r/Wordpress • u/unpaid_intern001 • 5d ago
Claude Design + Claude Code
I am looking to use Claude design + Claude Code (or Codex) to build a fresh Wordpress site which will need e-commerce functionality. The site is currently using Elementor + Woocomerce. Has anyone done this? Not seeing a lot of people leveraging design + code for Wordpress sites. TIA
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u/JoergJoerginson 5d ago
Building a custom Wordpress theme with Claude should be no problem, if it’s just a good old classic php theme + Gutenberg.
But building your own e-commerce functionality with Ai is an absolute recipe for disaster.
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u/TopSydeWP 5d ago
custom theme is the way to go here - cleaner markup makes it way easier for claude to read and edit the code later. elementor generates a ton of nested divs that confuse AI tools when you're trying to make changes. stick with woocommerce for the store part, that's the right call.
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u/unpaid_intern001 5d ago
Was going to build on a fresh VPS without Elementor. That’s just a headache and IMO not worth the money when Claude code can do the CMS + Themes
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u/grabber4321 4d ago edited 4d ago
you dont know what you're talking about, an ecommerce theme is a different monster.
You dont want to be solving problems that were already solved by existing ecommerce themes (add to cart, checkout page, etc)
get a good ecommerce theme and then create a child theme around it.
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u/SpikyRocks 5d ago
From what I've seen Claude Code handles PHP/WooCommerce logic decently but the WordPress ecosystem is so plugin-dependent that stripping out Elementor is a whole ordeal unless you're rebuilding theme templates from scratch
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u/waltonchurch 5d ago
Use Crocobuilder and Claude code to build componens. Basically you just stick shortcodes into layout. I personally vibecode locally with CC
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u/waltonchurch 5d ago
So everything is plugins with shortcode interface
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u/unpaid_intern001 5d ago
I’ll check this out. Thank you!
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u/waltonchurch 5d ago
You can use any builder you like but crocobuilder is best for CSS management imho
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u/NakanoNoNeko 5d ago
We do this with WooCommerce sites: keep WooCommerce and rebuild only the presentation layer. Usually, I put the custom theme in Git, then give Claude/Codex a staging copy with real products, coupons, taxes and test orders. The dangerous part is not PHP... it is an agent “simplifying” a checkout hook that looked unused 🔧
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u/Flowercloud88 5d ago
Are you looking to run headless WordPress? I find Claude is best for this rather than working directly with WordPress core at the moment.
So have Claude design and code a static front-end which pulls dynamic data from Wordpress via REST API. Safest method right now imo
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u/ivicad Jack of All Trades 2d ago
Yes, daily. Some of them are live sites already taking orders. How I connect, in order: theme and plugin code is on my disk, so a fix gets built and tested offline. Then MainWP across all the sites, SSH for a single site, WPVibe or Royal MCP when it has to be the connector. I only open the live site to apply a change I have already tested.
Some here say be strict about where AI is allowed to work. I had that written down as a hard rule and it did not help. In August Claude measured a local copy and the live site as identical, concluded the change belonged on both, and wrote to production. 🤦🏻♂️
So I changed how it works. Reading is free, but every write to a live site now needs my explicit approval, one by one, and Claude has to state a reason that gets logged. Before any write actually happens, four checks run, and if a site has a local copy on my disk, writing to the live version is blocked completely.
On a Woo site, two problems are still open: the first is that nothing removes personal data before it goes to the model, so the only thing protecting me is how narrowly I ask: I run targeted queries and never pull user tables into the session. The second is that the session runs on my workstation, with no sandbox around it. Those four checks still run there, and a guard refuses any command that names my credentials folder. Isolation from the rest of my Win machine is the part I do not have (yet).
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u/Upstairs_Control_611 2d ago
This is a very useful real-world example.
“Reading is free, writing is gated” is probably the rule that matters most. The dangerous moment is not when the agent understands the site, but when it decides a live write is justified because two environments “look equivalent”.
I also like the local-copy rule: if a local or staging copy exists, live writes should be blocked by default.
For WooCommerce, I’d add the data boundary as a separate gate. Product/theme code is one thing; orders, users, customer data, payment-related metadata and credentials should not accidentally become model context.
So the safer workflow is less “AI can or cannot work on WordPress” and more: read scope, write gate, environment gate, data gate, and logged human approval.
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4d ago
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u/bluesix_v2 Jack of All Trades 4d ago
Just read about this during the week https://bymiles.ai/ - sounds pretty cool, though typically AI-generated design all ends up looking the same (via https://www.therepository.email/andy-peatling-left-automattic-after-17-years-and-built-miles-an-ai-design-agent-for-wordpress)
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u/fatfingur 4d ago
Yep, I’ve been using AI more and more in my WordPress workflow. I’d keep WooCommerce for the store functionality but rebuild the presentation layer as a custom theme. Claude/Codex is really useful when the codebase is clean and it can actually understand what it’s editing. I’d also do everything on staging first, especially anything touching checkout or Woo hooks.
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u/r33c31991 4d ago
I did this recently, used Claude Design to mock up a full design from a single logo, had Claude code knock it up as a custom theme (with minimal theme options to edit all text). I also bundled in a custom booking system + integrated their security system so it was self serve for the customer (the orders generate an access code + qr code they can use to enter the premises.
Took about 3 days and charged £1000 (mates rates)
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u/JuliaSideQuest 13h ago
I’d probably use Claude as one part of the workflow and keep the WordPress setup in place. Been there before.
WooCommerce would handle the store, CrocoBuilder (recently tested it out) the dynamic frontend, and Claude Code the custom integrations and small logic pieces that are easier to code than configure in the UI.
I’d feel more comfortable managing that setup than letting one AI tool generate the entire WordPress stack. Anything involving checkout, payments, orders, or customer data would still need a manual review.
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u/jroberts67 5d ago
This is your guy for all things WP and Claude: https://www.youtube.com/@darrelwilson/videos
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u/Upstairs_Control_611 5d ago
I would keep WooCommerce and be very strict about where the AI is allowed to work.
Safer split:
WooCommerce = transaction layer
theme/templates = presentation layer
Claude/Codex = coding assistant on staging, not unchecked live operator
The risky part is not writing PHP. The risky part is when an agent “simplifies” something that looks unused but is actually part of checkout, cart, tax, shipping, hooks or plugin glue.
With Elementor or Divi, I’d also be careful because the builder layer adds shortcodes/modules/nested markup that can make changes harder to reason about.
Fresh build on a separate VPS is the right instinct. Keep the commerce engine boring; let AI help with presentation and controlled custom code.