---
title: "Éclair 2.0: a lightweight core, skills and WordPress import"
description: "Éclair 2.0 is out: a theme safe from updates, optional features, automatic WordPress import and the groundwork for skills. The vision and the details."
url: "https://eclaircms.org/blog/eclair-2-0-core-skills-wordpress-import"
lang: "en"
author: "Thierry Gustin"
published: "2026-11-08"
updated: "2026-11-10"
---

# Éclair 2.0: a lightweight core, skills and WordPress import

> **Key takeaways** — Released on November 8, 2026, Éclair 2.0 keeps a lightweight core with no database and makes specialised features optional: a site only loads what it uses. Your theme now lives in its own folder, safe from updates. WordPress import brings over posts, pages, categories and images with their old URLs. 2.0 also lays the groundwork for the 57 skills that will let AI build a shop, an online school or a forum on this core.

Éclair 2.0, released on November 8, 2026, is the most important version since the first one. For your visitors, nothing changes: the public HTML of existing sites stays byte-for-byte identical. Under the hood, everything is reorganised so Éclair stays small, fast and secure, while making far more ambitious sites possible.

Three ideas drive this version: **a core that doesn’t grow**, **features you only add if you need them**, and **building rules that AI can follow** to develop the rest. Here is what 2.0 contains, then the vision behind it.

## What changes with Éclair 2.0?

| What’s new | What you get |
| --- | --- |
| **Your theme belongs to you** | It lives in `site/themes/`, which an update never touches. Changes made to a 1.x theme are found and kept automatically. |
| **Optional features** | Old site, Google Drive backups, AI bots, Google Discover, Affiliate links and the Editorial calendar are added in **Features › Add**. A site that doesn’t use them doesn’t load their code. |
| **WordPress import** | The WordPress export (.xml) becomes posts, pages, categories and images, with their exact URLs. |
| **Old URLs kept** | `/2024/03/my-post/`, `/page.html` or `?p=123` still lead to the right content, with a single 301 redirect. |
| **Online restore** | **Security › Restore a backup**, on this site or another one, with everything checked before writing. |
| **Ready for skills** | An API describing what the site can do, schemas, a validation tool and a guide so AI can build new features cleanly. |
| **Tested for real** | PHP 8.1 to 8.5, real Apache and Nginx servers, one-click update from the real 1.14.1 and 1.14.2, admin checked against WCAG 2.1 A/AA. |
| **Archive** | 833 KB, about 1.6 MB unzipped, still with no database. |

Sites that used a feature that became optional get it back after the update, with all their data. The technical details are in the [changelog](https://eclaircms.org/en/changelog).

## How do you import a WordPress site into Éclair 2.0?

This is the most awaited feature: you can now leave WordPress without copying everything by hand.

1. In WordPress, open **Tools › Export**, choose **All content** and download the `.xml` file.
2. In Éclair 2.0, open **Features**, then add **WordPress import**.
3. Open **WordPress import**, upload the file and start the import. It runs in small batches and resumes where it stopped.
4. Review the flagged content, then point your domain to Éclair.

Each post or page keeps its WordPress URL, and the old `?p=` or `?page_id=` addresses redirect to it. Images are copied into the media library, in their original version. HTML becomes Éclair blocks: headings, paragraphs, lists, images with captions, quotes, code, YouTube and Vimeo videos. Scripts, forms and unknown embeds are removed and counted, shortcodes are reported. Running the same import again creates no duplicates.

What the import doesn’t do: reproduce plugins (advanced forms, member areas, a WooCommerce shop) or page-builder layouts such as Elementor. Text and images are carried over; the layout is rebuilt with the block editor. And no migration can guarantee your Google rankings: the preserved URLs are there to limit the risks.

## The vision: a core, skills and packs

2.0 is the first step of a broader vision, presented on [eclaircms.com](https://eclaircms.com/en/blog/eclair-cms-v2-core-skills): keep a small, stable core and hand the building of advanced features to AI, guided by precise rules.

### Why not just add plugins?

A plugin is a generic block of code. It’s written for thousands of different sites, so it ships with options, screens and use cases your project doesn’t need. That code is loaded, updated, monitored and sometimes attacked, even the parts you never use.

On one site, that’s manageable. Across ten sites, it becomes a permanent maintenance burden: updates to keep track of, conflicts after an update, licences to renew. The problem isn’t any one plugin in particular; it’s **the stacking**.

AI assistants change the game. Claude, ChatGPT and Codex can now write code tailored to a specific request. What they lack are **reliable building rules**: where to put the code, how to store data, how to check access rights, how to test. That’s exactly what V2 provides.

### Three layers: Core, Skills and Packs

V2 organises the ecosystem into three layers, each with a distinct role.

| Layer | Role | What defines it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Éclair Core | The light, self-contained CMS | Routing, content, security, SEO/GEO, caching, stable interfaces |
| Éclair Skills | The skills used by AI | Instructions, templates, dependencies and tests to develop, configure and evolve a site |
| Éclair Packs | The executable bundles | Commerce, LMS, Community… installed only when the project needs them |

**Éclair Core** remains what you already know: an ultra-light, database-free CMS with a static cache and signed updates. Above all, V2 adds **stable interfaces**: documented hooks that features can rely on without modifying the core.

**Skills** are capabilities designed for AI assistants. Each one describes a precise task (managing a cart, tracking student progress, moderating a forum), its dependencies, the conventions to follow and the tests to pass.

**Packs** are the concrete result: genuinely executable features, generated from the skills and installed only if the project calls for them.

### A brochure site will never load a forum engine

This is the most visible consequence of the architecture. With plugins, a site accumulates unnecessary code over time. With V2, a brochure site contains only the core. A shop contains the core plus what the shop needs. Nothing more.

Take a concrete example: a clothing shop with 300 products, three sizes, five colours, promotions and shipping across Europe. The AI agent relies on the `eclair-commerce-pro` orchestrator skill, which calls on the catalogue, variants and stock, the cart, payments, shipping and VAT. It installs no marketplace, no digital products and no subscriptions, since the project doesn’t need them.

### Combinable skills, a single identity

A library of isolated skills wouldn’t be enough. The key innovation of V2 is that **skills combine**.

Picture an online academy. It needs courses and progress tracking (Éclair LMS), payments and subscriptions (Éclair Commerce), a forum for students (Éclair Community), restricted areas (Éclair Membership), a visual identity (Éclair Design) and good visibility (Éclair SEO/GEO).

In a plugin ecosystem, those six needs often result in six account systems, six ways of managing permissions and several payment gateways. In V2, they share **the same accounts, the same permissions and the same payment mechanism**.

To make this work, each pack declares its dependencies and capabilities. The LMS needs the accounts service, but payments remain optional: a free LMS loads no e-commerce module at all.

### The right storage for each use

Éclair is known for running without a database. V2 keeps that principle for the core, but refuses to impose it everywhere. Managing orders and stock with plain files, without transactional guarantees, would be a mistake.

| Profile | Proposed storage | Example uses |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Éclair Static | Protected files | Brochure site, blog, documentation |
| Éclair Interactive | Structured, indexed files | Forms, small applications |
| Éclair Transactional | SQLite, MySQL or MariaDB | Orders, stock, forums, progress tracking |
| Éclair Connected | External services and APIs | Connected or high-traffic applications |

The message therefore becomes more precise, and more honest: **Éclair Core runs without a database; advanced features can use one when needed.** Public pages, such as product pages, can still be served from the static cache, while a cart or a member session follows a dynamic path.

### Security isn’t an optional extra

AI-generated code must be as solid as hand-written code. That’s why the security rules are built into the foundation skills, rather than left to each feature’s discretion:

- **access control on every object**: an order, a course or a message is served only to the user entitled to it, a protection OWASP lists among the priorities for APIs;
- **payments confirmed by the server**: an order is confirmed and a course unlocked only when a verified payment event (signed webhook) is received, never on a mere visit to a “payment successful” page;
- **audit and tests before publishing**: `eclair-security-audit` and `eclair-test-suite` check every generated feature;
- **update compatibility**: features live alongside the core, and signed updates don’t overwrite them.

## How do you upgrade to Éclair 2.0?

First of all, download a backup in **Security**.

- **From 1.10 or later**: open **Updates**, then install 2.0.0. The old code is kept, the site is checked, and Éclair rolls back on its own if anything goes wrong.
- **Hosting on PHP 8.1 with 1.14.1**: the one-click update doesn’t work on this combination. Switch to PHP 8.2 or later in your hosting control panel, or update by FTP.
- **By FTP**: if you had changed files of Éclair’s theme, first move `app` to `cache/legacy-app` and `assets` to `cache/legacy-assets`, then upload the content of the archive’s `eclair` folder. Your changes are stored in a “legacy” theme, activated automatically.

After the update, the **Themes** page shows what was carried over. The full guide is in [Updates, backups and moving](https://eclaircms.org/en/documentation/updates).

## And now, the skills

The library of **57 skills in eight families** is now published on [GitHub](https://github.com/Jacckisback/eclair-skills). The eight foundations, the design skills and most SEO skills are usable right away; the commerce, learning and forum skills guide the design until the core opens the building blocks they need. Everything is detailed in [the article on the core and the skills](https://eclaircms.org/blog/eclair-2-core-skills-features-on-demand) and on the [Skills page](https://eclaircms.org/en/skills).

## Frequently asked questions about Éclair 2.0

### Is Éclair 2.0 free?

Yes. Éclair remains free software under the AGPL-3.0 license, free for all your sites, including commercial ones. No current feature is removed.

### Will my site look different?

No. The public HTML of existing sites stays byte-for-byte identical, and changes made to a 1.x theme are carried over into a “legacy” theme.

### Is the WordPress import included?

Yes, it is a feature shipped with Éclair 2.0: add it in **Features**, then upload the `.xml` export of your WordPress site.

### Are the 57 skills already available?

Yes. The library of 57 skills is published on [GitHub](https://github.com/Jacckisback/eclair-skills): 19 are usable right away, the others guide the design of features for which some core building blocks are not open yet. See the [Skills page](https://eclaircms.org/en/skills).

### Does Éclair 2.0 use a database?

The core doesn’t: it still works with protected files. Only future transactional features (orders, forum, progress) may use SQLite, MySQL or MariaDB.

[Download Éclair 2.3.0](https://eclaircms.org/en/download)

[Discover the 57 skills](https://eclaircms.org/en/skills)

— Thierry Gustin, Créateur d’Éclair CMS, consultant SEO et formateur IA · November 10, 2026