Always send an admin password so a renamed admin user can't block site startup

apps/cli/lib/admin-credentials.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { decodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import { decodeAdminPassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import { ServerConfig } from 'cli/lib/types/wordpress-server-ipc';
 
 type AdminCredentialsConfig = Pick<
@@ -28,9 +28,11 @@ export function shouldSetAdminCredentials( config: AdminCredentialsConfig ): boo
 export function getSetAdminCredentialsRequestBody(
 	config: AdminCredentialsConfig
 ): SetAdminCredentialsRequestBody {
+	// The password is always sent: creating a user requires one, so omitting it fails the
+	// request outright when adminUsername names a user that does not exist yet.
 	return {
 		action: 'set_admin_password',
-		...( config.adminPassword && { password: decodePassword( config.adminPassword ) } ),
+		password: decodeAdminPassword( config.adminPassword ),
 		...( config.adminUsername && { username: config.adminUsername } ),
 		...( config.adminEmail && { email: config.adminEmail } ),
 	};

apps/cli/lib/native-php/site-setup.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@ import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { DEFAULT_LOCALE } from '@studio/common/lib/locale';
 import { escapePhpSingleQuotedString } from '@studio/common/lib/mu-plugins';
-import { decodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import {
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL,
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME,
+	decodeAdminPassword,
+} from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import { type NativePhpSupportedVersion } from '@studio/common/lib/php-binary-metadata';
 import { getWpCliPharPath } from 'cli/lib/dependency-management/paths';
 import { ensurePhpBinaryAvailable } from '../dependency-management/php-binary';
@@ -167,9 +171,9 @@ export async function installWordPress(
 	}
 
 	const siteTitle = config.siteTitle ?? 'My WordPress Website';
-	const username = config.adminUsername ?? 'admin';
-	const password = config.adminPassword ? decodePassword( config.adminPassword ) : 'password';
-	const email = config.adminEmail ?? 'admin@localhost.com';
+	const username = config.adminUsername ?? DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME;
+	const password = decodeAdminPassword( config.adminPassword );
+	const email = config.adminEmail ?? DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL;
 	const siteUrl = config.absoluteUrl ?? `http://localhost:${ config.port }`;
 	// WP-CLI defaults to en_US; Studio's DEFAULT_LOCALE of "en" is not a WP locale code.
 	const locale =

apps/cli/lib/tests/admin-credentials.test.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { encodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import { DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD, encodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import {
 	getSetAdminCredentialsRequestBody,
 	requestSetAdminCredentials,
@@ -27,6 +27,16 @@ describe( 'admin credentials', () => {
 		} );
 	} );
 
+	it( 'falls back to the default password when the site has none stored', () => {
+		// A site configured with only a username must still send a password: creating the
+		// user fails without one, which previously left the site unable to start.
+		expect( getSetAdminCredentialsRequestBody( { adminUsername: 'admine' } ) ).toEqual( {
+			action: 'set_admin_password',
+			username: 'admine',
+			password: DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD,
+		} );
+	} );
+
 	it( 'serializes the admin API body as form data', () => {
 		const params = toUrlSearchParams( {
 			action: 'set_admin_password',

apps/local/src/index.ts

@@ -57,7 +57,11 @@ import { importIpcEventSchema } from '@studio/common/lib/import-export-events';
 import { isErrnoException } from '@studio/common/lib/is-errno-exception';
 import { getLocalMediaMimeType } from '@studio/common/lib/media-mime';
 import { getAuthenticationUrl, getSignUpUrl } from '@studio/common/lib/oauth';
-import { decodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import {
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME,
+	decodeAdminPassword,
+	decodePassword,
+} from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import {
 	getInstructionsLengthBucket,
 	isTracksEventName,
@@ -973,12 +977,18 @@ export async function startLocalServer( options: LocalServerOptions ): Promise<
 			if ( ( updated.enableXdebug ?? false ) !== ( current.enableXdebug ?? false ) ) {
 				options.xdebug = updated.enableXdebug ?? false;
 			}
-			if ( ( updated.adminUsername ?? 'admin' ) !== ( current.adminUsername ?? 'admin' ) ) {
+			if (
+				( updated.adminUsername ?? DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME ) !==
+				( current.adminUsername ?? DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME )
+			) {
 				options.adminUsername = updated.adminUsername;
 			}
-			if ( ( updated.adminPassword ?? '' ) !== ( current.adminPassword ?? '' ) ) {
+			if (
+				decodeAdminPassword( updated.adminPassword ) !==
+				decodeAdminPassword( current.adminPassword )
+			) {
 				// The CLI expects a plaintext password (it encodes before saving).
-				options.adminPassword = decodePassword( updated.adminPassword ?? '' );
+				options.adminPassword = decodeAdminPassword( updated.adminPassword );
 			}
 			if ( ( updated.adminEmail ?? '' ) !== ( current.adminEmail ?? '' ) ) {
 				options.adminEmail = updated.adminEmail;

apps/studio/src/ipc-handlers.ts

@@ -76,7 +76,11 @@ import { isMultisite } from '@studio/common/lib/is-multisite';
 import { checkMaintenanceFile } from '@studio/common/lib/maintenance-file';
 import { getLocalMediaMimeType } from '@studio/common/lib/media-mime';
 import { getAuthenticationUrl } from '@studio/common/lib/oauth';
-import { decodePassword, encodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import {
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD,
+	decodePassword,
+	encodePassword,
+} from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import { isTracksEventName } from '@studio/common/lib/record-tracks-event';
 import { sanitizeFolderName } from '@studio/common/lib/sanitize-folder-name';
 import {
@@ -717,7 +721,7 @@ export async function removeWordPressSkillFromAllSites(
 
 const DEBUG_LOG_MAX_LINES = 50;
 const PROCESS_MANAGER_HOME = nodePath.join( os.homedir(), '.studio', 'daemon' );
-const DEFAULT_ENCODED_PASSWORD = encodePassword( 'password' );
+const DEFAULT_ENCODED_PASSWORD = encodePassword( DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD );
 
 function readWordPressDebugLog( sitePath: string ): string[] | undefined {
 	const debugLogPath = nodePath.join( sitePath, DEBUG_LOG_RELATIVE_PATH );

apps/ui/src/components/create-site-form/index.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { DEFAULT_WORDPRESS_VERSION } from '@studio/common/constants';
 import { generateCustomDomainFromSiteName } from '@studio/common/lib/domains';
-import { generatePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import {
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL,
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME,
+	generatePassword,
+} from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import { getLatestVersionLabel } from '@studio/common/lib/wordpress-versions';
 import { RecommendedPHPVersion } from '@studio/common/types/php-versions';
 import { BaseControl, CheckboxControl, TextControl } from '@wordpress/components';
@@ -113,9 +117,9 @@ function createDefaultFormData(): FormData {
 		useCustomDomain: false,
 		customDomain: '',
 		enableHttps: false,
-		adminUsername: 'admin',
+		adminUsername: DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME,
 		adminPassword: generatePassword(),
-		adminEmail: 'admin@localhost.com',
+		adminEmail: DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL,
 	};
 }
 

apps/ui/src/components/site-overview-view/admin-section.tsx

@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-import { decodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import {
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL,
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME,
+	decodeAdminPassword,
+} from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import { __ } from '@wordpress/i18n';
 import { CopyButton } from '@/components/copy-button';
 import styles from './cards.module.css';
@@ -28,9 +32,9 @@ function CredentialRow( {
 }
 
 export function AdminSection( { site }: { site: SiteDetails } ) {
-	const username = site.adminUsername ?? 'admin';
-	const password = site.adminPassword ? decodePassword( site.adminPassword ) : '';
-	const email = site.adminEmail ?? 'admin@localhost.com';
+	const username = site.adminUsername ?? DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME;
+	const password = decodeAdminPassword( site.adminPassword );
+	const email = site.adminEmail ?? DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL;
 
 	return (
 		<CardSection>

apps/ui/src/components/site-settings-view/index.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 import { DEFAULT_WORDPRESS_VERSION } from '@studio/common/constants';
 import { generateCustomDomainFromSiteName } from '@studio/common/lib/domains';
-import { decodePassword, encodePassword } from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
+import {
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL,
+	DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME,
+	decodeAdminPassword,
+	encodePassword,
+} from '@studio/common/lib/passwords';
 import { RecommendedPHPVersion } from '@studio/common/types/php-versions';
 import { CheckboxControl } from '@wordpress/components';
 import { DataForm, useFormValidity } from '@wordpress/dataviews';
@@ -79,9 +84,9 @@ function initialFormData( site: SiteDetails, installedWpVersion?: string ): Form
 		useCustomDomain: Boolean( site.customDomain ),
 		customDomain: site.customDomain ?? '',
 		enableHttps: site.enableHttps ?? false,
-		adminUsername: site.adminUsername ?? 'admin',
-		adminPassword: decodePassword( site.adminPassword ?? '' ) || 'password',
-		adminEmail: site.adminEmail || 'admin@localhost.com',
+		adminUsername: site.adminUsername ?? DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME,
+		adminPassword: decodeAdminPassword( site.adminPassword ),
+		adminEmail: site.adminEmail || DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL,
 		enableXdebug: site.enableXdebug ?? false,
 		enableDebugLog: site.enableDebugLog ?? false,
 		enableDebugDisplay: site.enableDebugDisplay ?? false,

packages/common/lib/passwords.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,25 @@ import { __, sprintf } from '@wordpress/i18n';
 
 export { generatePassword };
 
+/**
+ * Defaults for a site's admin credentials, shared by both front ends and the CLI so an
+ * unset value resolves to the same thing everywhere. A site whose config predates these
+ * fields — or that only ever had one of them set — falls back to these on start.
+ */
+export const DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME = 'admin';
+export const DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD = 'password';
+export const DEFAULT_ADMIN_EMAIL = 'admin@localhost.com';
+
+/**
+ * Resolves a site's stored (encoded) admin password to plain text, falling back to the
+ * default when nothing is stored. Callers that send credentials to WordPress must use
+ * this rather than skipping the field: omitting the password fails the admin API when
+ * the username names a user that does not exist yet.
+ */
+export function decodeAdminPassword( encodedPassword?: string ): string {
+	return encodedPassword ? decodePassword( encodedPassword ) : DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD;
+}
+
 /**
  * Generates a random, Base64-encoded password.
  *