# postlight/headless-wp-starter

🔪 WordPress + React Starter Kit: Spin up a WordPress-powered React app in one step

Repository: https://github.com/postlight/headless-wp-starter
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/headless-wp-starter
Homepage: https://archive.postlight.com/labs/wordpress-react-starter-kit
Language: JavaScript
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: wordpress, react, nextjs, wordpress-development, headless-wp, graphql-api, rest-api, starter-kit, headless-cms, labs
Last push: 2023-03-14T18:16:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3320, "days_push": 1268, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4547, forks 643 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:53.244203+00:00)

## What it is
A starter kit from Postlight that spins up a headless WordPress backend exposing data via the WP REST API and GraphQL, alongside sample React frontends (one GraphQL-based, one Next.js SSR). It bundles Docker Compose setup, JWT auth plugins, ACF integration, and CORS configuration in one automated installer.

## Use cases
- build a react app powered by wordpress content
- set up a headless wordpress backend with graphql
- spin up wordpress with next.js frontend in one step
- use wordpress as a headless cms for a react site
- expose wordpress custom fields and menus via rest api
- prototype a decoupled wordpress site with docker

## When to choose
- you want WordPress as a headless CMS with a React frontend
- you need both REST and GraphQL APIs from WordPress
- you want a quick Docker-based local dev environment for decoupled WordPress
- you need JWT authentication between WordPress and a frontend app

## When to avoid
- you need a traditional WordPress theme-based site
- you use a different frontend stack than React or Next.js
- you need actively maintained tooling - the project has seen limited updates since 2023
- you want a lightweight setup without Docker

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: maintenance
- function: web-framework, graphql, http-server, auth, templating, ssr
- domain: web-development, cms, frontend, backend, developer-tools
- platform: self-hosted
- tags: headless-cms, wordpress, react, nextjs, starter-kit, wp-graphql, wp-rest-api, boilerplate, docker, nodejs, web-server, javascript

## Member repositories
- postlight/headless-wp-starter (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:53.244203+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:22:04.559595+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/postlight/headless-wp-starter (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:53.244203+00:00, sha fc0a29f2a766)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.