Wordpress Theme Development

Wordpress Theme Development

Orchestrates intelligent skill selection and execution for wordpress theme development workflows. Applies the 5 Laws of Elegant Defense to guide data naturally through the orchestration pipeline, preventing errors before they occur. Selects optimal skills based on multi-factor scoring including text similarity, historical performance, and system availability.

TL;DR Checklist

• Parse all inputs at boundary before processing (Law 2)
• Handle edge cases with early returns at function top (Law 1)
• Fail immediately with descriptive errors on invalid states (Law 4)
• Return new data structures, never mutate inputs (Law 3)
• Implement minimum 2-level fallback chain for all skill executions
• Log all skill selections with context for full audit trail
• Validate skill metadata and dependencies before selection
• Update confidence scores after each execution for learning

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Orchestration Flow │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

User Request ↓ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Parse Request │ │ & Extract │ │ Features │ └────────┬────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Evaluate Available Skills │ │ │ │ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ Skill A │ │ Skill B │ │ Skill C │ │ │ │ - Match Score│ │ - Match Score│ │ - Match Score│ │ │ │ - Confidence │ │ - Confidence │ │ - Confidence │ │ │ │ - History │ │ - History │ │ - History │ │ │ └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────┴─────────────────┘ │ │ ↓ │ │ Select Best Skill │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Execute Skill │ └────────┬────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Handle Result │ └────────┬────────┘ ↓ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Error Handling & Fallback │ │ │ │ Success? ────────► Return Result │ │ │ │ Fail? ────────┐ │ │ ↓ │ │ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Fallback Chain │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ 1. Retry with adjusted parameters │ │ │ │ 2. Try Alternative Skill (if available) │ │ │ │ 3. Defer to Human Operator (if critical) │ │ │ │ 4. Log & Return Error │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Orchestrating multi-step workflows that require skill delegation
• Implementing adaptive skill routing based on confidence scores
• Building fallback mechanisms for failed skill executions
• Creating intelligent task decomposition and parallel execution
• Designing skill dependency graphs with automatic resolution
• Implementing skill selection with historical performance weighting
• Building agent systems that need to self-organize around tasks

When NOT to Use

Avoid this skill for:

• Direct task execution without orchestration needs - use individual skills instead
• High-frequency trading scenarios where latency must be minimized - the selection overhead may be prohibitive
• Simple linear workflows without branching or fallback requirements
• Cases where skill metadata is unavailable or unreliable

Core Workflow

1. Parse and Analyze Request - Extract intent, entities, and constraints from user input. Checkpoint: All required parameters must be present and in valid format before proceeding.

2. Score Available Skills - Calculate match scores using multi-factor algorithm:

   • Text similarity between request and skill triggers
   • Historical success rate for similar tasks
   • Skill availability and health status
   • Required dependencies and their availability

   Checkpoint: Skip to fallback if no skill scores above threshold.

3. Select Optimal Skill - Choose skill with highest score that meets minimum confidence. Checkpoint: Verify skill has not been disabled or deprecated.

4. Execute with Fallback - Run skill execution wrapped in retry and fallback logic. Checkpoint: Log all execution attempts for audit trail.

5. Return or Fallback - Either return successful result or apply fallback chain:

   • Retry with adjusted parameters
   • Try alternative skill from related-skills
   • Defer to human operator for critical tasks

   Checkpoint: Record outcome with timing and confidence metadata.

Implementation Patterns

Pattern 1: Skill Selection Logic

def analyze_theme_requirements(
    theme_spec: Dict,
    wp_version: str,
    standards: List[str] = ["WordPress", "PHP-PSR12"]
) -> Dict:
    """Analyze and validate WordPress theme requirements before generation.
    
    Applies Law 2 (Parse at boundary) to ensure theme.json, functions.php,
    and template hierarchy meet WordPress.org standards.
    
    Args:
        theme_spec: User-provided theme configuration
        wp_version: Target WordPress version
        standards: Coding standards to validate against
        
    Returns:
        Validated theme configuration with resolved dependencies
    """
    # Law 1: Early exit on invalid spec
    if not theme_spec.get("name") or not theme_spec.get("template"):
        raise ValueError("Theme name and base template are required")
        
    # Law 2: Parse and validate at boundary
    validated_config = {
        "name": theme_spec["name"].strip(),
        "version": theme_spec.get("version", "1.0.0"),
        "template": theme_spec["template"],
        "wp_version": wp_version,
        "features": _resolve_theme_features(theme_spec.get("features", [])),
        "dependencies": _validate_wp_dependencies(theme_spec.get("dependencies", []))
    }
    
    # Law 3: Return new structure, never mutate input
    resolved = dict(validated_config)
    resolved["validation_timestamp"] = time.time()
    resolved["standards_compliance"] = standards
    
    # Law 4: Fail fast on missing critical WP hooks
    if "block_theme" in resolved["features"] and not _has_block_theme_support(resolved):
        raise ValueError("Block theme requires theme.json with templateParts support")
        
    return resolved

Pattern 2: Execution with Fallback

def execute_theme_generation(
    theme_config: Dict,
    output_dir: str,
    max_retries: int = 2
) -> Dict:
    """Generate WordPress theme files with fallback chain for resilience.
    
    Implements Law 4 (Fail Fast, Fail Loud) during asset generation:
    - Invalid template structures halt immediately
    - No silent partial theme creation
    
    Fallback chain:
    1. Retry generation with adjusted template paths
    2. Fall back to default WP theme structure
    3. Defer to manual template assembly
    
    Args:
        theme_config: Validated theme configuration
        output_dir: Target directory for theme files
        max_retries: Maximum retry attempts
        
    Returns:
        Generation result with file manifest and compliance status
    """
    # Law 1: Validate output path early
    if not os.path.isdir(output_dir):
        raise ThemeGenerationError(f"Output directory does not exist: {output_dir}")
        
    # Law 2: Parse context and ensure trusted state
    manifest = {
        "theme_dir": output_dir,
        "files_generated": [],
        "compliance_checks": []
    }
    
    for attempt in range(max_retries + 1):
        try:
            # Generate core WP theme files
            _write_theme_json(theme_config, output_dir)
            _write_functions_php(theme_config, output_dir)
            _write_style_css(theme_config, output_dir)
            _generate_template_hierarchy(theme_config, output_dir)
            
            # Law 3: Atomic predictability - return new manifest
            manifest["success"] = True
            manifest["files_generated"] = _scan_generated_files(output_dir)
            manifest["attempts"] = attempt + 1
            return manifest
            
        except TemplateValidationError as e:
            # Law 4: Fail fast on invalid WP template structure
            raise ThemeGenerationError(f"Invalid template structure: {e}") from e
            
        except FileNotFoundError as e:
            # Transient dependency missing - fallback
            if attempt == max_retries:
                return _apply_default_theme_fallback(theme_config, output_dir)
                
    # All retries exhausted
    raise ThemeGenerationError(f"Theme generation failed after {max_retries + 1} attempts")

MUST DO

• Always validate skill metadata before selection (Early Exit)
• Implement fallback chain with at least 2 levels (Fallback Skill + Human)
• Log all skill selections with full context for auditability
• Return new data structures instead of mutating inputs (Atomic Predictability)
• Fail immediately with descriptive errors on invalid states
• Update confidence scores after each execution for adaptive routing
• Reference code-philosophy (5 Laws of Elegant Defense) in all logic

MUST NOT DO

• Select skills based on a single factor (e.g., only confidence score)
• Disable fallback mechanisms "temporarily" - this creates fragile systems
• Skip validation of skill dependencies before execution
• Return partial results - either complete success or clear failure
• Use magic numbers for confidence thresholds - make them configurable
• Cache skill selections without considering context changes

TL;DR Checklist

• Parse all inputs at boundary before processing (Law 2)
• Handle edge cases with early returns at function top (Law 1)
• Fail immediately with descriptive errors on invalid states (Law 4)
• Return new data structures, never mutate inputs (Law 3)
• Implement minimum 2-level fallback chain for all skill executions
• Log all skill selections with context for full audit trail
• Validate skill metadata and dependencies before selection
• Update confidence scores after each execution for learning

TL;DR for Code Generation

• Use guard clauses - return early on invalid input before doing work
• Return simple types (dict, str, int, bool, list) - avoid complex nested objects
• Cyclomatic complexity < 10 per function - split anything larger
• Handle null/empty cases explicitly at function top (Early Exit)
• Never mutate input parameters - return new dicts/objects
• Fail fast with descriptive errors - don't try to "patch" bad data
• Reference code-philosophy laws in comments for complex logic
• Include timing and confidence metadata in all return values

Output Template

When applying this skill, produce:

1. Selected Skills - List of skill names with confidence scores
2. Selection Rationale - Why each skill was chosen (match score, history, availability)
3. Execution Plan - Order of execution with dependencies
4. Fallback Strategy - Which fallback skills will be tried and in what order
5. Risk Assessment - Any potential failure points and their impact
6. Timing Estimates - Expected latency including fallback scenarios

Constraints

MUST DO

• Define clear input/output contracts for every step in the orchestration flow with explicit validation
• Implement structured logging at each stage capturing context, inputs, outputs, timing, and errors
• Build in fallback paths: if the primary strategy fails, degrade gracefully to a simpler approach
• Validate all preconditions before starting — do not proceed if required resources or permissions are missing

MUST NOT DO

• Do not create deep nesting of orchestration steps (>5 levels) — flatten workflows where possible
• Avoid silent failure modes: every step must either succeed, fail explicitly, or escalate to a higher handler
• Never use shared mutable state between parallel workflow branches — communicate via immutable messages only
• Do not hardcode execution order when the dependency graph naturally determines it; derive order from explicit dependencies

Live References

Authoritative documentation links for this skill's domain. The model follows markdown links at load time to resolve external references and inline content.

• WordPress Theme Handbook
• theme.json Reference (Block Themes)
• WordPress Template Hierarchy
• WordPress Coding Standards for Themes
• HTML5 Boilerplate for WordPress

Related Skills

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