Location: #core-ai Slack Channel 

Agenda: No formal agenda this week

The bi-weekly CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. AI meeting was held on September 18th, 2025:

Key discussion points:

• WordPress 6.9 BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. 1: A reminder that the beta is scheduled for October 21st and when the first iteration of the Abilities APIAbilities API A core WordPress API (introduced in 6.9) that creates a central registry of capabilities, making WordPress functions discoverable and accessible to AI agents, automation tools, and developers. Transforms WordPress from isolated functions into a unified system. will be merged into core.
• Changing Package Type: @justlevine raised a topic about changing the package type of the Abilities API from a library to wordpress-pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. @isotropic agreed to the change as it doesn’t impact existing plugins. However, he suggests it’s important to note in the docs and messaging that this is going core, and not intended to be a plugin. Currently the suggested way to use this pre 6.9 is using Composer to install it into the vendor directory. A good example of this is how WooCommerce has done it.
• Composer Package Expectations: The team wants to define what they expect from a Composer package to align with architectural decisions.
• Client-Side Abilities in 6.9: @isotropic expressed interest in including the client-side abilities in WordPress 6.9, noting that the relevant PRs are in a good state. However, the method of inclusion and the specific abilities to ship need to be determined.
• Number of Abilities in Core: There was a consensus to include a minimal number of “sparkly” (i.e., impactful) abilities in 6.9, with the option to add more later. @flixos90 cited the REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/. as an example of an APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. shipped with few initial endpoints that were later expanded.
• “Discover Abilities” as a First AbilityAbility A registered, self-documenting unit of WordPress functionality that can be discovered and invoked through multiple contexts (REST API, Command Palette, MCP). Includes authorization and input/output specifications.: @justlevine suggested making “discovering abilities” the first ability, referencing ChatGPT’s initial connector specification.
• MCP AdapterMCP Adapter Translates WordPress abilities into Model Context Protocol format, allowing AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT to discover and invoke WordPress capabilities as tools, resources, and prompts. 0.2.0 Release: @psykro requested a 0.2.0 version of the MCP adapter, as only 0.1.0 is currently available on Packagist. This would allow for easier access to the latest code for demos. @ovidiu-galatan has a large pull request that could be considered for this release, despite its size, to avoid delaying needed functionality.

Decisions and Next Steps:

• @isotropic and @gziolo will drive the conversation in the issues next week to decide on client inclusion and what abilities will ship in 6.9, aiming for a decision by mid-next week.
• A release discussion issue will be created to set up a milestone for the MCP adapter 0.2.0 release.

#core-ai, #meeting, #summary