Installing ACF Pro with Composer and License Secrets

Composer-based installation gives you traceable, version-locked ACF Pro deployments.

Practical Use Cases

Use Case 1: Add ACF Pro repository and constraints to composer.json

composer.json

{
  "require": {
    "advanced-custom-fields/advanced-custom-fields-pro": "6.3.1"
  },
  "repositories": [
    {
      "type": "composer",
      "url": "https://connect.advancedcustomfields.com"
    }
  ]
}

install dependencies

composer install

Expected output

Installing advanced-custom-fields/advanced-custom-fields-pro (6.3.1)
Generating autoload files

Use Case 2: Configure CI secret for Composer auth

CI environment export

export COMPOSER_AUTH='{"http-basic":{"connect.advancedcustomfields.com":{"username":"license-key","password":"x"}}}'
composer install --no-interaction --prefer-dist

Expected output

Loading composer repositories with package information
Installing dependencies from lock file

Hands-On Practice

1. Add ACF Pro package requirement and run composer install.
2. Store Composer auth in CI secret manager and test non-interactive install.
3. Verify plugin activation with wp plugin list --status=active | grep advanced-custom-fields.

What's Next

• Continue to Production Deploy Patterns with Composer Lockfiles.
• Review this module context in Module 11 Overview.
• Related lesson: Installing ACF and Preparing Environments.