WordPress Fuel

Your existing website, connected to your AI

WordPress Fuel is a set of skills that helps your local AI agent connect to an existing WordPress website and work with its actual code. It guides connection and source download, analyzes how the website is built, and writes documentation the agent can use and maintain.

Connection is the beginning. Reliable work also needs usable source code, site context, Git history, a checked publishing process and a recovery plan. The bundle guides those steps together.

Before you start

Open Claude Code or Codex in a local project folder with terminal and filesystem access. If you normally use ChatGPT, use Codex for this setup. The bundle requires local command execution; ordinary browser chat and Claude Cowork are not supported.

Have access to the website and its hosting account. The host must support SSH; the included source inspection helper also needs WP-CLI and tar on the server. Node.js 22 or newer and npm are needed for the install command. The agent checks what is already available before asking you to install or configure anything.

Use only a website you are authorized to manage. The agent reuses existing connections and handles supported setup commands. You complete provider sign-in, access approval or host-specific steps when automation cannot do them. Keep passwords, private keys and tokens out of the conversation.

1. Copy the prompt and start locally

Copy the setup prompt above and paste it into Claude Code or Codex in your local project folder. Give the agent your website URL and explain which existing project folder belongs to it, if you have one.

The agent reads this guide, installs the three bundled skills using the command for its runtime, and starts WordPress Fuel. You can also run the command yourself. If the new skills are not discovered immediately, restart or reload the local agent.

If you already use WordPress Copilot Advanced, preserve customized instructions before updating. Fuel includes its v2 developer edition under the same norml-wp-developer name. Avoid two conflicting installed versions.

2. Verify the hosting connection

The connection skill checks the hosting account, SSH configuration and host identity, then verifies the actual WordPress website URL and content directory. A successful SSH login alone does not establish that it reached the right website.

If SSH or WP-CLI is unavailable, the agent reports the specific limitation and guides the supported hosting setup. It does not call the website connected while a required check is missing. Connection metadata stays in a private local record; secrets stay in the existing credential store.

3. Bring the website source into the project

Reuse an existing repository when it already contains the website source. Otherwise, identify the active theme, its parent theme and the custom plugins the project owns. Download only the selected source into a new local folder, preserving existing work.

The included helper plans the copy before applying it and excludes common credential and backup files. Production databases, uploads and all installed plugins are not downloaded by default. The agent checks for hardcoded secrets and missing dependencies before treating the source as ready.

4. Analyze the website and write its context

WordPress Copilot Advanced inspects the real theme, templates, components, fields, content structure, integrations and build process. It writes organized project documentation, recording evidence and unresolved questions instead of guessing.

This context gives the agent a map of your website. It reads that map before each task and updates it when architecture, components or behavior change. You contribute the business rules the code cannot explain.

A straightforward site may need little additional work. A complex store, custom integration or legacy theme may need more investigation. Downloaded files and generated documentation alone do not prove the setup is complete.

5. Establish Git, publishing and recovery

Use the existing Git repository and delivery process where they work. Agree how changes will be previewed and checked, which files are published, and what production access permits. A local WordPress environment is useful; a verified staging preview can also support the workflow.

Prepare recovery before the first release: know which code revision can be restored, where a relevant backup lives and how to recover without overwriting newer orders or other live data.

Every authorized live code change must be committed and pushed in the same operation. The bundle uses the project’s verified release process; it does not provide a universal deployment shortcut.

6. Make a small change and check the result

Describe a small change in ordinary language. The agent reads the site context, makes the change, runs the relevant checks and shows the result in the agreed preview environment.

Review the actual behavior. Publish only through the established project process, verify the live result and keep the documentation current. If a check cannot run, the agent reports that limitation instead of calling the change verified.

Three skills work together

WordPress Fuel coordinates setup and resumes the next incomplete step. WordPress Connection handles SSH verification and selected source download. WordPress Copilot Advanced builds site context and guides development, QA, Git and delivery.

The package includes operating procedures, development standards, templates, readiness checks and the source helper. Its documentation and code are public on GitHub.

What a completed setup looks like

The exact website and source mapping are verified. The agent has usable source and site documentation grounded in the actual project. Git history, a preview route, publishing rules and recovery steps are established. A small change has been checked through that workflow.

AI can still make mistakes. Clear requests, maintained context and checking the actual result remain part of the work. For help setting this up with our team, visit the WordPress Fuel service page.