The standard toolkit for custom WordPress theme development is undergoing a generational shift. Legacy bundlers, bulky frameworks, and guessing games with AI code completion are being replaced by lightweight execution environments, composable architectures, and rigid, deterministic code scaffolding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this immersive, hands-on workshop, developers will dive into the future of theme development using WP Rig, the open-source progressive development starter theme and build tool system tailored for modern WordPress theme development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Participants will strip away development friction by moving into a completely automated local development environment powered by Bun and Lightning CSS, unlocking instantaneous feedback loops and hyper-optimized assets. We will dive deep into native WordPress Block support, exploring how to structure high-performance layout systems and map them cleanly to global styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, we\u2019ll unlock the true power of modern development: AI-Native Engineering. Attendees will discover how WP Rig\u2019s structural blueprints interact seamlessly with AI coding agents. By leveraging codebases intentionally architected to minimize model hallucinations, you will learn how to turn your AI coding agent into a reliable pair-programmer for complex theme features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, we\u2019ll touch on the future of building “a la carte,” demonstrating how open-source component library paradigms allow developers to inject community-driven, plug-and-play features instantly into their projects without introducing theme bloat and increasing deterministic AI theme enhancements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bring your laptop, leave legacy tooling behind, and discover how to write cleaner code faster while remaining fully aligned with modern WordPress standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83c\udfaf What Attendees Will Learn (Learning Objectives)
Directory-First QA Pipelines: How to leverage WP Rig\u2019s native automated check suite to identify and correct code violations against official WordPress.org Theme Review guidelines.
Modern Block & Hybrid Scaffolding: Safely integrating standard PHP-based code with block architectures, including flawless generation and testing of theme.json.
AI-Guided Architecture (Agentic Workflows): Utilizing AI coding assistants alongside WP Rig\u2019s structured structural blueprints to build error-free, custom block patterns rapidly.
Blazing-Fast Tooling: How to bypass legacy configurations using an integrated build tool system designed for instant compilation feedback loops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udee0 Prerequisites & Requirements
Attendees should have a foundational understanding of PHP, CSS, and localized development. To participate in the coding portions, they will need:
A laptop with a local WordPress development environment (e.g., WordPress Studio or LocalWP).
Node.js\/Bun and Composer installed locally.
A code editor equipped with an AI programming extension (optional, but recommended for experiencing the agentic workflow elements).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Directly Supports the Open Source Project: One of WordPress\u2019s biggest needs is getting more developers to submit high-quality, block-compatible themes to the official directory. This workshop removes the intimidation factor of theme submissions and directly trains attendees to become directory contributors.
Aligns with Core Innovation: The session balances the historical PHP strength of WordPress with modern Block paradigms and automated testing frameworks, providing a masterclass in how hybrid development should look in 2026.
Solves the “Review Loop” Pain Point: By showing how the framework mimics the validation logic of the Theme Review Team, this workshop solves a massive developer pain point (waiting weeks for code-review feedback only to get rejected over basic formatting rules). It introduces an automated safety net.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The standard toolkit for custom WordPress theme development is undergoing a generational shift. Legacy bundlers, bulky frameworks, and guessing games with AI code completion are being replaced by lightweight execution environments, composable architectures, and rigid, deterministic code scaffolding. In this immersive, hands-on workshop, developers will dive into the future of theme development using WP Rig, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13265953,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_wcpt_session_time":0,"_wcpt_session_duration":3000,"_wcpt_session_type":"session","_wcpt_session_slides":"","_wcpt_session_video":"","_wcpt_speaker_id":[4650],"footnotes":""},"session_track":[44],"session_category":[46],"class_list":["post-4694","wcb_session","type-wcb_session","status-publish","hentry","wcb_track-ai","wcb_session_category-showcase"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgSBpQ-1dI","session_date_time":{"date":"","time":""},"session_speakers":[{"id":"4650","slug":"rob-ruiz","name":"Rob Ruiz","link":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/speaker\/rob-ruiz\/"}],"session_cats_rendered":"Showcase","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/4694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wcb_session"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/4694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4696,"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/4694\/revisions\/4696"}],"speakers":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speakers\/4650"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wporg\/v1\/users\/robcruiz"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wcb_track","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_track?post=4694"},{"taxonomy":"wcb_session_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.wordcamp.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_category?post=4694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}