# content
The last few weeks have been fantastic for anybody who builds plugins and themes for WordPress. Three tools dropped that, stacked together, cover the whole build and deploy process: spin up a site, build something, ship it to the wp.org directory. No Docker wrangling, no “works on my machine,” no SVN tap-dance.

1. WordPress Studio now runs on Linux

For years the Studio desktop app was a Mac-and-Windows party. As of June 11, 2026, the desktop app landed on Linux (starting with Ubuntu) — and it’s free and open source. The CLI had been on Linux for a few weeks; now the full UI matches what Mac and Windows folks have leaned on.

We’ve been using Studio at the meetup, and only recently the Linux users among us got Studio by CLI-only. Now the whole app is available. Click Add site and a few seconds later you’ve got a real local WordPress install. No HTTP server config, no Docker, no fuss. You also get:

Custom domains and HTTPS for local sites, so you develop against realistic URLs

One-click preview links to share work-in-progress with clients or testers

Two-way sync with WordPress.com — pull production down, push changes back

Auto-detected editor handoff (VS Code, PhpStorm, Sublime)

A built-in assistant to help write code and debug

Grab the Linux build from the Studio download page and you’re rolling on Ubuntu in minutes. Auto-updates and broader distro support are on the way.

2. wordpress-agent-skills — let an agent build the theme

Automattic dropped wordpress-agent-skills — Agent Skills that let Claude Code (and Cowork) generate a full WordPress block theme from a plain-English description and deploy it straight to a local Studio site.

This is beta, not production-ready. As with all AI, don’t believe everything the model tells you. Verify the output.

To set it up in Claude Code, install Studio + enable the CLI first, then:

claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-agent-skills.git

claude plugin install create-wp-site@wordpress-agent-skills

Open Claude Code in your Studio home folder (usually ~/Studio) and call one of two flows:

/quick-build — fast interactive run that generates a block theme with a landing-page template and deploys to local Studio

/design-site — the deeper cut: define a design direction and style tokens, generate page layouts, then build the full custom theme with content pages

Got brand assets? Drag the folder into the Claude Code terminal and it’ll fold logos and images into the build. Under the hood, a Studio MCP server is what lets the agent create sites, write files, run WP-CLI, and mint preview links.

3. Pressship — ship plugins from the terminal

This is the one that’ll make new plugin authors happy. Pressship handles the whole WordPress.org publishing lifecycle from the command line — validate, package, submit for review, release through SVN, even boot the plugin in Playground. If you’ve run npm publish, this’ll feel right at home:

npx pressship login                           # browser login — your password is never stored



npx pressship verify ./my-plugin              # readme validation + Plugin Check, no zip



npx pressship pack ./my-plugin                # build an installable zip



npx pressship publish ./my-plugin --dry-run   # full route, no upload



npx pressship publish ./my-plugin             # submit or release, auto-routed

The smart part: publish reads your plugin’s state and routes itself — new submission, pending reupload, or an approved SVN release. It runs the official Plugin Check before anything leaves your box, and if you don’t have WP-CLI it spins up its own managed WordPress + SQLite + Plugin Check rig automatically. No MySQL required.

Other goodies worth a demo:

npx pressship demo ./my-plugin   # boot it in WordPress Playground

npx pressship version patch      # bump plugin header + readme stable tag together

npx pressship studio             # VS Code-style workspace, Playground, AI review, SVN

There’s also a WP-CLI bridge (wp package install Automattic/pressship → wp ship publish) and a drop-in agent skill that teaches your coding agent to publish cautiously — dry-run first, state-aware, with a final review gate.

One caveat: Pressship is an Automattic-maintained community project, unofficial tooling, not a WordPress.org service.

The throughline

Notice the shape of it: local-first (Studio everywhere now, Linux included), agent-assisted (skills that scaffold real block themes), and terminal-shipped (publishing without the SVN headache). That’s the direction the whole toolchain is leaning.

Try-it-tonight challenge: install Studio, run /quick-build to generate a throwaway theme, then npx pressship demo on any plugin folder to see it boot in Playground. Bring what breaks to the next meetup — beta tools love good bug reports, and that’s how we keep WordPress moving.

Note the change of venue! We’re going to be at NAIT. RSVP here.

# contentMap.en
The last few weeks have been fantastic for anybody who builds plugins and themes for WordPress. Three tools dropped that, stacked together, cover the whole build and deploy process: spin up a site, build something, ship it to the wp.org directory. No Docker wrangling, no “works on my machine,” no SVN tap-dance.

1. WordPress Studio now runs on Linux

For years the Studio desktop app was a Mac-and-Windows party. As of June 11, 2026, the desktop app landed on Linux (starting with Ubuntu) — and it’s free and open source. The CLI had been on Linux for a few weeks; now the full UI matches what Mac and Windows folks have leaned on.

We’ve been using Studio at the meetup, and only recently the Linux users among us got Studio by CLI-only. Now the whole app is available. Click Add site and a few seconds later you’ve got a real local WordPress install. No HTTP server config, no Docker, no fuss. You also get:

Custom domains and HTTPS for local sites, so you develop against realistic URLs

One-click preview links to share work-in-progress with clients or testers

Two-way sync with WordPress.com — pull production down, push changes back

Auto-detected editor handoff (VS Code, PhpStorm, Sublime)

A built-in assistant to help write code and debug

Grab the Linux build from the Studio download page and you’re rolling on Ubuntu in minutes. Auto-updates and broader distro support are on the way.

2. wordpress-agent-skills — let an agent build the theme

Automattic dropped wordpress-agent-skills — Agent Skills that let Claude Code (and Cowork) generate a full WordPress block theme from a plain-English description and deploy it straight to a local Studio site.

This is beta, not production-ready. As with all AI, don’t believe everything the model tells you. Verify the output.

To set it up in Claude Code, install Studio + enable the CLI first, then:

claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/Automattic/wordpress-agent-skills.git

claude plugin install create-wp-site@wordpress-agent-skills

Open Claude Code in your Studio home folder (usually ~/Studio) and call one of two flows:

/quick-build — fast interactive run that generates a block theme with a landing-page template and deploys to local Studio

/design-site — the deeper cut: define a design direction and style tokens, generate page layouts, then build the full custom theme with content pages

Got brand assets? Drag the folder into the Claude Code terminal and it’ll fold logos and images into the build. Under the hood, a Studio MCP server is what lets the agent create sites, write files, run WP-CLI, and mint preview links.

3. Pressship — ship plugins from the terminal

This is the one that’ll make new plugin authors happy. Pressship handles the whole WordPress.org publishing lifecycle from the command line — validate, package, submit for review, release through SVN, even boot the plugin in Playground. If you’ve run npm publish, this’ll feel right at home:

npx pressship login                           # browser login — your password is never stored



npx pressship verify ./my-plugin              # readme validation + Plugin Check, no zip



npx pressship pack ./my-plugin                # build an installable zip



npx pressship publish ./my-plugin --dry-run   # full route, no upload



npx pressship publish ./my-plugin             # submit or release, auto-routed

The smart part: publish reads your plugin’s state and routes itself — new submission, pending reupload, or an approved SVN release. It runs the official Plugin Check before anything leaves your box, and if you don’t have WP-CLI it spins up its own managed WordPress + SQLite + Plugin Check rig automatically. No MySQL required.

Other goodies worth a demo:

npx pressship demo ./my-plugin   # boot it in WordPress Playground

npx pressship version patch      # bump plugin header + readme stable tag together

npx pressship studio             # VS Code-style workspace, Playground, AI review, SVN

There’s also a WP-CLI bridge (wp package install Automattic/pressship → wp ship publish) and a drop-in agent skill that teaches your coding agent to publish cautiously — dry-run first, state-aware, with a final review gate.

One caveat: Pressship is an Automattic-maintained community project, unofficial tooling, not a WordPress.org service.

The throughline

Notice the shape of it: local-first (Studio everywhere now, Linux included), agent-assisted (skills that scaffold real block themes), and terminal-shipped (publishing without the SVN headache). That’s the direction the whole toolchain is leaning.

Try-it-tonight challenge: install Studio, run /quick-build to generate a throwaway theme, then npx pressship demo on any plugin folder to see it boot in Playground. Bring what breaks to the next meetup — beta tools love good bug reports, and that’s how we keep WordPress moving.

Note the change of venue! We’re going to be at NAIT. RSVP here.

# name
The New WordPress Dev Toolbox: Local-First, Agent-Assisted, Terminal-Shipped

# nameMap.en
The New WordPress Dev Toolbox: Local-First, Agent-Assisted, Terminal-Shipped

# preview.content
The last few weeks have been fantastic for anybody who builds plugins and themes for WordPress. Three tools dropped that, stacked together, cover the whole build and deploy process: spin up a site, build something, ship it to the wp.org directory. No Docker wrangling, no "works on my machine," no SVN tap-dance.

1. WordPress Studio now runs on Linux

For years the Studio desktop app was a Mac-and-Windows party. As of June 11, 2026, the desktop app landed on Linux (starting with Ubuntu) — […]

# summary
The last few weeks have been fantastic for anybody who builds plugins and themes for WordPress. Three tools dropped that, stacked together, cover the whole build and deploy process: spin up a site, build something, ship it to the wp.org directory. No Docker wrangling, no "works on my machine," no SVN tap-dance.

1. WordPress Studio now runs on Linux

For years the Studio desktop app was a Mac-and-Windows party. As of June 11, 2026, the desktop app landed on Linux (starting with Ubuntu) — […]

# summaryMap.en
The last few weeks have been fantastic for anybody who builds plugins and themes for WordPress. Three tools dropped that, stacked together, cover the whole build and deploy process: spin up a site, build something, ship it to the wp.org directory. No Docker wrangling, no "works on my machine," no SVN tap-dance.

1. WordPress Studio now runs on Linux

For years the Studio desktop app was a Mac-and-Windows party. As of June 11, 2026, the desktop app landed on Linux (starting with Ubuntu) — […]