Why WordPress scheduled posts miss their time and how WP-CLI fixes it

WordPress uses a pseudo-cron system called WP-Cron that only triggers scheduled tasks when a visitor loads a page, meaning posts on low-traffic sites can miss their scheduled publish times. Unlike a real OS cron daemon, WP-Cron has no independent timer and relies entirely on page visits to check and execute pending tasks. Developers can use WP-CLI commands such as 'wp cron event list' and 'wp cron event run --due-now' to inspect overdue tasks and execute them immediately without waiting for a visitor. A more reliable fix involves disabling WP-Cron in wp-config.php and setting up a real server crontab to call WP-CLI every few minutes, removing the dependency on web traffic altogether. This approach also avoids exposing the wp-cron.php endpoint publicly, reducing unnecessary HTTP overhead.