Installation

You can install and activate Expression Lab like any other WordPress plugin.

Experimental Alpha Software

Expression Lab is currently an unaudited alpha prototype intended for local development, testing, and staging inspection. It is not suitable for live production environments, e-commerce stores handling sensitive customer data, or critical infrastructure. For detailed operational boundaries and prohibited use cases, review the Security Model.

Requirements

Before installing Expression Lab, ensure your environment meets the following requirements:

Server Requirements

• WordPress: 6.4 or higher (tested up to 7.1)
• PHP: 8.2 or higher
• PHP Extensions:
  • Sodium (Required): Required for Ed25519 signature verification on incoming console evaluation requests.
  • SQLite3 (Recommended / Optional): Enables in-memory table mirroring for analytical queries without running ad-hoc analytical queries on the active MySQL database.

Browser Requirements

Expression Lab relies on client-side cryptographic features during onboarding and console sessions:

• Web Crypto API: Required by the browser for client-side Argon2id key derivation and Ed25519 request signing.
• Secure Context: Modern browsers require secure contexts (https:// or http://localhost / 127.0.0.1) to access the Web Crypto API.

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Installation Methods

Method 1: Download ZIP archive

Download the latest ZIP archive from the Expression Lab repository:

Download Expression Lab

Current version: v0.2.0-alpha

Alternatively, you can install it via Composer.

Method 2: Development Installation (from Source)

If you are developing or contributing to Expression Lab:

1. Clone the repository into your WordPress plugins directory:

   cd wp-content/plugins/
   git clone https://github.com/andersonsalas/expressionlab.git
   cd expressionlab

2. Install PHP and JavaScript dependencies:

   composer install
   pnpm install

3. Build the assets:

   pnpm build

4. Activate the plugin via WP-CLI or the WordPress Admin:

   wp plugin activate expressionlab