As we can’t imagine WordPress today without the “hook system” (actions and filters), in a few years, we won’t be able to imagine WordPress without the Abilities API. While “bigger players” are starting to adopt it, overall its transformative power isn’t yet obvious to most.
Most of the time, the Abilities API is only discussed in relation to AI, and this does a disservice to it. My angle is more pragmatic and less hype-driven, though I will mention how it relates to MCP and agents.
This talk (re)introduces the Abilities API, focusing on how it brings standardization, allows functionality to be consumed by multiple consumers (REST API, WP-CLI, client-side calls, and more), reduces boilerplate code, and in general helps write better plugins. I’ll also share concrete examples of how it’s used today.
The goal is to encourage everyone to start using it. The talk is aimed at developers who prefer a down-to-earth, no-BS approach to technical topics.