Multisite

Both network types are supported, and both are chosen at create time:

rex site create network.rex --type wordpress --multisite subdomain
rex site create network.rex --type wordpress --multisite subdirectory

This is not a setting you can flip later

WordPress bakes the network type into the database and into wp-config.php. Converting a single site to multisite — or a subdirectory network to a subdomain one — is a WordPress migration, not a rexenv toggle, which is why the choice sits in the create dialog rather than in the site’s settings.

Subdomain networks get a wildcard certificate

A subdomain network serves sub.network.rex, and each of those needs to be trusted. rexenv issues the site’s leaf certificate with a wildcard SAN, so every subsite gets the green lock without a certificate per subsite.

DNS is already handled: rexenv’s resolver answers *.rex, so a new subsite resolves the moment WordPress creates it — no /etc/hosts entry, no restart.

Subdirectory networks

network.rex/site-one. Nothing special is needed for certificates, since it is all one hostname. rexenv generates the rewrite rules the network type requires — the config generator keeps a separate template for single sites, subdomain networks and subdirectory networks precisely because their rewrites differ.

Sharing a network through a tunnel

A Cloudflare quick tunnel issues one hostname and pins one Host header, so a subdomain network’s sub-sites have nothing to resolve through it — an outside browser gets ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED, and there is no wildcard to ask for.

While the share is up, rexenv serves a subdomain network as a subdirectory network: <public-url>/s1/… is turned back into a request for s1.<network>, so every site in the network can be tested through the one link. Local behaviour is untouched — s1.msd.rex still serves natively, and msd.rex/s1/ is still a 404, because locally it is not a subdirectory network.

What this does not do

Sub-sites on their own public hostnames need a wildcard a quick tunnel cannot issue. This is the subdirectory workaround, not real subdomain sharing.

Subdirectory networks are shared as they are: one hostname is all they ever needed.

Managing the network

rex wp network.rex user list
rex wp network.rex plugin list
rex wp network.rex plugin activate my-plugin

The app’s WordPress manager shows network-level plugin and theme state, and network admin is one magic-login click away. Themes can be network-enabled from the theme card — the toggle reads its current position from the network’s own allowedthemes option, because wp theme list has no network-enabled status to report and a toggle that cannot say what it would undo is not a control.

Testing a real network locally

The two things that usually make multisite painful locally are wildcard DNS and wildcard certificates. Both are handled here, which means a subdomain network behaves the way it will in production rather than the way local workarounds usually force it to.