Kadence Theme Design System

Use Kadence Theme as a design system for WordPress delivery. Covers design tokens, layout system, header/footer/navigation setup, page/archive/single templates, and a practical Free vs Pro capability matrix so agents choose valid implementations before building.

Use this skill when working on WordPress sites built with Kadence Theme.

Primary goals:

1. Build and maintain pages/templates with Kadence-native patterns.
2. Keep design decisions tied to global tokens (colors, typography, spacing).
3. Prevent Pro-only feature usage when site only has Free.

Read Order (important)

1. references/free-vs-pro-matrix.md
2. references/design-system-foundation.md
3. references/elements-and-template-architecture.md
4. references/website-management-playbook.md

Operating Rules

• Confirm theme/license capability before proposing implementation details.
• Default to Kadence Free compatible solutions unless Pro is explicitly confirmed.
• Prefer Gutenberg + Kadence Blocks; avoid custom CSS/JS unless requested.
• Reuse global palette/typography/spacing variables.
• Keep templates editable by non-technical editors.
• For content reads/writes, pair this skill with wordpress-content-rest-api.

Capability Check (before execution)

Do this first in any Kadence task:

1. Verify active theme is Kadence.
2. Verify whether Kadence Pro/Theme Kit Pro features are installed and licensed.
3. Determine feature tier (Free-only vs Free+Pro).
4. Select implementation path from the capability matrix.

If Pro status is unknown, proceed with Free-safe fallback and state the assumption.

Done Criteria

A Kadence design/system task is complete only when:

• Chosen pattern matches confirmed feature tier.
• Global style tokens are reused (no random hardcoded styling).
• Header/footer/nav/template behavior matches requested UX.
• Any Pro-dependent enhancement is listed separately as optional.
• Editor can maintain the result in Gutenberg without code edits.

Source Scope

This skill is based on Kadence public docs + help-center pages curated in: references/sources.md

If docs change, re-check source pages before asserting feature availability.