neillmcshea 1:47 pm on 9 April 2026
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AI Contributor Weekly Summary – 8 April 2026

The AI Contributor group met on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, to discuss the upcoming WordPress 7.0 release, the evolution of the AI Handbook, and coordination for 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/ activities.

Highlights

  • Leadership Transition: @jason_the_adams has officially stepped into the role of Director of AI at Automattic. He shared insights on his shifting capacity and how the team can support CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. AI efforts during this transition.
  • AI 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. Release: Version 0.7.0 of the AI plugin is scheduled for release tomorrow, featuring a modernized settings 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..
  • AI Handbook Push: There is a renewed focus on building out non-technical documentation to explain WordPress’s AI philosophy and provide user-facing guides.
  • Contributor Day Coordination: Plans were finalized for both in-person and digital participation in upcoming contributor events, specifically targeting documentation and testing.

Organizational Update: Jason’s Role & Key Priorities

@jason_the_adams shared that he has transitioned into the role of Director of AI at Automattic (with @isotropic also moving to Head of AI at Automattic). While he is currently re-calibrating his hands-on capacity, he identified two specific areas he is personally committed to watching closely to ensure they do not lose momentum during this shift:

  1. The AI Client: This remains the top priority for the WordPress 7.0 cycle. Jason emphasized the need for high responsiveness to bugs and feedback as plugin developers begin to ramp up their usage of the client.
  2. The Connectors Page: Jason highlighted this as a critical strategic piece. He noted that while the AI team is the primary consumer now, it is not strictly an “AI feature” and is part of a broader vision for WordPress. He suggested that maintenance should eventually transition to the Core or Plugins teams to ensure it isn’t “pigeonholed” as AI-only.

Delegation & Communication Path: To augment Jason’s focus, the team established the following contact protocol:

  • Primary Technical Contacts: @gziolo has been brought on specifically to focus on Core AI contributions. He and @jorgefilipecosta will handle bug fixes, providerProvider An AI service offering models for generation, embeddings, or other capabilities (e.g., Anthropic, Google, OpenAI). updates (OpenAI, Google, etc.), and standard PR reviews.
  • Escalations: Jason should be pinged specifically for architectural redirections, new model types (like embeddings), or significant pivots in the AI Client’s scope.

Core AI and Plugin Development

The team discussed the trajectory for the AI plugin as it aligns with the WordPress 7.0 cycle.

  • V1.0 Roadmap: @jeffpaul proposed jumping to a version 1.0 soon to signal stability and encourage broader adoption before the final WP 7.0 release.
  • UI Modernization: @jorgefilipecosta provided an update on the new settings UI, which uses a data-form structure to allow for automatic generation of sub-settings without regressing user experience.

Documentation and the AI Handbook

A significant portion of the meeting focused on the “optics” of AI in WordPress and the need for a robust Handbook.

  • Philosophy over Code: @jason_the_adams noted that the handbook should move beyond technical docs to address user concerns, (e.g Jason used a hospital website as an example: because the AI Client is flexible, a developer can choose a HIPAA-compliant provider to handle sensitive data securely of the use of the “off switch” a specific constant that users can set to completely disable AI features).
  • Contribution Guides: @neel33 and @jeffpaul are working on adding a “Contribute with Docs” section to help new contributors get started with documentation. As a first step we should all feel comfortable drafting in a Google Doc and sharing in the channel – getting it published should be a low barrier to entry and we should adopt a YOLO method of, publishing first – assuming it was drafted and given some level of review, and feeling ok about iterating and polishing later.

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Updates on the 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. and its distribution:

  • Version 0.5.0: A release is expected this week once final testing is completed by @ovidiu-galatan.
  • Distribution Strategy: The team continues to debate the best way to package the MCP adapter whether as a composer package, a standalone plugin, or a bundled zip to make it accessible for non-technical users. @isotropic @flixos90 we likely will need Team RepTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts. discussion+decision on the approach here.

Call for Design: AI Landing Page

The team discussed the need for a dedicated AI marketing page on WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ to better communicate available features to non-technical users.

  • The Need: Currently, no central landing page exists to showcase WordPress AI features/experiments for non-technical site owners and more detailed technical capabilities to developers, agencies, and hosts.
  • The Request: @jeffpaul issued a call for designers within the community to help identify what content should be featured and how to lay it out.
  • The Goal: Create a single point of reference that highlights “Capital F” Features and “Capital E” Experiments, making AI in WordPress more accessible to the broader public.

The Connectors Page

Clarification was provided regarding the naming of the “Connectors” page in WordPress core.

  • Broader Scope: The page is deliberately not named “AI Connectors” because it is intended to host credentials for various third-party APIs, including non-AI services like Akismet, WooCommerce, or Mailchimp.
  • Unified Interface: The goal is to provide a single, standardized location for all third-party connections within the WordPress dashboard.

Next Steps

  • Open good-first-issues for AI plugin ahead of Contributor Day
  • Release of AI Plugin 0.7.0.
  • Release 0.5.0 MCP
  • Ongoing: Drafting handbook guides on AI concepts and opt-out instructions.

Upcoming meetings

Folks are welcome to join on Wednesday’s at 1700 UTC via Google Meet with in-meeting notes captured in a Slack Canvas and then paired with Gemini meeting notes to help generate this meeting summary post. All team meetings are published to https://make.wordpress.org/meetings/#ai.

  • The next bi-weekly AI Team Chat 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/ discussion is scheduled for 16 April 2026.
  • The next weekly AI Contributor weekly Google Meet video call is scheduled for 15 April 2026.

Props to @jeffpaul for the pre-publish review.

#core-ai, #summary