Topic Description:
So you’ve heard about the WordPress Core AI projects. Maybe you’ve read the blog posts, skimmed the GitHub repositories, or watched a talk about what’s coming. But there’s a massive difference between understanding something conceptually and actually building with it. If that’s the case, then this workshop is for you.
In this workshop, you’ll learn to build a working AI-powered WordPress plugin from scratch. You’ll leave with functioning code on your laptop and a solid understanding of how each of these tools works, so you can start experimenting on your own.
What we’ll build:
We’re going to create a plugin that registers custom abilities, exposes them via the Model Context Protocol, and uses the WP AI Client to add intelligent behaviour. By the end, you’ll have a plugin that lets an AI assistant interact with your WordPress site—discovering what’s possible and taking actions on your behalf.
Prerequisites:
A laptop with a local WordPress development environment that you are familiar with (I’ll be using WordPress Studio)
Familiarity with WordPress plugin development, PHP, and JavaScript
Composer and Node.js are installed and working, the latest stable versions
An API key from one of the following AI model providers: Google, Anthropic, OpenAI (You can register one for free via Google AI Studio)
If you prefer not to register an API Key with one of these providers, you can also install Ollama and a local model of your choice.
One of the following MCP-compatible agentic AI applications: Claude Desktop, VS Code with GitHub Copilot, or Cursor
Claude Code is also acceptable if you use that.
You may use your own MCP-compatible AI agent, but I won’t be able to support you if things go wrong.
The patience to troubleshoot if things don’t work the first time (they rarely do, and that’s part of learning)
Fair warning: once you see an AI assistant execute an ability you wrote yourself, you’ll probably spend the rest of the weekend thinking of things to build. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.