How to use
The whole path, by conversation: from install to a published site, without leaving Claude Code. Coding without AI? The manual path is in the documentation.
Before you start
Or any other AI agent that accepts skills. It is the one that installs, structures and operates Velk for you: your role is to describe and approve.
On your machine to develop (Herd, MAMP, XAMPP) and any PHP host when it is time to publish. MariaDB 10.2+ works too.
The Velk manual your AI reads: schema, fields, helpers, CLI and deploy. It is the first step of the guide, right below.
Preparation
Two steps and Velk is running on your machine — no terminal, no Composer, no 40-minute tutorial.
It all starts here — even installing Velk is done by the AI. The skill teaches Claude Code the whole framework: the site.json format, the 17 field types, the theme helpers, the CLI and the install, deploy and upgrade flows. With it, the AI does not guess — it looks things up.
Open Claude Code in the project folder and ask. The AI downloads the latest official Velk release, verifies the checksum, configures the .env, creates the database, runs the migrations, creates your admin user and starts the dev server.
Want to install by hand, without AI? The manual step-by-step — download, .env and installer — is in the documentation.
Construction
Structure, layout and content: all by prompt. The AI edits the site.json, validates it, and the panel follows along instantly.
Talk in your own language: sections, content types, fields. The AI writes the site.json, creates the theme templates, validates with schema:validate and starts the dev server so you can look. A few examples to steal:
Changed your mind? Just say so. A new field, a new section, a different layout for a specific item — the AI edits the schema, validates and the panel follows instantly. No content migration, no plugins.
Go to /admin and edit like any CMS, or let the AI populate the site through the CLI (item:create, page:update), handy for migrating content from an old site or generating drafts in bulk. The panel shows only what the site actually has.
Publishing
Any host with PHP 8.2+ and MySQL will do. No SSH? Upload the files over FTP and you are done: on the first request Velk runs the migrations by itself. With SSH, ask the AI to deploy — the skill covers the whole flow, from rsync to the database.
Once the site is live, upgrades are just a request: the engine is swapped whole, and theme, content and uploads stay untouched. The client keeps editing in the panel — and new sections keep being born by conversation, whenever you want.
Dicas
Vibe coding pays off more when the request is specific. Here are four patterns that work well with Velk.
Say which fields each thing has — the AI turns it straight into schema.
Create the "property" type with a gallery, price, bedrooms, neighborhood and a featured toggle.
Small changes are easy to review — and to undo.
Now just the testimonials section on the home: a repeater with photo, name and text.
Schema validated and panel open: you check the result right away.
Validate the schema and open the panel so I can check the new fields.
Old static site? It becomes a Velk theme with a panel — no redesign needed.
Convert this HTML into a Velk theme keeping the look, with editable texts and images.
Elleven
Elleven is the agency that created and maintains Velk. If you need a professional team to build and evolve your site, get in touch and see our cases and services.
Course · coming soon
A complete course on building and shipping sites with Velk: from the first prompt to a site in production. Recording now.
Leave your email and we'll write once, the day it launches.
Velk is a creation of Elleven.Digital, technology unit of Grupo DLS.
