopress Full is a free download, installed like any other plugin zip (Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin), no server configuration required. If you only need snippet sync, Loopress Light is the free edition submitted to the wordpress.org directory instead.