---
title: Installation
---

Install the standard as a WordPress plugin, or install the development toolchain in a checkout. Generated plugins keep these same commands after the identity is renamed.

## Install the plugin

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Composer package name: `linchpin/plugin-scaffold`. The plugin header also allows uploading a release zip.

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This repository's `composer.json` registers `https://packagist.linchpin.com` in addition to the default Packagist. House development packages such as `linchpin/coding-standards` resolve through that repository.

A GitHub Release attaches `plugin-scaffold.zip` after Plugin Check passes. Upload that zip through WordPress when you are not installing from Composer.

The plugin will not boot without an autoloader. `plugin-scaffold.php` requires `vendor/autoload.php` when that file exists. If the `Bootstrap` class is missing, administrators who can activate plugins see:

<!-- wp:docspress/colorful-code {"language":"plaintext","filename":"WordPress admin notice","code":"Plugin Scaffold could not load its dependencies. Run composer install inside the plugin directory, or install a release build.","showLineNumbers":false,"caption":"Exact string from plugin_scaffold_missing_autoloader_notice()."} /-->

## Development checkout

Prerequisites: PHP 8.3, Node from `.nvmrc` (`24.13.0`), and the tools `scripts/build.sh` requires when you build a zip (`npm`, `composer`, `zip`, `rsync`, `php`).

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`npm install` runs `prepare`, which runs `husky` and installs the commit-msg and pre-commit hooks.

If you applied the [blocks overlay](../overlays/blocks.md), also install and build the nested `blocks/` workspace. That overlay merges extra root scripts, including `install:all` and `build:all`.

## What the zip contains

`bash scripts/build.sh` writes `build/plugin-scaffold/` and `build/plugin-scaffold.zip`. It is the same command the release workflow, Plugin Check, and a local developer run. Details are on [build and release](../development/build-and-release.md).

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