Wp Abilities VerifySAFE

Expert-level WordPress knowledge for AI coding assistants - blocks, themes, plugins, and best practices

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: wp-abilities-verify
description: "Verify a WordPress plugin's Abilities API registrations: enumerate abilities, check that callback behavior matches each annotation's claim (the adversarial readonly-but-writes detection), validate permissions and schemas, and validate audit documents produced by wp-abilities-audit."
compatibility: "Targets WordPress 7.0+ plugins (PHP 7.4.0+). Requires a runnable environment (wp-env, docker-based dev stack, or equivalent) for runtime mode; static mode runs entirely from the plugin checkout with no env. Filesystem-based agent with bash + node."
---

# WP Abilities Verify

Verify a WordPress plugin's Abilities API registrations. The
centerpiece is the **adversarial annotation correctness check**: a
`readonly: true` ability that actually writes (via `$wpdb->update`,
`update_option`, a non-GET delegate, etc.) is a security and UX
disaster because agents plan actions on the basis of the annotations
they introspect. This skill catches those lies by reading the callback
body and comparing what it does against what the annotation claims.

The skill also validates audit docs produced by `wp-abilities-audit`,
checks permission gates and schema hygiene, and optionally executes
each ability against a live environment.

## When to use

- After abilities have been registered in a plugin but before a PR
  lands.
- As a health-check on an already-shipped plugin (catch regressions
  where a refactor turned a readonly ability into a writing one).
- To validate an audit document before handing it to an implementer.

## Two modes

- **Static mode** — runs from the plugin checkout. No env. Enumerates
  via source inspection, runs the adversarial correctness check, runs
  schema and permission lints, and validates audit docs.
- **Runtime mode** — requires a running env. Does everything static
  does PLUS: `wp_get_abilities()` for authoritative enumeration,
  executes each ability with curated inputs, confirms permission
  roundtrip against real users, and runs a twin-invocation heuristic
  on `idempotent: true` abilities to flag candidates for review
  (return-value equality is a signal, not a verdict — core defines
  idempotent as "no additional effect on the environment").

Both modes produce the same structured report format.

A static-mode PASS means "no obvious-shape violations," not "verified
write-free." For high-stakes plugins, run runtime mode before landing
— it catches bootstrap-order, permission-roundtrip, and idempotency
issues that static can't. See `references/annotation-correctness.md`
for the static blind spots.

## Inputs required

1. **Plugin checkout path** — working tree to verify.
2. **Mode** — `static` or `runtime`. Default to static if unspecified.
3. **(Runtime only) Env-up command** — read the plugin's `AGENTS.md`.
   Common patterns: `npm run wp-env start`, `npx wp-env start`, or a
   composer-based bring-up. Plugin families with their own dev tooling
   will document their own command. Do NOT assume `npm run wp-env`
   works.
4. **(Optional) Audit doc path** — enables cross-checks between the
   audit and the registered abilities, and validates the audit itself.
5. **Report output path** — explicit path, typically the user's vault.

## Prerequisites

- `wp-project-triage` has been run on the plugin.
- The plugin has at least one registered ability in source. Zero hits
  on `wp_register_ability(` → return a clear "no abilities registered"
  report, not an empty PASS.

## Procedure

### 1. (If audit provided) Validate the audit doc

Read `references/audit-schema-validation.md`. Validate the audit
against the canonical schema owned by `wp-abilities-audit`. Surface
missing required fields, multiple `reference_ability: true`, and
`backing: null` entries that aren't paired with a `surfaced_gaps`
entry. `backing: null` alone is WARN (intentional gap output), not
FAIL.

### 2. Enumerate abilities statically

Read `references/static-enumeration.md`. Find each
`wp_register_ability(` call, extract the name, the annotation block,
and the execute-callback location. Use a multi-line tool (`rg
--multiline --pcre2`) — the canonical formatting splits the call
across lines. Record each ability's source-file + line + annotations +
callback byte range.

### 3. (Runtime only) Enumerate via REST + wp-cli

Read `references/runtime-harness.md`. Bring the env up using the
command from `AGENTS.md`, then enumerate via `wp_get_abilities()` over
wp-cli and cross-check against the static inventory. Source-only →
FAIL (registration not firing). Runtime-only → WARN (dynamic
registration path).

### 4. Annotation correctness (the adversarial core)

Read `references/annotation-correctness.md`. Read each callback body
and verify it matches the annotation claim:

- `readonly: true` → callback must not write to the database, the
  options table, post / user / term / comment data, the filesystem,
  cron, or via non-GET HTTP / REST delegates.
- `destructive: false` → callback must not delete, refund, void,
  cancel, or trash.
- `idempotent: true` → repeated calls with the same input have no
  additional effect on the environment (per the `idempotent`
  annotation's docblock in `class-wp-ability.php`). Static catches
  counter writes and per-call cron schedules; runtime adds a
  twin-invocation heuristic for visible state changes.

The reference lists common write patterns as a starting set, not a
checklist — plugin vocabularies vary, and the agent extends with verbs
specific to the plugin under verification.

False positives get suppressed via an inline `// verify-ignore:
<annotation> -- <reason>` comment.

### 5. Permission roundtrip

Read `references/permission-roundtrip.md`. Static: classify each
`permission_callback` against the six shapes (preferred Shape A
`current_user_can(...)`; FAIL on Shape B-bad `WP_REST_Request`
patterns or Shape E literal `true`). Runtime: anon and subscriber
denied; admin allowed (unless deliberately public). When an audit was
provided, cross-chec

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

What the source does

Filesystem

none-observed

Network

none-observed

Shell

none-observed

Dependencies

pinned

Secrets in source

none-found

Findings (0)

No findings outside the package's declared scope.

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.

[![ModelsAtlas audit: Wp Abilities Verify](https://modelsatlas.com/skills/wordpress/wp-abilities-verify/badge.svg)](https://modelsatlas.com/skills/wordpress/wp-abilities-verify/)

Not your listing, or something out of date? Claim or update your listing.