WordPress 6.9 introduces the Abilities 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., a new foundational system that enables plugins, themes, and WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. to register and expose their capabilitiescapability A capability is permission to perform one or more types of task. Checking if a user has a capability is performed by the current_user_can function. Each user of a WordPress site might have some permissions but not others, depending on their role. For example, users who have the Author role usually have permission to edit their own posts (the “edit_posts” capability), but not permission to edit other users’ posts (the “edit_others_posts” capability). in a standardized, machine-readable format. This API creates a unified registry of functionality that can be discovered, validated, and executed consistently across different contexts, including PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher, 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/. endpoints, and future AI-powered integrations.

The Abilities API is part of the broader AI Building Blocks for WordPress initiative, providing the groundwork for AI agents, automation tools, and developers to understand and interact with WordPress functionality in a predictable manner.

What is the Abilities API?

An ability is a self-contained unit of functionality with defined inputs, outputs, permissions, and execution logic. By registering abilities through the Abilities API, developers can:

• Create discoverable functionality with standardized interfaces
• Define permission checks and execution callbacks
• Organize abilities into logical categories
• Validate inputs and outputs
• Automatically expose abilities through REST API endpoints

Rather than burying functionality in isolated functions or custom AJAX handlers, abilities are registered in a central registry that makes them accessible through multiple interfaces.

Core Components

The Abilities API introduces three main components to WordPress 6.9:

1. PHP API

A set of functions for registering, managing, and executing abilities:

Ability Management:

• wp_register_ability() – Register a new ability
• wp_unregister_ability() – Unregister an ability
• wp_has_ability() – Check if an ability is registered
• wp_get_ability() – Retrieve a registered ability
• wp_get_abilities() – Retrieve all registered abilities

Ability CategoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging. Management:

• wp_register_ability_category() – Register an ability category
• wp_unregister_ability_category() – Unregister an ability category
• wp_has_ability_category() – Check if an ability category is registered
• wp_get_ability_category() – Retrieve a registered ability category
• wp_get_ability_categories() – Retrieve all registered ability categories

2. REST API Endpoints

When enabled, the Abilities API can automatically expose registered abilities through REST API endpoints under the wp-abilities/v1 namespace:

• GET /wp-abilities/v1/categories – List all ability categories
• GET /wp-abilities/v1/categories/{slug} – Get a single ability category
• GET /wp-abilities/v1/abilities – List all abilities
• GET /wp-abilities/v1/abilities/{name} – Get a single ability
• GET|POST|DELETE /wp-abilities/v1/abilities/{name}/run – Execute an ability

3. HooksHooks In WordPress theme and development, hooks are functions that can be applied to an action or a Filter in WordPress. Actions are functions performed when a certain event occurs in WordPress. Filters allow you to modify certain functions. Arguments used to hook both filters and actions look the same.

New action hooks for integrating with the Abilities API:

Actions:

• wp_abilities_api_categories_init – Fired when the ability categories registry is initialized (register categories here)
• wp_abilities_api_init – Fired when the abilities registry is initialized (register abilities here)
• wp_before_execute_ability – Fired before an ability executes
• wp_after_execute_ability – Fired after an ability finishes executing

Filters:

• wp_register_ability_category_args – Filters ability category arguments before registration
• wp_register_ability_args – Filters ability arguments before registration

Registering Abilities

Abilities must be registered on the wp_abilities_api_init action hook. Attempting to register abilities outside of this hook will trigger a _doing_it_wrong() notice, and the Ability registration will fail.

Basic Example

Here’s a complete example of registering an ability category and an ability:

<?php
add_action( 'wp_abilities_api_categories_init', 'my_plugin_register_ability_categories' );
/**
 * Register ability categories.
 */
function my_plugin_register_ability_categories() {
    wp_register_ability_category(
        'content-management',
        array(
            'label'       => __( 'Content Management', 'my-plugin' ),
            'description' => __( 'Abilities for managing and organizing content.', 'my-plugin' ),
        )
    );
}

add_action( 'wp_abilities_api_init', 'my_plugin_register_abilities' );
/**
 * Register abilities.
 */
function my_plugin_register_abilities() {
    wp_register_ability(
        'my-plugin/get-post-count',
        array(
            'label'              => __( 'Get Post Count', 'my-plugin' ),
            'description'        => __( 'Retrieves the total number of published posts.', 'my-plugin' ),
            'category'           => 'content-management',
            'input_schema'       => array(
                'type'       => 'string',
                'description' => __( 'The post type to count.', 'my-plugin' ),
                'default'     => 'post',
            ),
            'output_schema'      => array(
                'type'       => 'integer',
                'description' => __( 'The number of published posts.', 'my-plugin' ),
            ),
            'execute_callback'   => 'my_plugin_get_post_count',
            'permission_callback' => function() {
                return current_user_can( 'read' );
            },
        )
    );
}

/**
 * Execute callback for get-post-count ability.
 */
function my_plugin_get_post_count( $input ) {
    $post_type = $input ?? 'post';

    $count = wp_count_posts( $post_type );

    return (int) $count->publish;
}

More Complex Example

Here’s an example with more advanced input and output schemas, input validation, and error handling:

<?php
add_action( 'wp_abilities_api_init', 'my_plugin_register_text_analysis_ability' );
/**
 * Register a text analysis ability.
 */
function my_plugin_register_text_analysis_ability() {
    wp_register_ability(
        'my-plugin/analyze-text',
        array(
            'label'              => __( 'Analyze Text', 'my-plugin' ),
            'description'        => __( 'Performs sentiment analysis on provided text.', 'my-plugin' ),
            'category'           => 'text-processing',
            'input_schema'       => array(
                'type'       => 'object',
                'properties' => array(
                    'text' => array(
                        'type'        => 'string',
                        'description' => __( 'The text to analyze.', 'my-plugin' ),
                        'minLength'   => 1,
                        'maxLength'   => 5000,
                    ),
                    'options' => array(
                        'type'       => 'object',
                        'properties' => array(
                            'include_keywords' => array(
                                'type'        => 'boolean',
                                'description' => __( 'Whether to extract keywords.', 'my-plugin' ),
                                'default'     => false,
                            ),
                        ),
                    ),
                ),
                'required' => array( 'text' ),
            ),
            'output_schema'      => array(
                'type'       => 'object',
                'properties' => array(
                    'sentiment' => array(
                        'type'        => 'string',
                        'enum'        => array( 'positive', 'neutral', 'negative' ),
                        'description' => __( 'The detected sentiment.', 'my-plugin' ),
                    ),
                    'confidence' => array(
                        'type'        => 'number',
                        'minimum'     => 0,
                        'maximum'     => 1,
                        'description' => __( 'Confidence score for the sentiment.', 'my-plugin' ),
                    ),
                    'keywords' => array(
                        'type'        => 'array',
                        'items'       => array(
                            'type' => 'string',
                        ),
                        'description' => __( 'Extracted keywords (if requested).', 'my-plugin' ),
                    ),
                ),
            ),
            'execute_callback'   => 'my_plugin_analyze_text',
            'permission_callback' => function() {
                return current_user_can( 'edit_posts' );
            },
        )
    );
}

/**
 * Execute callback for analyze-text ability.
 * 
 * @param $input
 * @return array
 */
function my_plugin_analyze_text( $input ) {
    $text = $input['text'];
    $include_keywords = $input['options']['include_keywords'] ?? false;

    // Perform analysis (simplified example)
    $sentiment = 'neutral';
    $confidence = 0.75;

    $result = array(
        'sentiment'  => $sentiment,
        'confidence' => $confidence,
    );

    if ( $include_keywords ) {
        $result['keywords'] = array( 'example', 'keyword' );
    }

    return $result;
}

Ability Naming Conventions

Ability names should follow these practices:

• Use namespaced names to prevent conflicts (e.g., my-plugin/my-ability)
• Use only lowercase alphanumeric characters, dashes, and forward slashes
• Use descriptive, action-oriented names (e.g., process-payment, generate-report)
• The format should be namespace/ability-name

Categories

Abilities must be assigned to a category. Categories provide better discoverability and help organize related abilities. Categories must be registered before the abilities that reference them using the wp_abilities_api_categories_init hook.

JSONJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML. Schema Validation

The Abilities API uses JSON Schema for input and output validation. WordPress implements a validator based on a subset of JSON Schema Version 4. The schemas serve two purposes:

1. Automatic validation of data passed to and returned from abilities
2. Self-documenting API contracts for developers

Defining schemas is mandatory when there is a value to pass or return.

Using REST API Endpoints

Developers can also enable Abilities to support the default REST API endpoints. This is possible by setting the meta.show_in_rest argument to true when registering an ability.

       wp_register_ability(
        'my-plugin/get-post-count',
        array(
            'label'              => __( 'Get Post Count', 'my-plugin' ),
            'description'        => __( 'Retrieves the total number of published posts.', 'my-plugin' ),
            'category'           => 'content-management',
            'input_schema'       => array(
                'type'       => 'string',
                'description' => __( 'The post type to count.', 'my-plugin' ),
                'default'     => 'post',
            ),
            'output_schema'      => array(
                'type'       => 'integer',
                'description' => __( 'The number of published posts.', 'my-plugin' ),
            ),
            'execute_callback'   => 'my_plugin_get_post_count',
            'permission_callback' => function() {
                return current_user_can( 'read' );
            },
            'meta'               => array(
                'show_in_rest' => true,
            )
        )
    );

Access to all Abilities REST API endpoints requires an authenticated user. The Abilities API supports all WordPress REST API authentication methods:

• Cookie authentication (same-origin requests)
• Application passwords (recommended for external access)
• Custom authentication plugins

Once enabled, it’s possible to list, fetch, and execute Abilities via the REST API endpoints:

List All Abilities:

curl -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities

Get a Single Ability:

curl -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities/my-plugin/get-post-count

Execute an Ability:

curl -u 'USERNAME:APPLICATION_PASSWORD' \
  -X POST https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities/my-plugin/get-post-count/run \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input": {"post_type": "page"}}'

The API automatically validates the input against the ability’s input schema, checks permissions via the ability’s permission callback, executes the ability, validates the output against the ability’s output schema, and returns the result as JSON.

Checking and Retrieving Abilities

You can check if an ability exists and retrieve it programmatically:

<?php
// Check if an ability is registered
if ( wp_has_ability( 'my-plugin/get-post-count' ) ) {
    // Get the ability object
    $ability = wp_get_ability( 'my-plugin/get-post-count' );

    // Access ability properties
    echo $ability->get_label();
    echo $ability->get_description();
}

// Get all registered abilities
$all_abilities = wp_get_abilities();

foreach ( $all_abilities as $ability ) {
    echo $ability->get_name();
}

Error Handling

Abilities should handle errors gracefully by returning WP_Error objects:

<?php
function my_plugin_delete_post( $input ) {
    $post_id = $input['post_id'];

    if ( ! get_post( $post_id ) ) {
        return new WP_Error(
            'post_not_found',
            __( 'The specified post does not exist.', 'my-plugin' ),
        );
    }

    $result = wp_delete_post( $post_id, true );

    if ( ! $result ) {
        return new WP_Error(
            'deletion_failed',
            __( 'Failed to delete the post.', 'my-plugin' ),
        );
    }

    return array(
        'success' => true,
        'post_id' => $post_id,
    );
}

Backward Compatibility

The Abilities API is a new feature in WordPress 6.9 and does not affect existing WordPress functionality. Plugins and themes can adopt the API incrementally without breaking existing code.

For developers who want to support both WordPress 6.9+ and earlier versions, check if the API functions exist before using them:

<?php
if ( function_exists( 'wp_register_ability' ) ) {
    add_action( 'wp_abilities_api_init', 'my_plugin_register_abilities' );
}

Or

if ( class_exists( 'WP_Ability' ) ) {
 add_action( 'wp_abilities_api_init', 'my_plugin_register_abilities' );}

Further Resources

• Abilities API GitHub Repository
• PHP API Documentation
• REST API Documentation
• Hooks Documentation
• Core Trac Ticket #64098
• Abilities API Handbook
• AI Building Blocks Initiative

Props to @gziolo for pre-publish review.

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