neillmcshea 3:35 pm on 2 March 2026
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AI Contributor Weekly Summary: 25 February 2026

The AI Contributor Group met on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 23:00 UTC. The meeting focused on the upcoming WordPress 7.0 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. 2 release, the development of the new Connector screen, and initial planning for WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Asia’s Contributor DayContributor Day Contributor Days are standalone days, frequently held before or after WordCamps but they can also happen at any time. They are events where people get together to work on various areas of https://make.wordpress.org/ There are many teams that people can participate in, each with a different focus. https://2017.us.wordcamp.org/contributor-day/ https://make.wordpress.org/support/handbook/getting-started/getting-started-at-a-contributor-day/.

🚀 WordPress 7.0 & CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. AI Updates

Beta 2 and 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.

Beta 2 is on track for Feb 26th . The team discussed the status of several core tracks:

  • Nested Namespaces: These are now officially in Beta, resolving previous concerns about track thread inactivity.
  • Abilities on Hold: Work on new core abilities is currently paused as the team shifts focus toward the Connector screen and the AI client to meet RCRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. (Release CandidateRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge.) deadlines.
  • Timeline: While most priority items are on track for 7.0, deeper exploration of 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. shapes will likely resume after the current release cycle stabilizes.

The New Connector Screen

@jorgecosta provided a status update on the new UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing. requested to simplify AI providerProvider An AI service offering models for generation, embeddings, or other capabilities (e.g., Anthropic, Google, OpenAI). connections:

  • Scope: The goal is a simplified interface to install and connect the three main providers (Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic/Claude) with a single button and 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. key.
  • Experimental API: There is ongoing debate regarding how extensibleExtensible This is the ability to add additional functionality to the code. Plugins extend the WordPress core software. this screen should be. For Beta 2, the screen will likely include an experimental API allowing third-party providers to register their own connectors, preventing a fragmented settings experience across the ecosystem.
  • Review: The development is moving quickly in the Gutenberg repository. Contributors are encouraged to test against the latest trunk to ensure no fatal errors occur during provider instantiation.

🧪 AI Experiments PluginAI Experiments Plugin WordPress's AI laboratory bringing all building blocks together. Serves as both a user tool and developer reference implementation. First release (v0.1.0) includes Title Generation experiment. & Client

@dkotter raised concerns regarding the “double testing” currently required because the Experiments 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. often pulls in older versions of the AI client compared to what is now in Core.

  • Dependency Management: A new PR is up to update the Experiments plugin to the latest WordPress AI client. This serves as a “stop-gap” to maintain compatibility for users on WordPress 6.9 while preparing for 7.0 to become the new minimum version.
  • Image Editing: Current providers in the Experiments plugin do not yet support image editing. Upstream changes to the PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. https://www.php.net/manual/en/preface.php AI client will be required to enable this “impressive feature” target.
  • Backwards Compatibility: @jasonadams confirmed he is working on a core prompt function update to the AI client to ensure a graceful rollover to 7.0 without breaking existing third-party implementations.

🔗 Model Context Protocol (MCP) Update

  • Progress: @neillmcshea noted that movement on MCP has been slow over the last three weeks due to contributor availability.
  • Milestones: Questions remain regarding the milestones for version 0.5.0. The team will continue to push for clarity on these open requests to ensure MCP remains a priority for upcoming sprints.

🌏 WordCamp Asia Contributor Day

The team began discussing logistics for the AI table at WordCamp Asia (April 9, 2026).

  • Task Identification: The group agreed that the priority should be defining actionable tasks (testing, handbook updates, and adapter development) rather than just badge distribution. @neillmcshea will create an async doc that we can use to begin planning for WC Asia
  • Handbook Updates: An action item was set to create a “Contributor Day” section in the handbook to empower new contributors to get started without high-touch onboarding.
  • Remote Support: @justlevine will provide remote comms support from SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/ to assist @deepakgupta and others physically present at the table.

📚 Documentation & Knowledge Sharing

  • Glossary & Lexicon: A proposal is under review to standardize AI terminology within the WordPress ecosystem.
  • Knowledge Base: The team is moving toward a regular “call for experiments” to encourage community members to share what they are building with the new Core primitives.

👥 Team Logistics & Availability

  • Contributor Time: @justlevine announced that starting March 1st, his sponsored contribution time will double from 5 to 10 hours per week.
  • Absences: @jasonadams will be largely unavailable during March due to travel and speaking engagements. @jorgecosta and @gziolo will be the primary points of contact for technical reviews during this period.

📅 Next Steps

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at 23:00 UTC in the #core-ai Slack channel.

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