Title: WordPress VIP skeleton
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: September 29, 2020
Last modified: February 2, 2026

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#  WordPress VIP skeleton

The complete codebase of a VIP Platform WordPress environment includes WordPress
Core, [VIP MU plugins](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-go-mu-plugins/), and the custom
code committed to [the application’s wpcomvip GitHub code repository](https://docs.wpvip.com/github-repository/).
The wpcomvip GitHub repository for a WordPress application is based on [the WordPress VIP skeleton](https://github.com/Automattic/vip-go-skeleton).

Only the directories (and their contents) and files listed below are [deployed to environments](https://docs.wpvip.com/github-repository/code-deployments/).
Any other directories or files that are added to the root of an application’s GitHub
repository will not deploy as expected. All files that are deployed from the wpcomvip
GitHub repository are web-accessible with the exception of files located with `/
private`.

## Required directories

Directories provided in an application’s repository that are required:

 * [`/client-mu-plugins`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/client-mu-plugins-directory/)
 * [`/images`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/images-directory/)
 * [`/languages`](https://docs.wpvip.com/upload-languages-to-the-language-directory/)
 * [`/plugins`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/plugins-directory/)
 * [`/private`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/private-directory/)
 * [`/themes`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/themes-directory/)
 * [`/vip-config`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/vip-config-directory/)

## Optional directories and files

Directories and files in an application’s repository that can be optionally removed:

 * `[/docs](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/docs-directory/) `
 * [`.editorconfig`](https://docs.wpvip.com/wordpress-skeleton/editorconfig/)
 * [`.phpcs.xml.dist`](https://docs.wpvip.com/php_codesniffer/phpcs-xml-dist/)
 * `composer.lock`
 * `composer.json`

Last updated: February 02, 2026