Barí is a self-contained, opinionated WordPress development framework built around Docker. It provides a fully controlled, reproducible local and production-ready WordPress stack designed for teams that want to build WordPress sites without depending on centralised SaaS infrastructure. It is intended as a white-label base for corporate and client WordPress projects.
Barí combines a Docker-based infrastructure layer with a custom WordPress theme and a shell script CLI that abstracts all container operations behind simple proxy commands. The result is a consistent, version-controlled environment where every developer on a team runs the same stack with one command.
The stack consists of:
- Nginx — Reverse proxy with HTTPS, URL rewriting for the isolated WordPress core directory, and a transparent production uploads proxy for local development
- PHP-FPM — A custom-built WordPress image with WP-CLI, Composer, Xdebug, Redis, and image processing extensions pre-installed
- MariaDB — The relational database, fully configured via environment variables
- Redis — Available for object caching
- Mailpit — Captures all outgoing email and provides a web UI, preventing any email from reaching real inboxes during development
All configuration — database credentials, WordPress constants, SMTP, memory limits, debug flags — is injected via a .env file. There is no hardcoded configuration in the codebase.
bari/
├── app/ → WordPress application (plugins, themes, content)
├── bin/ → CLI proxy scripts (composer, wp, install, certs, version…)
├── config/ → Infrastructure config (Dockerfile, Nginx, PHP, Webpack)
├── src/ → Frontend source (JS + SCSS, compiled into app/dist/)
├── compose.yml → Docker service orchestration
└── sample.env → Environment variable template
WordPress core lives in app/wp/ — isolated from app/web/ (the content directory) following a Bedrock-like pattern. Nginx rewrites all wp-admin, wp-includes, and wp-*.php paths to /wp/. This keeps core upgrades clean and keeps content directories outside of the core directory.
PHP dependencies (plugins, themes) are managed via Composer + WPackagist. No manual plugin downloads. Premium plugins can be served from a private Satispress instance configured in .env.
The custom theme (app/web/themes/theme/) is a Gutenberg-native theme built around block templates, template parts, theme.json, style variations, and a hook-based OOP setup under the App\ namespace. WordPress block templates own the page shell; Gutenberg block content renders through WordPress's normal do_blocks() flow.
The block editor is configured via theme.json, which defines the controlled design system: colour palette, typography, spacing/layout settings, block styles, and style variation foundations. Editors work within these constraints rather than through ad hoc theme templates.
Timber/Twig is installed globally through Composer for compatibility and for custom plugins that need server-side-rendered views. It should not be treated as the primary theme rendering architecture.
Every day-to-day operation has a shell script in bin/ that proxies transparently into the correct Docker container:
./bin/install # Full environment provisioning from scratch
./bin/start # Start the stack (after initial install)
./bin/wp plugin list # Run WP-CLI commands
./bin/composer install # Run Composer
./bin/certs # Regenerate SSL certs
./bin/version 7.0 # Install a specific WordPress core versionFrontend assets are built directly from the project root using pnpm (no bin/ wrapper):
pnpm start # Development — watch mode with source maps
pnpm build # Production — minified, optimised, no source mapsCompiled assets are written to app/dist/ and enqueued by the theme automatically.
The app/web/plugins/bari-cli/ plugin ships two WP-CLI command groups that are available via ./bin/wp:
./bin/wp migration create "create orders table"
./bin/wp migration migrate
./bin/wp migration rollback
./bin/wp migration statusMigration files live in app/web/plugins/bari-cli/migrations/ by default and extend AbstractMigration with up() and down() methods. See documentation/06-php-wordpress.md for full details.
./bin/wp pattern create sections/hero
./bin/wp pattern export 42 sections/hero --title="Hero – Full Width"
./bin/wp pattern listPatterns are stored in app/web/themes/theme/app/Patterns/ and auto-registered by the theme. See documentation/06-php-wordpress.md for full details.
Detailed documentation for each layer of the project is in the docs/ directory:
| Document | Contents |
|---|---|
documentation/01-architecture.md |
Full directory map and architectural decisions |
documentation/02-infrastructure.md |
Docker services, Dockerfile, Nginx, PHP config |
documentation/03-environment.md |
Complete .env variable reference |
documentation/04-quick-start.md |
Step-by-step setup guide |
documentation/05-cli-scripts.md |
All bin/ scripts documented |
documentation/06-php-wordpress.md |
Composer setup, plugin dependencies, core isolation, bari-cli |
documentation/07-theme.md |
Gutenberg-native theme architecture, block templates, hook classes |
documentation/08-frontend-build.md |
Webpack, SCSS structure, design tokens |
documentation/09-known-issues.md |
Resolved issues log |
cp sample.env .env # Configure your environment
# Edit .env: set SITE_NAME, HOST_NAME, APP_DOMAINS, admin credentials
./bin/install # Provisions the full stackGPL-2.0-or-later. Free to use, modify, redistribute, and package as a white-label foundation for client projects.