I took an HTML export from Lovable, opened Claude Code, and in one day had a complete WordPress theme -- 11 custom blocks, 4 custom post types, deployment pipeline. 83 files, over 7,300 lines of code. Without an AI agent? That would've taken a week at least.

The Brief

I needed a new website for the Czech ecological organization Stromy v krajine (Trees in the Landscape). Their old site was outdated and the client wanted to manage content themselves -- projects, events, team members, partners, and news. WordPress was the obvious choice.

I had Lovable generate the design -- an AI tool that creates a complete React SPA from a text description. The result looked great: responsive design, beautiful color palette (forest green + gold), Tailwind CSS, interactive components. But the client needed WordPress, not a React app.

Step 1: Analyzing the Lovable Export

Lovable generated a React/Vite SPA with dozens of components: HeroSection.tsx, AboutSection.tsx, AchievementsSection.tsx, pages for news, contact, photo gallery. The entire design system in Tailwind with HSL variables -- primary: 142 70% 25% (forest green), accent: 47 96% 53% (gold).

First step was having Claude Code explore the entire React codebase -- every component, every design token, every breakpoint. It built a complete map of what needed to be converted.

Step 2: WordPress Theme in an Hour

From the React code analysis, Claude Code generated the entire theme structure:

• 11 custom blocks -- Hero, Quote + About, Achievements, Contact Info, Contact Form, Photo Gallery, listings for Projects, Events, Team, and Partners
• 4 custom post types with Czech labels -- Projects (status, location, tree count), Events (date and time), Team (social media), Partners (logo)
• Tailwind pipeline via Vite -- identical design tokens as in Lovable
• Custom Nav Walker for desktop and mobile navigation
• Vanilla JS lightbox with arrow navigation

55 files, over 5,000 lines -- in a single commit.

Step 3: The Pivot -- ACF to Carbon Fields

The original plan was ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) for blocks and metadata. But ACF Free lacks:

• Repeater fields (item lists)
• Gallery fields (photo gallery)
• Options pages (footer settings)

ACF Pro costs $199+/year. Instead I switched to Carbon Fields -- an open-source alternative with full functionality via Composer.

The migration happened the same day. Claude Code rewrote all 11 blocks from ACF API to Carbon Fields API, swapped get_field() for carbon_get_the_post_meta(), and added Docker Compose for local development. Zero licensing costs, 100% open-source.

Step 4: Polish

What remained was fine-tuning details to match the Lovable design:

• Styling the Aktuality (blog) page to match the Lovable template
• Contact form with validation replacing the placeholder
• Editable footer via WordPress widget areas
• CTA button moved from hardcoded header to WordPress menu system
• Gallery with lightbox and arrow navigation
• Editor styling -- blocks in Gutenberg get labels and borders

Step 5: Deployment

Finally, a Deployer pipeline:

• Local build via Vite (Tailwind + JS)
• rsync to production server with release management
• Zero-downtime deploy via symlinks
• Content sync scripts (WP-CLI export/import + search-replace)
• Media sync via rsync to a shared uploads directory

Timeline

24 commits over 2 days. 83 files. 7,300+ lines of code.

Why This Wouldn't Work Without Claude Code

This was a project where an AI agent really shined:

• Codebase analysis -- explored the entire React export and understood the design system
• Structure generation -- 55 theme files in a single step
• Rapid pivot -- ACF to Carbon Fields migration in an hour instead of a day
• Repetitive patterns -- controllers, template parts, CPT registration, block definitions
• Tailwind conversion -- 1:1 transfer of design tokens from React to WordPress

Key decisions -- architecture, Carbon Fields vs ACF, deployment strategy -- required human judgment. But the actual execution? The AI agent sped that up maybe 5-10x.

One person + Claude Code = a complete WordPress theme in a day. The future of development is here.