WordPress Abilities API

Starting with WordPress 6.9, the Abilities API provides a standardized way for plugins to register machine-readable capabilities. Agent to Bricks registers all its operations as abilities, making your Bricks site discoverable by any AI tool that speaks the Abilities protocol.

This means Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, and any custom agent can discover what your site can do — not just through Agent to Bricks, but through every plugin that supports abilities.

What gets registered

When your site runs WordPress 6.9+ with Agent to Bricks, these abilities become available:

Category	Abilities	Description
agent-bricks-site	get-site-info, get-site-features, get-frameworks, list-element-types, list-query-element-types, list-pages	Site configuration, discovery metadata, and query-capable element types
agent-bricks-commerce	get-woocommerce-status, list-products, list-product-categories, list-product-tags	WooCommerce discovery and catalog metadata
agent-bricks-pages	get-page-elements, replace-page-elements, append-page-elements, patch-page-elements, delete-page-elements, search-elements	Read and write Bricks page content
agent-bricks-pages	list-snapshots, create-snapshot, rollback-snapshot	Version control for page content
agent-bricks-design	list-classes, create-class, delete-class, get-styles, get-variables	Design system access
agent-bricks-content	list-templates, list-components, get-component, upload-media	Content and media management

Each ability includes JSON schemas for inputs and outputs, behavioral annotations (readonly, destructive, idempotent), and permission checks.

Discovering abilities from the CLI

List all abilities registered on your site:

bricks abilities list

ABILITY                                LABEL                    MODE

[agent-bricks-design]
agent-bricks/list-classes              List Global Classes      readonly
agent-bricks/create-class              Create Global Class      read/write
agent-bricks/get-styles                Get Theme Styles         readonly
agent-bricks/get-variables             Get CSS Variables        readonly

[agent-bricks-pages]
agent-bricks/get-page-elements         Get Page Elements        readonly
agent-bricks/replace-page-elements     Replace Page Elements    destructive
agent-bricks/append-page-elements      Append Page Elements     read/write
...

[seo]
yoast/get-seo-meta                     Get SEO Meta             readonly
yoast/set-seo-meta                     Set SEO Meta             read/write

Notice the last category — that’s from Yoast SEO, not Agent to Bricks. The CLI discovers abilities from all plugins.

Filter by category:

bricks abilities list --category agent-bricks-pages

Get full details and schemas for a specific ability:

bricks abilities describe agent-bricks/get-page-elements

Name:        agent-bricks/get-page-elements
Label:       Get Page Elements
Description: Retrieves all Bricks elements for a page.
Category:    agent-bricks-pages
Mode:        readonly

Input Schema:
{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "page_id": { "type": "integer" }
  },
  "required": ["page_id"]
}

Output Schema:
{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "elements": { "type": "array" },
    "contentHash": { "type": "string" },
    "count": { "type": "integer" }
  }
}

Execute: POST https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/agent-bricks/get-page-elements/run

Including abilities in LLM context

Add the --abilities flag to include discovered abilities in the agent context:

bricks agent context --format prompt --abilities

This adds a “Site Abilities” section to the context output. The LLM sees abilities from all plugins — Agent to Bricks, Yoast, WooCommerce, Gravity Forms, or anything else that registers abilities. It can then mix and match:

• Build a Bricks page using ATB abilities
• Discover query-capable elements and existing product loops before editing
• Set SEO meta using Yoast abilities
• Create or inspect WooCommerce objects using WC or ATB commerce abilities

All from the same conversation.

For the JSON format:

bricks agent context --format json --abilities

Or just the abilities section:

bricks agent context --section abilities

Calling abilities directly (HTTP)

Any tool that can make HTTP requests can execute abilities. The WordPress Abilities REST API lives at /wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/.

Discover available abilities

curl -H "X-ATB-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/abilities

Execute a readonly ability

curl -H "X-ATB-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/agent-bricks/get-site-info/run"

Execute a write ability

curl -X POST \
  -H "X-ATB-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input": {"page_id": 42}}' \
  "https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/agent-bricks/get-page-elements/run"

Execute abilities from other plugins

curl -X POST \
  -H "X-ATB-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input": {"post_id": 42, "title": "My Page Title", "description": "A great page"}}' \
  "https://example.com/wp-json/wp-abilities/v1/yoast/set-seo-meta/run"

Authentication

The Abilities API supports standard WordPress authentication methods:

• X-ATB-Key header — works with Agent to Bricks abilities (same key as the custom REST API)
• WordPress Application Passwords — works with all abilities from any plugin
• Cookie authentication — for same-origin browser requests

For the best experience across all plugins’ abilities, consider setting up a WordPress Application Password alongside your ATB API key.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.9 or later
• Agent to Bricks plugin v1.8.0+
• No additional configuration needed — abilities are registered automatically

On WordPress versions before 6.9, the abilities features are simply not available. The plugin’s custom REST API (/wp-json/agent-bricks/v1/) continues to work on all supported WordPress versions.

How it works

Agent to Bricks registers abilities using WordPress’s wp_register_ability() function. Each ability wraps an existing REST endpoint handler, so there’s zero duplication — the same code handles both the custom REST API and the abilities interface.

The registration is conditional: if wp_register_ability_category doesn’t exist (pre-6.9), the plugin skips abilities setup entirely.

Related

• Bring your own agent — How to connect any AI tool to your Bricks site
• REST API reference — The custom ATB REST API (works on all WP versions)
• Agent commands — The bricks agent context command
• WordPress Abilities API documentation — Official WordPress developer docs
• Abilities REST endpoints — Official REST reference