@wordpress/create-block: allow to not generate the plugin data (block.json, readme.txt, and plugin header information on the main php file)

[leoloso]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The @wordpress/create-block package is meant to create single-block plugins. However it can be easily adapted to also support the creation of blocks for a multi-block plugin.

In my case, I have a plugin with a CPT which relies on many custom blocks to input its information. For this case, the single-block plugin would not work. Additionally, since the blocks do not work outside of the CPT, there is no need to expose them in the block directory.

My current workflow to create the blocks for my plugin, located under folder blocks/, is the following:

1. Under folder blocks/, run npm init @wordpress/block block-name for each block
2. After generated, I delete files block.json, readme.txt and the plugin header information from within the main php file
3. From my plugin's main php file, I require each block's main php file: require block-name/block-name.php

Step 2 above could be avoided, by having @wordpress/create-block already not produce these files/code.

Describe the solution you'd like
By default, have @wordpress/create-block running as currently. However, when executing the npm init @wordpress/block block-name command with an additional flag, for instance --autonomous-block, then adding the plugin information is skipped:

• Files block.json and readme.txt are not generated
• Plugin header information is not added to the main php file

This feature request could be tackled together with #23514

[leoloso]

Please notice how each block in the multi-block plugin is autonomous: each has its own package.json, can have its own overriding webpack.config.js, and needs to be run npm run build to be compiled. This is a feature, not a bug. With this feature request, @wordpress/create-block will make this strategy easier to implement.

[gziolo]

Thanks for sharing this proposal. Indeed, it sounds like the tool might be more flexible in how it generates a configuration for the block. At the moment it’s very opinionated and optimized towards usage with Block Directory that is scheduled for release in WordPress 5.5. In the meantime, while we discuss this issue l, we should finish the functionality that allows easier integration with 3rd party templates.

[gziolo]

It is now possible to create your own template that provides all the necessary templates. See:
https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/master/packages/create-block/README.md#external-templates.

In addition to that, there are CLI arguments that allow enable or disable wp-scripts. See:
https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/master/packages/create-block/README.md#usage

I hope it gives enough flexibility when building custom blocks that have different requirements 😄

I'm closing this issue, we can always reopen it if something is still missing or even better open a targeted issue. Thank you for your constant feedback and help to make the tooling better. Major props @leoloso ❤️