AI-Assisted Workflow Demonstrates Haven Template Setup Ahead of Stable Release

A video shared by Drupal contributor John Locke demonstrates how an AI agent can be used to install and run a Drupal CMS site template called Haven, using a custom development environment and minimal manual setup. The walkthrough shows how the Opencode agent application works with a Nix-based environment called Drupal Flake to automate installation steps that would otherwise require manual configuration.

The demonstration, published on LinkedIn, captures an experimental workflow in which the agent interprets a prompt to install the Haven template and proceeds to configure the environment, resolve dependencies, and complete the setup. The process depends on Nix with flakes enabled, which provides a reproducible development environment for managing services and dependencies.

According to the walkthrough, the agent initialises a new project, loads the Drupal Flake environment, and executes installation steps including Composer-based dependency resolution. During the process, the system encounters a constraint where the Haven template depends on a beta version of Drupal CMS, requiring the installation of unstable modules. The agent adjusts configuration automatically to continue the setup.

The environment provisions services such as Nginx, PHP, and MariaDB, and completes a Drupal site installation using the Haven template. The demonstration also shows how the agent monitors progress and resolves runtime issues, including a database configuration inconsistency following installation.

At the time the video was recorded, the Haven template was in beta and did not include detailed installation instructions. A stable release has since been published as part of the Drupal CMS ecosystem, indicating that the demonstration reflects a pre-release state rather than the current distribution.

The Haven template is designed as a site template within Drupal CMS and is not intended to function independently as a standalone theme or distribution. Its setup is typically tied to the Drupal CMS installation process, which provides the required structure and dependencies.

The example reflects early experimentation with agent-assisted development workflows in Drupal, where AI tools are used to reduce manual setup effort and explore incomplete or evolving features. However, the approach depends on specific tooling, including Nix-based environments, which may limit immediate adoption for teams unfamiliar with that stack.