WordPress Design Core Hub

GitHub-driven Gutenberg build agent for ChatGPT Chat.

Design Core Hub lets a normal ChatGPT conversation create and iterate on WordPress Gutenberg draft pages without MCP and without ChatGPT Work/browser automation.

The control path is intentionally simple:

ChatGPT Chat
   ↓
GitHub build inbox
   ↓
WordPress Design Core Hub
   ↓
Validate integrity + Gutenberg structure
   ↓
Managed WordPress draft

What changed in v0.2

v0.1 was a browser-oriented wp-admin studio. v0.2 makes GitHub the primary control transport and keeps wp-admin only for setup, monitoring, manual sync, and rollback/debugging.

A ChatGPT conversation can now:

1. Read an uploaded HTML/CSS reference.
2. Generate semantic Gutenberg block serialization plus page CSS.
3. Commit an immutable build bundle to this repository.
4. Update latest.json last.
5. Call the site's public draft-only sync URL.
6. Read the site's public sync-status URL to verify whether the build was accepted.

No WordPress credentials, MCP server, OpenAI API key, or GitHub token needs to be sent to ChatGPT for this workflow.

Installation

Download this repository as a ZIP and install it in WordPress:

Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin

Activate WordPress Design Core Hub.

On activation the plugin:

• grants design_core_hub_build to Administrators;
• creates safe default remote settings;
• derives a site key from the WordPress home URL;
• schedules a GitHub inbox check every five minutes through WP-Cron.

Then open:

wp-admin/admin.php?page=design-core-hub

The admin screen shows the site's exact GitHub inbox path and the two public chat-only URLs:

/wp-json/design-core-hub/v1/remote-status
/wp-json/design-core-hub/v1/remote-sync

Default repository configuration

Owner:      quochung9920
Repository: wordpress-design-core-hub
Branch:     main
Build root: builds
Site key:   derived from the WordPress domain

For https://example.com, the default pointer is:

builds/example-com/latest.json

The settings are editable from Design Core → GitHub build inbox.

ChatGPT workflow

After initial WordPress installation, a normal chat can be given:

• the WordPress site URL;
• an HTML reference file;
• the GitHub repository (already connected to ChatGPT in the intended workflow).

A useful instruction is:

Recreate the attached HTML on https://example.com using WordPress Design Core Hub.
Use semantic registered Gutenberg blocks and page-scoped CSS. Do not use core/html or freeform HTML.
Write the immutable build bundle under builds/example-com/<build_id>/, then update builds/example-com/latest.json LAST.
Trigger https://example.com/wp-json/design-core-hub/v1/remote-sync and verify https://example.com/wp-json/design-core-hub/v1/remote-status.
Only create/update the Design Core managed draft. Never publish it.

See builds/README.md for the exact build protocol.

Build bundle

Every build is immutable:

builds/<site-key>/
├── latest.json
└── <build-id>/
    ├── manifest.json
    ├── blocks.html
    └── styles.css

The write order matters:

1. blocks.html
2. styles.css
3. manifest.json
4. latest.json   ← ALWAYS LAST

latest.json is the atomic pointer. WordPress never scans arbitrary commits or partially uploaded directories.

Safety model

Trusted source

The configured GitHub repository and branch are the only build source. v0.2 supports a public GitHub repository, so WordPress stores no GitHub access token.

Integrity

latest.json contains the SHA-256 of manifest.json. The manifest contains the SHA-256 of blocks.html and styles.css. WordPress verifies every hash before parsing or applying anything.

Draft-only writes

Remote sync can only create or update a page that:

• is a WordPress page;
• is in draft status;
• carries Design Core management metadata;
• matches the deterministic remote target key for the configured site and manifest slug.

It cannot attach itself to an arbitrary existing page and it refuses published targets.

Gutenberg validation

Before a build is applied, Design Core Hub parses the content with WordPress' native block parser and checks every block against the site's live WP_Block_Type_Registry.

By default, the remote manifest enables semantic-only policy, which rejects:

• freeform markup outside blocks;
• core/html;
• core/shortcode.

Registered native or installed third-party Gutenberg blocks are allowed.

No remote code execution surface

The remote build protocol does not support:

• PHP execution;
• SQL;
• shell commands;
• arbitrary WordPress options;
• plugin/theme installation;
• PHP/theme file editing;
• publishing;
• user management.

The public sync endpoint accepts no page content. It only asks WordPress to fetch the current trusted GitHub pointer.

Public trigger

The public trigger exists so ChatGPT Chat can apply a build without a logged-in WordPress browser session. It is globally rate-limited and can be disabled in wp-admin. Even when enabled, it remains draft-only and can only pull from the configured GitHub inbox.

WP-Cron

Design Core Hub checks GitHub every five minutes. WordPress WP-Cron is traffic-driven, so an exact five-minute delivery is not guaranteed on low-traffic sites. The public /remote-sync endpoint provides an immediate chat-driven trigger when needed.

Admin UI

The v0.2 admin page is intentionally a monitoring/debug surface rather than the primary builder. It provides:

• site key and expected latest.json path;
• public status/sync URLs;
• GitHub owner/repository/branch/build-root settings;
• enable/disable switches;
• manual sync;
• last sync details;
• managed draft listing;
• history data/rollback through the authenticated REST controller.

Page CSS

Build CSS is stored in _dch_page_css and printed only on the managed page, so a high-fidelity ChatGPT build can use detailed CSS without globally polluting unrelated pages.

Managed pages receive body classes such as:

dch-managed-page
dch-page-123
dch-target-homepage-ai-draft

Current scope

v0.2 stays focused on visual Gutenberg page creation:

• Gutenberg block content;
• page-specific CSS;
• site block registry inspection;
• global design-system inspection;
• draft creation/update;
• integrity validation;
• build history/rollback;
• GitHub inbox synchronization.

Not in scope yet:

• ACF;
• WooCommerce;
• Elementor;
• arbitrary WordPress administration;
• automatic screenshot/visual-diff infrastructure;
• automatic publishing.

Visual QA limitation

The GitHub transport solves creation and iteration from ChatGPT Chat, but a normal text/web chat does not automatically provide the same interactive visual browser QA loop as ChatGPT Work/Computer Use.

A future release can add a separate screenshot runner/visual QA adapter. Until then, visual feedback can come from screenshots supplied in chat or another approved rendering service. This limitation does not affect automated GitHub → Gutenberg draft delivery.

Version

Current plugin version: 0.2.0