Ability Palette

Ability Palette is an experimental WordPress plugin that explores using the WordPress Abilities API as a source of reusable capabilities and exposing selected Abilities through the WordPress Command Palette.

The plugin uses WooCommerce as a practical example.

It registers:

ability-palette/get-orders-needing-attention

The Ability returns the number of WooCommerce orders currently:

• Processing
• On hold

It can be executed independently as a WordPress Ability and, through a generic adapter, from the WordPress Command Palette.

Requirements

• WordPress 7.1+
• WooCommerce
• A user with manage_woocommerce to execute the example Ability

What this experiment demonstrates

WooCommerce
  → WordPress Ability
  → Client-side Abilities API
  → generic Ability/Commands adapter
  → Command Palette
  → generic structured result modal

The adapter contains no WooCommerce-specific logic. The important architectural idea is to define a capability once, then allow different consumers to execute it. The Command Palette is only one possible consumer.

Tutorial

The tutorial branch contains a clean, linear history for the accompanying article.

Step 1 — Register the Ability

Tag: tutorial/step-01-ability

This stage contains only the WooCommerce Ability. Before any Command Palette integration exists, readers can inspect the registered Ability using WordPress's Abilities Explorer.

Step 2 — Connect it to the Command Palette

Tag: tutorial/step-02-command-adapter

Introduces the generic Ability → Commands adapter and the command-palette category opt-in.

Step 3 — Execute the Ability

Tag: tutorial/step-03-command-execution

Executes the Ability through @wordpress/abilities from the Command Palette.

Step 4 — Add execution feedback

Tag: tutorial/step-04-result-feedback

Adds WordPress notices and the classic wp-admin snackbar fallback.

Step 5 — Render structured results

Tag: tutorial/step-05-result-modal

Adds the generic result modal and uses the Ability's output_schema as presentation hints.

Following the tutorial

Start on the tutorial branch and list its checkpoints:

git switch tutorial
git tag

To inspect a specific checkpoint:

git switch --detach tutorial/step-01-ability

To return to the complete tutorial:

git switch tutorial

Move through the tags sequentially as you follow the article.

Current example

{
  "processing": 0,
  "on_hold": 0
}

Actual values depend on the WooCommerce store.

Architecture

WooCommerce
    ↓
Ability
    ↓
┌────┴─────────────┐
↓                  ↓
Abilities       Command
Explorer        Palette
                    ↓
                Result Modal

Other consumers, such as workflows, REST clients, or AI/MCP integrations, could potentially consume the same Ability without moving that logic into the Command Palette adapter.

Status

Ability Palette is experimental and was created as part of research into the WordPress 7.1 Abilities and Commands APIs. It is not a production WooCommerce plugin.