From 38fd251d3780ee83960e5ec2b6177f01c3a85adc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: yusufhay <32195740+yusufhay@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 7 May 2026 04:22:39 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] Clarify JSON-escaped search-replace behavior

---
 README.md                      | 6 ++++++
 src/Search_Replace_Command.php | 6 ++++++
 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bcd6d4b0..247cadbf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ multisite, this will just be the tables for the current site unless
 
 Search/replace intelligently handles PHP serialized data, and does not
 change primary key values.
+In non-regex mode, it also replaces JSON-escaped versions of the search
+string, such as `http:\/\/example.com` when searching for
+`http://example.com`.
 
 Tables without a primary key are skipped. To check whether a table has a
 primary key, run `wp db query 'DESCRIBE <table>'` and look for 'PRI' in
@@ -161,6 +164,9 @@ the Key column.
     # Use precise mode for complex serialized data
     $ wp search-replace 'oldurl.com' 'newurl.com' --precise
 
+    # Replace a URL in plain text and JSON-escaped data
+    $ wp search-replace 'https://example.com' 'https://example.test'
+
     # Bash script: Search/replace production to development url (multisite compatible)
     #!/bin/bash
     if $(wp --url=http://example.com core is-installed --network); then
diff --git a/src/Search_Replace_Command.php b/src/Search_Replace_Command.php
index 8423560d..a7dc1fbe 100644
--- a/src/Search_Replace_Command.php
+++ b/src/Search_Replace_Command.php
@@ -139,6 +139,9 @@ class Search_Replace_Command extends WP_CLI_Command {
 	 *
 	 * Search/replace intelligently handles PHP serialized data, and does not
 	 * change primary key values.
+	 * In non-regex mode, it also replaces JSON-escaped versions of the search
+	 * string, such as `http:\/\/example.com` when searching for
+	 * `http://example.com`.
 	 *
 	 * Tables without a primary key are skipped. To check whether a table has a
 	 * primary key, run `wp db query 'DESCRIBE <table>'` and look for 'PRI' in
@@ -278,6 +281,9 @@ class Search_Replace_Command extends WP_CLI_Command {
 	 *     # Use precise mode for complex serialized data
 	 *     $ wp search-replace 'oldurl.com' 'newurl.com' --precise
 	 *
+	 *     # Replace a URL in plain text and JSON-escaped data
+	 *     $ wp search-replace 'https://example.com' 'https://example.test'
+	 *
 	 *     # Bash script: Search/replace production to development url (multisite compatible)
 	 *     #!/bin/bash
 	 *     if $(wp --url=http://example.com core is-installed --network); then