`wp plugin activate` should show what unexpected output the plugin generated

[Luc45]

If a plugin generates output during activation, activate_plugin will return an WP_Error object configured like this:

$output = ob_get_clean();
return new WP_Error( 'unexpected_output', __( 'The plugin generated unexpected output.' ), $output );

As you can see, the output is passed as the third parameter, and the error has code "unexpected_output".

I have a use-case where I need the output that was generated for logging reasons.

Relevant code that should print the output:

extension-command/src/Plugin_Command.php

Lines 347 to 354 in 409b3f6

	$result = activate_plugin( $plugin->file, '', $network_wide );
	if ( is_wp_error( $result ) ) {
	$message = $result->get_error_message();
	$message = preg_replace( '/<a\s[^>]+>.*<\/a>/im', '', $message );
	$message = wp_strip_all_tags( $message );
	$message = str_replace( 'Error: ', '', $message );
	WP_CLI::warning( "Failed to activate plugin. {$message}" );

[danielbachhuber]

Hey @Luc45,

Thanks for the suggestion!

I have a use-case where I need the output that was generated for logging reasons.

I'm a little hesitant about changing the output solely for this use case.

What do you think about instead running the $result through an action, so your custom code can capture and report the output however you need?

[swissspidy]

I think it's useful to include the output just to make debugging easier. Could be in a debug() statement though.