A client’s store slowed to a crawl right after someone clicked update to WooCommerce 10.4. Here is what the release actually changes in the REST API, the Store API and the block editor, and which custom code you should review first.
A client’s booking plugin started throwing fatal errors after a theme update, because both files defined get_data(). Prefixing the function bought five minutes. Here is what proper PHP namespacing does instead.
Plugins have always exposed their features however they liked, so integration meant writing a wrapper per plugin and repairing it after every update. The Abilities API in WordPress 6.9 replaces that with one registration format.
A client’s AI plugins each shipped their own settings screen and each asked for API keys they had already entered. The Core AI check-in from October 8th, 2025 covers both fixes: categories on the Abilities API, and one provider settings screen.
An off-the-shelf AI plugin left a client with a slow backend and alt text that had nothing to do with the images. The core AI discussions point somewhere better: content summaries, post titles and image descriptions behind one PHP AI Client.
A WooCommerce shop inherited custom plugins that broke on every update and dragged the admin down. The fix was not more hotfixes, it was the basics: prefixed functions, core hooks, sanitized input and capability checks.
A client wanted AI features on his WordPress site and every plugin used a different API. The new WordPress AI Client SDK gives plugins and themes one consistent, WP-native API for multiple providers.
A client spent six months stuck on API plumbing before any AI features shipped. The lesson: build WordPress AI on a proper AI Client SDK, with a standard way to register providers, before chasing features.
Custom capabilities get messy fast on big WordPress sites. The Abilities API, in development for 6.9 as part of Core-AI, gives a structured way to define and manage them.
A client’s AI prototype broke because their site ran PHP 7.2 while our code used PHP 7.4. Here is how the WordPress Core AI team handles the same version gap, and how to build for it.