peptide-starter-theme/ARCHITECTURE.md

Peptide Starter Theme — Architecture

Cross-app context: decisions that affect multiple plugins (Cloudflare AI Gateway routing, OpenRouter account sharing, the interface pattern, image-generation stack, social distributor choice) are recorded in Peptide Repo CTO/docs/engineering/decisions/. The incident runbook for cross-app failure modes is at Peptide Repo CTO/docs/engineering/INCIDENT-RUNBOOK.md. Read both before making decisions that cross plugin boundaries.

Overview

Peptide Starter (slug: peptide-starter) is a premium classic WordPress theme for peptiderepo.com — a scientific peptide reference database. It assembles a modern, accessible frontend from a monolithic stylesheet, a handful of vanilla-JS modules, and a collection of PHP modules under inc/. The theme integrates with six companion plugins through shortcodes (graceful degradation via shortcode_exists), coordinates dark mode via CSS custom properties + a data-theme attribute, and — as of v1.5.1 — runs a self-contained abuse-control layer (rate limiting, honeypots, email verification) over its frontend auth surface.

Directory Structure

peptide-starter/
├── style.css                      # All theme CSS. Section 26 = v1.5.1 additions.
├── functions.php                  # Theme setup entry point (<250 lines).
│                                   # - Constants, feature module loading (order matters)
│                                   # - Theme support + nav menus
│                                   # - Script/style enqueue (conditional per template)
│                                   # - Newsletter signup POST handler
│                                   # - Inline dark mode flash preventer in wp_head
│
├── inc/
│   ├── config.php                 # [v1.5.1] Security config — single source of truth.
│   │                               # Every threshold lives here; filterable.
│   ├── helpers.php                # Nav walker + menu fallback, logo, getters,
│   │                               # pagination, honeypot renderer, csv_safe,
│   │                               # require_login gate, safe referer.
│   ├── rate-limiter.php           # [v1.5.1] Peptide_Starter_Rate_Limiter +
│   │                               # peptide_starter_get_client_ip (CF-aware).
│   ├── email-verification.php     # [v1.5.1] Token send + verify route + resend
│   │                               # endpoint + user_is_verified().
│   ├── customizer.php             # Customizer sections/settings/controls.
│   ├── auth-handlers.php          # AJAX login + register — unified errors,
│   │                               # honeypot, rate limit, no auto-login.
│   ├── contact-handler.php        # AJAX contact — header-injection guard,
│   │                               # honeypot, rate limit, request IDs in mail.
│   ├── newsletter-admin.php       # Subscriber viewer + CSV-safe export +
│   │                               # /newsletter-unsubscribe route.
│   ├── mail-diagnostic.php        # [v1.5.1] Tools → Mail Test — wp_mail probe.
│   └── page-setup.php             # Auto-create pages on activation +
│                                    # v1.5.0 user migration (enrol into verify).
│
├── header.php                     # Site header, nav, icons, search overlay.
├── footer.php                     # Widget grid + copyright + settings panel.
├── front-page.php                 # Hero → module cards → plugin feeds.
│
├── page-calculator.php            # OPEN — reconstitution calculator (no PII).
├── page-protocol-builder.php      # GATED — require_login (builds saved protocols).
├── page-tracker.php               # GATED — require_login (per-user tracking).
├── page-subject-log.php           # GATED — require_login (user lab data).
├── page-directory.php             # Peptide directory.
├── page-documentation.php         # Two-column docs with ToC sidebar.
├── page-science-feed.php          # Science feed + newsletter signup.
├── page-profile.php               # Profile + verify-required banner + resend.
├── page-auth.php                  # Sign In / Register forms (honeypotted).
├── page.php, index.php, 404.php   # Standard fallbacks.
├── single-peptide.php             # Peptide CPT detail.
├── archive-peptide.php            # Peptide CPT archive.
│
├── template-parts/
│   ├── content.php, content-*.php # Loop / CPT / empty state.
│   ├── module-cards.php           # Front-page 6-card grid.
│   ├── newsletter-signup.php      # [v1.5.1] Signup + consent + honeypot.
│   └── settings-panel.php         # Slide-out support/contact panel + honeypot.
│
├── assets/js/
│   ├── navigation.js              # Mobile menu + body-overflow save/restore.
│   ├── theme.js                   # Dark mode + search overlay + plugin API.
│   ├── documentation.js           # ToC builder (text-slug IDs) + scroll spy.
│   ├── auth.js                    # Form toggle + AJAX + XSS-safe status.
│   └── settings-panel.js          # Open/close + focus trap + AJAX contact.
│
├── tests/
│   ├── bootstrap.php              # PHPUnit bootstrap.
│   ├── test-functions.php         # Legacy helper tests.
│   ├── test-theme-setup.php       # Theme setup tests.
│   ├── test-rate-limiter.php      # [v1.5.1] Rate limiter lifecycle + IP resolver.
│   ├── test-auth-handlers.php     # [v1.5.1] Login + register unified errors.
│   ├── test-email-verification.php# [v1.5.1] Token send/verify/reject.
│   ├── test-contact-handler.php   # [v1.5.1] Header injection + rate limit + honeypot.
│   ├── test-newsletter.php        # [v1.5.1] Signup + consent + CSV-safe.
│   └── test-auth-gate.php         # [v1.5.1] require_login redirects.
│
├── .phpcs.xml.dist                # PHPCS config (WordPress-Core).
├── phpunit.xml                    # PHPUnit config (theme suite).
├── composer.json                  # Dev-only dependencies.
├── CHANGELOG.md, CONVENTIONS.md, README.md, CLAUDE.md
└── screenshot.png

Navigation Structure

Home | Tools ▾ | My Data ▾ | Resources ▾ | [Sign In / Username ▾] ⚙ 🌐 🔍 🌙

Tools:       Calculator (open) · Protocol Builder · Tracker
My Data:     Peptides · Subject Log
Resources:   Documentation · Science Feed
User menu:   My Profile · Tracker · Subject Log · Sign Out

Page Template Map

Page Title	Slug	Template	Gated	Shortcode
Calculator	calculator	page-calculator.php	open	[peptide_tools_calculator]
Protocol Builder	protocol-builder	page-protocol-builder.php	login+verify	[peptide_tools_protocol_builder]
Tracker	tracker	page-tracker.php	login+verify	[peptide_tracker]
Subject Log	subject-log	page-subject-log.php	login+verify	[peptide_tracker_subject_log]
Documentation	documentation	page-documentation.php	open	—
Peptide Directory	peptides	page-directory.php	open	[peptide_directory]
Science Feed	news	page-science-feed.php	open	[peptide_news]
Profile	profile	page-profile.php	login	[peptide_community_profile]
Sign In	auth	page-auth.php	open	(custom forms)

Pages auto-created via inc/page-setup.php on theme activation. "Gated" templates call peptide_starter_require_login() before get_header().

Data Flow

Authentication (v1.5.1)

page-auth.php
  ├─ Sign In form  → auth.js AJAX → inc/auth-handlers.php::peptide_starter_ajax_login
  │                                    ├─ Nonce check
  │                                    ├─ Honeypot check (fake success on trip)
  │                                    ├─ Rate-limit check (login bucket, IP+email hash)
  │                                    ├─ wp_signon (all failures → unified message)
  │                                    └─ Success → reset limiter → redirect
  │                                        (unverified users → /profile?verify_required=1)
  │
  └─ Register form → auth.js AJAX → inc/auth-handlers.php::peptide_starter_ajax_register
                                       ├─ Nonce check
                                       ├─ Honeypot check (fake success on trip)
                                       ├─ Rate-limit check (register bucket, IP only)
                                       ├─ Validation (all failures → unified message)
                                       ├─ wp_create_user
                                       ├─ peptide_starter_send_verification_email
                                       │     ├─ Generate 43-char token
                                       │     ├─ Set ps_pending_verification=1,
                                       │     │   ps_verify_token, ps_verify_expires
                                       │     └─ wp_mail with /verify?uid=&token= link
                                       └─ Respond with "check your inbox" (no redirect, no auto-login)

/verify?uid=&token=
  → inc/email-verification.php::peptide_starter_handle_verify_request
     ├─ hash_equals() token match + TTL check
     ├─ Clear verify meta on success
     ├─ wp_set_auth_cookie
     └─ Redirect /profile?verified=1   (failure → /auth?verify_error=1)

Abuse controls (v1.5.1)

Every public form submit:
  1. Nonce verify                    → 403-equivalent security error if missing/invalid
  2. Honeypot check                   → Fake-success drop on non-empty hidden field
  3. Peptide_Starter_Rate_Limiter     → Silent generic error on budget exhaustion
  4. Business logic                   → Unified error on any validation failure

Rate-limit state:
  Storage: wp_options transients, key ps_rl_{action}_{hash}
  Hash:    substr( wp_hash( ip . '|' . identifier ), 0, 16 )
  Never stores raw IPs or identifiers.

Front page assembly

front-page.php
  ├─ Hero (title, subtitle, search CTA)
  │    └─ [peptide_search] (Peptide Search AI)
  ├─ Research Modules grid (template-parts/module-cards.php)
  ├─ [prautoblogger_posts]  (PRAutoBlogger)
  └─ [peptide_news]         (Peptide News)

Dark mode coordination

wp_head inline script        sets html[data-theme] from localStorage → system pref → customizer default
CSS :root vs html[data-theme="dark"]        colour tokens swap
theme.js toggle                              writes localStorage, dispatches 'themechange' DOM event

External Integrations

Shortcodes (plugins), all wrapped in shortcode_exists():

1. Peptide Search AI ([peptide_search]) — .psa-*
2. Peptide News ([peptide_news]) — .pn-*
3. PRAutoBlogger ([prautoblogger_posts]) — .prab-*
4. Peptide Tools ([peptide_tools_calculator], [peptide_tools_protocol_builder])
5. Peptide Tracker ([peptide_tracker], [peptide_tracker_subject_log])
6. Peptide Community ([peptide_community_profile], [peptide_directory])

Key Architectural Decisions

1. Classic theme (not FSE) — stability, plugin compatibility.
2. Monolithic CSS — no build step, CSS custom properties for tokens.
3. Vanilla JavaScript — no bundler; node --check in CI.
4. Shortcode integration — plugins decoupled; theme degrades gracefully.
5. Split functions.php into inc/ modules — every file < 300 lines.
6. Self-contained auth hardening (v1.5.1 / ADR-0001) — rate limiter, honeypots, email verification all live in the theme. No plugin dependencies, no paid services. Swappable via two small interfaces (Peptide_Starter_Rate_Limiter, peptide_starter_require_login).
7. Transient-backed rate limits — auto-expire, no custom table, no uninstall cleanup. If the site ever goes multi-server, swap to the shared object cache without caller changes.

Security Summary

• CSRF nonces on every form (auth, newsletter, contact, mail-test, unsubscribe).
• Unified error messages on login + registration (no enumeration).
• Rate limiting on login / register / contact / newsletter / verify-resend.
• Honeypots on the four public forms (login, register, contact, newsletter).
• require_login() gate on every template that owns user data.
• Email verification required for write access to user-data tools.
• CSV export formula-injection safe.
• All input sanitized at the boundary; all output escaped.
• Login redirect validated with wp_validate_redirect.
• Rate-limit storage keys are hashed — no raw IPs persisted.
• Contact sender names reject header-injection characters before wp_mail.

Version

Current: v1.5.1 (2026-04-14)

Bump style.css header line 7 and PEPTIDE_STARTER_VERSION in functions.php together on release.