1. The theme
Under Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme, upload the theme zip and activate it. A bar appears in the admin: Finish setting up Bevel, with an Install button for Elementor and Bevel Kit. Pressing it installs both from WordPress.org and activates them, Elementor first. That is the theme’s only network request, and only you can start it. If you already have a theme you want to keep, skip this step; the Kit works on any theme.2. Elementor and Bevel Kit
If you did not use the theme’s Install button: install Elementor from Plugins → Add New, then upload Bevel Kit under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin and activate it. On the next admin load a bare site fills itself in with the starter set: site settings, a front page, header, footer, single post, single page, archive and 404 templates, and a main menu. Open the site; it already works. See Starter Templates.3. Bevel MCP, if you want an assistant
Bevel MCP is not on WordPress.org. Download it from your license page at my.wpbevel.com (the free plan includes it), upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin and activate it. Connect the site under Bevel → Site Settings → Account, then go to Bevel → MCP Connectors, create a connection, and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or Cursor. See Connecting an assistant.What happens on activation
- The theme registers its menus and stores nothing.
- Bevel Kit keeps Elementor’s next-generation editor experiments off (see Extras) and, on the first admin load, installs the starter set on a bare site and creates the submissions tables. It contacts nothing.
- Bevel MCP registers its endpoint and admin screen. The endpoint stays closed until a connection exists. It contacts nothing on activation; on a connected site it asks my.wpbevel.com for the day’s allowance when an assistant creates pages or posts. See AI generations.
Updating
Update the three parts like any theme or plugin: the theme and Bevel Kit through WordPress.org, Bevel MCP from my.wpbevel.com while the site is connected, both in Plugins → Updates. Templates, settings, fonts, icons, submissions and connections are content and survive updates.Removing
Deactivating the Kit tears down the page cache completely (drop-in,WP_CACHE line, .htaccess rules, cache files). Deleting Bevel MCP removes its connections, settings, log and upload receipts. Everything built stays: it is the site’s content.