The Abilities API was added to WordPress in version 6.9.
For backwards compatibility, you can check if the WP_Ability class is available.
if ( ! class_exists( 'WP_Ability' ) ) { // E.g. add an admin notice about the missing dependency. add_action( 'admin_notices', static function () { wp_admin_notice( esc_html__( 'This plugin requires the Abilities API, which is only available in WordPress 6.9 or newer. Please update your WordPress version to use this plugin.', 'textdomain' ), 'error' ); } ); return; }Basic Usage Example
The below example is for a plugin implementation, but it could also be adapted for a theme’s functions.php
<?php // 1. Register the ability when the Abilities API is initialized. // Using `wp_abilities_api_init` ensures the API is fully loaded. add_action( 'wp_abilities_api_init', 'wporg_register_abilities' ); /** * Register custom abilities. * * @return void */ function wporg_register_abilities() { wp_register_ability( 'wporg/get-site-title', array( 'label' => __( 'Get Site Title', 'textdomain' ), 'description' => __( 'Retrieves the title of the current WordPress site.', 'textdomain' ), 'output_schema' => array( 'type' => 'string', 'description' => 'The site title.', ), 'execute_callback' => 'wporg_get_site_title', 'permission_callback' => '__return_true', // Everyone can access this. 'meta' => array( 'category' => 'site-info', 'show_in_rest' => true, // Optional: expose via REST API. ), ) ); } // 2. Define a callback function for your ability. /** * Callback to get the site title. * * @return string */ function wporg_get_site_title(): string { return get_bloginfo( 'name' ); } // 3. Later, you can retrieve and execute the ability. add_action( 'admin_init', 'wporg_use_ability' ); /** * Use the registered ability. * * @return void */ function wporg_use_ability() { $ability = wp_get_ability( 'wporg/get-site-title' ); if ( ! $ability ) { // Ability not found. return; } $site_title = $ability->execute(); if ( is_wp_error( $site_title ) ) { // Handle execution error. error_log( 'Execution error: ' . $site_title->get_error_message() ); return; } // `$site_title` now holds the result of `get_bloginfo( 'name' )`. echo 'Site Title: ' . esc_html( $site_title ); }