# themeum/kirki

Extending the customizer

Repository: https://github.com/themeum/kirki
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kirki
Homepage: https://kirki.com
Language: PHP
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: wordpress-customizer, plugin, wordpress, wordpress-plugin, customizer, toolkit, theme-development, kirki, wordpress-theme-development
Last push: 2026-04-10T10:15:29+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 76, release rhythm 66, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4499, "days_push": 145, "days_rel": 145, "gap_med": 67, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1273, forks 322 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:12.654265+00:00)

## What it is
Kirki is a WordPress plugin/framework that extends the native WordPress Customizer with over 30 custom controls, automatic CSS and postMessage script generation, and a simplified API for theme developers. It is maintained by Themeum and distributed under the MIT license.

## Use cases
- add custom controls to the WordPress customizer
- build theme options panels for a WordPress theme
- generate CSS automatically from customizer settings
- add typography controls with Google Fonts to a theme
- implement postMessage live preview for customizer settings
- create color, image, and repeater controls in WordPress

## When to choose
- you are developing a WordPress theme and need a customizer options framework
- you want prebuilt customizer controls instead of writing them from scratch
- you need automatic CSS output and partial refresh for theme mods

## When to avoid
- you are building a non-WordPress PHP application
- you need a full visual page builder rather than customizer controls
- your project avoids plugin dependencies in themes

## Facets
- artifact type: plugin
- maturity: active
- function: ui-components, templating, developer-tools
- domain: web-development, cms, developer-tools
- platform: php, self-hosted
- tags: wordpress, wordpress-customizer, theme-development, options-framework, custom-controls, gutenberg, web-server

## Member repositories
- themeum/kirki (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:12.654265+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 2026-08-30T05:03:14.003119+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/themeum/kirki (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:12.654265+00:00, sha 1d6022f176c5)
  - homepage: https://kirki.com (fetched 2026-08-29T12:14:30.799042+00:00, sha 52d657189e5c)
  - site_page: https://kirki.com/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T12:14:30.808845+00:00, sha 95485de63ba9)
  - site_page: https://kirki.com/releases (fetched 2026-08-29T12:14:30.811189+00:00, sha bb2587adc8d1)
  - site_page: https://kirki.com/pricing (fetched 2026-08-29T12:14:30.814101+00:00, sha 1da9d50b968f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.