CINQ Theme Updates self-updates

WordPress plugin that installs theme updates from private GitHub releases. Settings screen, no front-end markup.

Repository: agencecinq/cinq-wp-theme-updates

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0+
• PHP 8.1+
• A GitHub token with read access to the theme repository

Lint (WordPress Coding Standards)

composer install
composer lint          # phpcs
composer lint:fix     # phpcbf (auto-fix)

Use ./vendor/bin/phpcs, not the global phpcs binary — the global install does not register the WordPress standards.

Install

Copy the plugin folder to wp-content/plugins/cinq-wp-theme-updates and activate CINQ Theme Updates in the WordPress admin. It then appears in the plugin list and stays off until activated.

Replace that folder when the plugin changes.

Settings

Under Settings → CINQ Theme Updates:

• Theme slug — empty uses the active theme
• GitHub repository — owner/repo, detected from the theme Theme URI when empty
• GitHub token — fine-grained token with read access to the repository contents, or a classic token with repo scope
• Tag prefix — stripped from release tags before version comparison (default: v)
• ZIP filename — release asset name (default: {theme-slug}.zip)

The token is stored in the WordPress options table. An empty token field keeps the saved token.

Optional filters

// Theme slug to update (default: setting, then active theme).
add_filter( 'cinq_wp_theme_updates_slug', fn () => 'my-theme' );

// GitHub repository (default: setting, then Theme URI).
add_filter( 'cinq_wp_theme_updates_repo', fn () => 'owner/my-theme' );

// GitHub token (default: setting).
add_filter( 'cinq_wp_theme_updates_token', fn () => 'ghp_xxx' );

// Prefix stripped from release tags (default: v).
add_filter( 'cinq_wp_theme_updates_tag_prefix', fn () => 'v' );

// Release asset filename (default: {theme-slug}.zip).
add_filter( 'cinq_wp_theme_updates_zip_filename', fn () => 'my-theme.zip' );

// Verify the GitHub TLS certificate (default: true).
add_filter( 'cinq_wp_theme_updates_sslverify', fn () => false );

Theme release

The theme repository publishes a GitHub release for each tag, with the production ZIP attached as an asset.

1. Bump the version in style.css
2. Tag the release (e.g. v1.2.3)
3. Attach {theme-slug}.zip to the release, by hand or through GitHub Actions

The ZIP contains the theme folder at its root:

my-theme.zip
└── my-theme/
    ├── style.css
    └── ...

WordPress compares the release version to style.css and shows the update under Appearance → Themes.

Scope

• One theme per site, from GitHub releases
• Settings screen under Settings → CINQ Theme Updates
• No front-end markup, no shortcode, no front-end assets