# Introduction

Blockstudio enables you to create custom WordPress blocks with nothing but PHP
using the WordPress
[block.json](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-metadata/)
format. It greatly simplifies the developer experience in regard to block
registration, lazy loading assets, and custom fields.

## Philosophy

### Core focused

There is no secret sauce. Blockstudio is built on top of core WordPress features
and Gutenberg components. It is designed to be a lightweight abstraction layer
that helps you get started with custom blocks quickly.

### Server side first

WordPress can register simple blocks from PHP alone: since WordPress 7.0,
[`register_block_type()` with the `autoRegister`
support](https://make.wordpress.org/core/2026/03/03/php-only-block-registration/)
renders a block through its `render_callback` and generates basic inspector
controls for string, integer, boolean, and enum attributes. That covers exactly
that, and core is explicit that it is not meant to replace the client-side
paradigm: there are no inner blocks, no rich text, no media fields, and no
interactivity, so anything beyond a handful of primitive controls still means
writing JavaScript, running a build, and duplicating logic between PHP and JS.

Blockstudio starts from the same idea and carries it the whole way. You use PHP
to write your block templates and sprinkle in interactivity like `<RichText />`
or `<InnerBlocks />` using JSX-like tags. Inside the editor, those tags will be
replaced with their React counterparts. On the frontend, the tags will be
replaced with HTML content.

This way, you get the best of both worlds: a server-side rendered block with
great interactivity in the editor.

### File system based

While WordPress supports a file-based approach using the
[WPDefinedPath](https://developer.wordpress.org/block-editor/reference-guides/block-api/block-metadata/#wpdefinedpath)
string type, it is also possible to link assets or templates from other
destinations. Blockstudio doubles down on the file-system as the primary (and
only) way of registering blocks. This decision was not made to restrict, but to
set a block structure in place that can't be argued with. For example, if a
`style.css` or `script.js` file is found in the same folder as a block.json,
then you can be sure that it belongs to this exact block only.

### No setup

Blockstudio just works. It is designed to remove friction when composing custom
blocks and doesn't come in your way while doing so. Want to use Twig for your
template? Simply rename the file extension. Need to include some CSS? Create a
`style.css` file. Blockstudio will automatically enqueue it whenever the block
is being used on your page, even when it is used outside the post_content with
the [rendering function](/docs/blocks/rendering).

Do you have feature requests or questions? [Message
us](mailto:hi@blockstudio.dev).