Add LightSpeed WordPress block plugin starter repo scaffold by Copilot · Pull Request #1 · lightspeedwp/ls-starter-plugin

Copilot · 2026-03-30T15:25:53Z

Bootstraps a lean, production-aware GitHub template repository for LightSpeed WordPress plugin development — block-ready, AI-workflow-aware, intentionally lighter than block-plugin-scaffold.

Plugin skeleton

{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}.php — valid WP plugin header, ABSPATH guard, version/path constants, plugins_loaded hook stub
uninstall.php — conservative stub, no data deletion by default
Placeholder tokens ({{PLUGIN_NAME}}, {{PLUGIN_SLUG}}, {{NAMESPACE}}, etc.) used consistently across all files

Tooling

plugin-utils.mjs — Node CLI with validate-plugin, validate-schema, security-scan, scan-placeholders commands; security scanner uses exclusion patterns to suppress false positives for known sanitisation wrappers
package.json — @wordpress/scripts-based with build, start, lint, i18n, and all validation scripts
composer.json — PHPCS + PHPCBF + WordPress Coding Standards + PHPCompatibility-WP

Folder structure

src/blocks/, blocks/, assets/, inc/, patterns/, templates/, languages/, docs/ — all scaffolded with .gitkeep
docs/ — end-user docs only; developer reports go to .github/reports/

GitHub / AI infrastructure

.github/copilot-instructions.md + five instructions/*.instructions.md files (php, blocks, plugin-structure, assets, workflows)
Four prompt files: cleanup, audit-plugin, new-block, release
.github/reports/ and .github/tasks/ with README conventions and starter task-list.md
CI workflows (ci.yml, code-quality.yml, release.yml) — all scoped to permissions: contents: read
.agents/skills/block-plugin-audit/SKILL.md and .agents/agents/plugin-architect.md for portable agent use

Original prompt

LightSpeed WordPress Block Plugin Starter Repo — Generation Prompt

You are a senior WordPress plugin engineer, repository architect, and AI workflow designer.

Your task is to generate a lean, production-aware starter GitHub template repository for LightSpeed’s GitHub organisation for building custom WordPress plugins, with a strong bias toward block-ready plugins for client and commercial work.

This is not a WordPress.org submission starter.
Do not over-engineer it.
Stay close to WordPress plugin best practices, security, accessibility, maintainability, and block development guidelines where sensible, but do not add unnecessary WordPress.org-only bureaucracy.

The repository must support both:

WordPress plugin development
AI-assisted workflows inside the repo

The repository should feel like a clean starter for developers and a structured workspace for AI agents.

Core Intent

Build a reusable starter repo that:

gives LightSpeed a clean plugin scaffold
supports block plugin work without forcing a huge multi-block framework
includes essential plugin files and folders, mostly light or empty
includes practical validation and linting
includes clear AI instructions and prompt infrastructure
includes folders for AI reports, task lists, skills, agents, and instructions
includes a docs/ folder for end-user documentation
uses consistent placeholders across the repo
keeps complexity low unless there is strong justification

This starter is intentionally simpler than LightSpeed’s existing block-plugin-scaffold.
Do not reproduce the full generator-heavy scaffold unless a specific feature is genuinely required.

Reference Material To Review First

Use these references as source material and inspiration before generating anything.

LightSpeed plugin scaffold references

LightSpeed theme scaffold references

WordPress / ecosystem inspiration

Changelog standards

What To Learn From The Existing Scaffolds

Review the current LightSpeed scaffolds and deliberately adapt only what is useful.

From `block-plugin-scaffold`

Borrow the useful ideas, but reduce the overall surface area.

Useful ideas to preserve in spirit:

placeholder consistency across files
clear README and docs structure
Composer + Node tooling
practical linting and validation
release/changelog discipline
AI instructions and prompt organisation
support for block development
support for future JSON schema validation

Things to avoid copying wholesale into this starter unless clearly justified:

full generator infrastructure
multi-stage mustache generator workflows
heavy schema libraries
large SCF-specific systems
Playwright / E2E by default
PHPStan by default unless kept very light
large numbers of scripts and automation layers
scaffold-management files that only make sense for the scaffold repo itself

From `block-theme-scaffold`

Borrow the useful structural discipline:

root documentation clarity
AI instruction files
CodeRabbit setup style
.editorconfig
.gitattributes
CODEOWNERS
practical repo hygiene

But do not turn this plugin starter into a theme repo.

Design Principles

Plugin-first, not monorepo
One plugin in one repo
Block-ready, but not forced into a large multi-block architecture
Keep PHP architecture minimal
Keep security in mind
Keep accessibility in mind
Use semantic, native WordPress conventions
Prefer stable WordPress APIs before extra abstraction
Use @wordpress/scripts only if it clearly helps
Avoid a heavy JS toolchain unless clearly justified
Do not add webpack config, Vite, Playwright, Storybook, Docker, or CI c...

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/lightspeedwp/ls-starter-plugin/sessions/5b4a8a5c-337d-41eb-b6c4-d22d5fcc07b0 Co-authored-by: ashleyshaw <1805352+ashleyshaw@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Bootstraps a lean starter GitHub template repository for LightSpeed WordPress block-first plugin development, including a minimal plugin skeleton, validation/lint tooling, and AI/workflow scaffolding.

Changes:

Added core plugin scaffold files ({{PLUGIN_SLUG}}.php, uninstall.php, readme.txt) plus standard folder layout via .gitkeep.
Added Node/Composer tooling (plugin-utils.mjs, package.json, composer.json) and CI workflows for validation and code quality.
Added AI/workflow infrastructure (AGENTS.md, .github/ instructions/prompts/reports/tasks, .agents/ skills/personas).

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 41 out of 57 changed files in this pull request and generated 9 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}.php`	Main plugin bootstrap skeleton with constants and hooks.
`uninstall.php`	Conservative uninstall stub (no data deletion by default).
`readme.txt`	WP-style readme placeholder with versioning metadata.
`README.md`	Template repo documentation and getting-started guidance.
`CHANGELOG.md`	Keep a Changelog + SemVer scaffold.
`package.json`	`@wordpress/scripts`-based build/lint scripts and CLI wiring.
`plugin-utils.mjs`	Repo CLI for scaffold validation, JSON checks, security scan, placeholder scan.
`composer.json`	PHPCS/WPCS + PHPCompatibility-WP dev tooling and scripts.
`.nvmrc`	Pins Node major version for contributors/CI.
`.editorconfig`	Enforces tabs for PHP and 2-space indentation for JS/CSS/JSON/YAML.
`.gitignore`	Ignores vendor/node_modules and build artefacts; documents lockfile policy.
`.gitattributes`	Line-ending normalisation and export-ignore rules for release archives.
`.lintstagedrc.json`	Pre-commit staged-file lint configuration.
`CODEOWNERS`	Default ownership placeholder.
`CLAUDE.md`	Points Claude users to `AGENTS.md`.
`AGENTS.md`	Primary AI agent guidance and repo conventions.
`.coderabbit.yml`	CodeRabbit review configuration and path-specific instructions.
`.github/README.md`	Explains GitHub-specific AI/workflow folder purpose.
`.github/copilot-instructions.md`	High-level Copilot guidance and links to scoped instruction files.
`.github/instructions/README.md`	Index of instruction files and how they work.
`.github/instructions/php.instructions.md`	PHP/WPCS, escaping, sanitisation rules for Copilot.
`.github/instructions/blocks.instructions.md`	Block structure and `block.json` conventions for Copilot.
`.github/instructions/plugin-structure.instructions.md`	Repo structure rules and bootstrap expectations.
`.github/instructions/assets.instructions.md`	Source vs built vs static asset conventions.
`.github/instructions/workflows.instructions.md`	Workflow expectations (CI/release) for Copilot.
`.github/prompts/README.md`	Index of reusable Copilot prompt files.
`.github/prompts/cleanup.prompt.md`	Prompt scaffold for safe clean-ups.
`.github/prompts/audit-plugin.prompt.md`	Prompt scaffold for security/quality audits.
`.github/prompts/new-block.prompt.md`	Prompt scaffold for new block creation.
`.github/prompts/release.prompt.md`	Prompt scaffold for preparing a release.
`.github/reports/README.md`	Conventions for AI/dev reports storage and naming.
`.github/reports/.gitkeep`	Keeps reports folder in version control.
`.github/tasks/README.md`	Conventions for task lists and AI work tracking.
`.github/tasks/task-list.md`	Starter task list template.
`.github/tasks/.gitkeep`	Keeps tasks folder in version control.
`.github/workflows/ci.yml`	CI job running Node validation, schema checks, security scan, and lint.
`.github/workflows/code-quality.yml`	PHP lint + PHPCS job.
`.github/workflows/release.yml`	Tag-triggered validation workflow for releases.
`.agents/README.md`	Explains portable agent assets vs GitHub-specific assets.
`.agents/skills/README.md`	Describes skill structure and indexing.
`.agents/skills/block-plugin-audit/SKILL.md`	Portable audit skill definition aligned to repo prompts.
`.agents/agents/README.md`	Describes persona definitions and indexing.
`.agents/agents/plugin-architect.md`	Plugin architect persona definition for agent usage.
`inc/.gitkeep`	Keeps `inc/` tracked for optional PHP includes.
`languages/.gitkeep`	Keeps `languages/` tracked for translations.
`docs/README.md`	End-user docs guidance and suggested structure.
`src/.gitkeep`	Keeps `src/` tracked for source assets.
`src/blocks/.gitkeep`	Keeps `src/blocks/` tracked for block source.
`src/js/.gitkeep`	Keeps `src/js/` tracked for JS source.
`src/css/.gitkeep`	Keeps `src/css/` tracked for CSS source.
`blocks/.gitkeep`	Keeps `blocks/` tracked for built block assets.
`assets/js/.gitkeep`	Keeps `assets/js/` tracked for static JS.
`assets/css/.gitkeep`	Keeps `assets/css/` tracked for static CSS.
`assets/images/.gitkeep`	Keeps `assets/images/` tracked for images.
`assets/icons/.gitkeep`	Keeps `assets/icons/` tracked for icons.
`patterns/.gitkeep`	Keeps `patterns/` tracked for block patterns.
`templates/.gitkeep`	Keeps `templates/` tracked for optional templates/template parts.

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

Copilot · 2026-03-30T16:02:16Z

.lintstagedrc.json

+  "*.php": ["composer run phpcs --", "composer run phplint --"],
+  "src/**/*.js": ["npm run lint:js --"],


composer run phplint -- is not compatible with the current phplint composer script (it uses find … | xargs php -l). When lint-staged appends filenames, they will be passed through to php -l (including a literal --), which is likely to break the lint step. Consider providing a phplint script that can accept a file list, or avoid passing staged filenames for this command.

.agents/agents/plugin-architect.md

.github/instructions/workflows.instructions.md

Copilot · 2026-03-30T16:02:17Z

{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}.php

+function {{PLUGIN_SLUG}}_load_textdomain() {
+load_plugin_textdomain(
+'{{TEXT_DOMAIN}}',
+false,
+dirname( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) . '/languages'
+);
+}
+add_action( 'init', '{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}_load_textdomain' );


The placeholder {{PLUGIN_SLUG}} is intended to be a hyphenated slug (e.g. my-awesome-plugin), but it is used here in PHP function names and hook callbacks. Hyphens are invalid in PHP identifiers, so replacing placeholders as documented will produce a fatal parse error. Use a separate placeholder for a PHP-safe function prefix (e.g. an underscored variant) and update both the function declaration and add_action() callback accordingly.

Copilot · 2026-03-30T16:02:17Z

{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}.php

+function {{PLUGIN_SLUG}}_init() {
+// Example: require_once {{NAMESPACE}}_PLUGIN_DIR . 'inc/class-{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}-example.php';
+}
+add_action( 'plugins_loaded', '{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}_init' );


The same {{PLUGIN_SLUG}} placeholder is also used in the {{PLUGIN_SLUG}}_init() function name and its plugins_loaded callback, which will also break when the slug contains hyphens. Please switch to a PHP-identifier-safe prefix placeholder for function names/callbacks here as well.

Copilot · 2026-03-30T16:02:18Z

{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}.php

+// Prevent direct access.
+if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
+exit;
+}


This ABSPATH guard does not follow the repo’s own stated convention (defined( 'ABSPATH' ) || exit;) and the exit; line is not indented. Align this with WordPress Coding Standards (tabs) and the documented one-liner guard to keep the bootstrap consistent.

Copilot · 2026-03-30T16:02:18Z

package.json

+    "lint": "npm run lint:js && npm run lint:css && npm run lint:json",
+    "lint:js": "wp-scripts lint-js src",
+    "lint:css": "wp-scripts lint-style src",
+    "lint:json": "wp-scripts lint-md-docs . --ext=.json || true",


lint:json currently runs wp-scripts lint-md-docs and then forces success with || true, so npm run lint will not fail even when JSON is invalid. Either replace this with a command that actually validates JSON (or reuse schema:validate), and remove the unconditional success so CI can catch broken JSON.

Copilot · 2026-03-30T16:02:18Z

README.md

+- This repo is **not** packaged specifically for WordPress.org submission.
+- `composer.lock` is not committed (this is a plugin, not a deployment artefact).
+- `package-lock.json` is committed to pin Node dependencies.


The README states that package-lock.json is committed, but there is no package-lock.json in this scaffold. Either add and commit the lockfile (preferred if you want reproducible installs) or update this note (and any related export-ignore entries) to match reality.

Copilot · 2026-03-30T16:02:19Z

{{PLUGIN_SLUG}}.php

+function {{PLUGIN_SLUG}}_load_textdomain() {
+load_plugin_textdomain(
+'{{TEXT_DOMAIN}}',
+false,
+dirname( plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) ) . '/languages'
+);


The plugin bootstrap isn’t indented using tabs (e.g. the load_plugin_textdomain() call arguments and closing paren). This will fail or at least fight PHPCS/WPCS in a repo that enforces WordPress Coding Standards; please format these blocks with tab indentation.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Signed-off-by: Ash Shaw <ashley@lightspeedwp.agency>

Initial plan

b460c4e

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and ashleyshaw Mar 30, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of ashleyshaw March 30, 2026 15:26 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits March 30, 2026 15:42

Add complete WordPress block plugin starter repo scaffold

ed0de95

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/lightspeedwp/ls-starter-plugin/sessions/5b4a8a5c-337d-41eb-b6c4-d22d5fcc07b0 Co-authored-by: ashleyshaw <1805352+ashleyshaw@users.noreply.github.com>

Fix: add explicit permissions to GitHub Actions workflows

e74697d

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/lightspeedwp/ls-starter-plugin/sessions/5b4a8a5c-337d-41eb-b6c4-d22d5fcc07b0 Co-authored-by: ashleyshaw <1805352+ashleyshaw@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Create starter repository for LightSpeed WordPress block plugins~~ Add LightSpeed WordPress block plugin starter repo scaffold Mar 30, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of ashleyshaw March 30, 2026 15:48

Copilot AI requested a review from ashleyshaw March 30, 2026 15:48

ashleyshaw requested a review from Copilot March 30, 2026 15:55

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of ashleyshaw March 30, 2026 15:56 View session

ashleyshaw marked this pull request as ready for review March 30, 2026 15:58

Copilot AI reviewed Mar 30, 2026

View reviewed changes

ashleyshaw and others added 2 commits March 30, 2026 18:07

Update .github/instructions/workflows.instructions.md

76cc085

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Signed-off-by: Ash Shaw <ashley@lightspeedwp.agency>

Update .agents/agents/plugin-architect.md

a7be5c5

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Signed-off-by: Ash Shaw <ashley@lightspeedwp.agency>

ashleyshaw merged commit c4aa96b into main Mar 30, 2026
0 of 2 checks passed

ashleyshaw deleted the copilot/create-light-speed-plugin-starter-repo branch March 30, 2026 16:08

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Add LightSpeed WordPress block plugin starter repo scaffold#1

Add LightSpeed WordPress block plugin starter repo scaffold#1
ashleyshaw merged 5 commits intomainfrom
copilot/create-light-speed-plugin-starter-repo

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		"*.php": ["composer run phpcs --", "composer run phplint --"],
		"src/*/.js": ["npm run lint:js --"],

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Plugin skeleton

Tooling

Folder structure

GitHub / AI infrastructure

LightSpeed WordPress Block Plugin Starter Repo — Generation Prompt

Core Intent

Reference Material To Review First

LightSpeed plugin scaffold references

LightSpeed theme scaffold references

WordPress / ecosystem inspiration

Changelog standards

What To Learn From The Existing Scaffolds

From block-plugin-scaffold

From block-theme-scaffold

Design Principles

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Pull request overview

Reviewed changes

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Copilot AI commented Mar 30, 2026 •

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From `block-plugin-scaffold`

From `block-theme-scaffold`