Planning documents

The two source-of-truth documents for Gillish Cairnstone.

Cairnstone is a modular WordPress block plugin: a curated block library, a Gutenberg-native way to build new blocks, universal Conditional Content that gates any block on visitor signals, and first-class block import/export. These two documents describe the product vision and the implementation roadmap.

Status: Pre-launch, development mode
Last shipped: Phase 15 (AI preview rendering + batch) closed 2026-05-31 across v2.3.110 → v2.3.111, completing the AI-integration arc (Phases 13–15). The shipped surface: the read-only cairnstone/preview-block ability that renders a saved block’s real frontend HTML as a chosen visitor profile would see it, with a per-block show/hide trace that names the deciding signal and flags a signal a fixture cannot set; dry_run on create-block / update-block / import-block (run every check the real save runs, return the resolved result marked committed: false, write nothing), reachable over the wire after a schema fix declared the flag under the schemas’ additionalProperties: false; and the cairnstone/batch ability that applies an ordered list of mixed create / update / delete / import in one call, partial-success by default with an atomic all-or-nothing mode (validate-all-dry first, compensating rollback as a backstop) and a soft max_items cap of 100, plus a follow-on contract-parity harden (a batch-level dry_run, an always-present committed, failed_indexes on an atomic failure, an empty-batch rejection). Every ability was runtime-verified end-to-end over the wire against the floor install through the Abilities REST endpoint. PHPUnit 800/800; PHPStan level 9 at 0; composer audit + pa11y + axe-core clean. This closed the arc opened by Phase 13 (the cairnstone/* Abilities API base surface: five discovery + four draft-only mutation abilities behind an “AI assistants” opt-in, plus a 30-day AI-activity audit page, closed 2026-05-30 across v2.3.90 → v2.3.93) and Phase 14 (richer introspection: a semanticType tag per library block, the cairnstone/validate-composition dry-run validator, and the cairnstone/list-style-controls universal style catalogue, closed 2026-05-30 across v2.3.102 → v2.3.108). Phase 16 (library upgrade pass, the first block-building phase against the now-stable sidebar) is next. Thirteen library blocks live, twelve free plus one Pro; verification runs on the local Studio matrix, the wp.org build path is unchanged.
Launch version: v3.0.0, reserved for wp.org

For site owners

Documentation

How to use Cairnstone on your site: the Cairnstone Block CPT, the inspector panels (Look, Visibility, Schema), Conditional Content end-user flow, breaking-change resolution, the Preview button, and the library blocks. Updated whenever a new user-visible feature ships.

Open the documentation Capability map

Product brief

Full picture of what Cairnstone is: identity, the four differentiators, Conditional Content as a universal capability, the CPT-based block builder, the 100-block library catalogue, AI integration via the WordPress Abilities API + MCP, performance philosophy, free/paid model, EU Cyber Resilience Act readiness.

Read the product brief Implementation roadmap

Foundation plan

Phase-by-phase plan from demolition (Phase 1, shipped) through the front-loaded sidebar / infrastructure stack (Phases 10–15 renumbered 2026-05-20 so the inspector contract locks before any new blocks) and the resumed library work (Phase 16) to License plumbing (Phase 18, always the last phase by convention). Each phase declares its concrete deliverable, end state, and verification.

Read the foundation plan Posture, not aspiration

Security & compliance

Where Cairnstone actually stands on GDPR, CCPA, the Cyber Resilience Act, OWASP, and WCAG 2.2 AA. Honest per-standard status with sources, the permanent doctrine guardrails, and the open findings. A fabricated "fully compliant" claim is a liability, so this page does not make one.

Read the security posture