Do you want to build WordPress plugins using AI?
This guide shows you how to set up Claude Code and WordPress Studio to create working plugins with text prompts.
Claude Code is Anthropic’s AI coding assistant. WordPress Studio is a free local WordPress environment. Together they allow you to go from idea to a working plugin in minutes – no in-depth coding knowledge required.
This walkthrough covers the complete setup and shows you how to build your first plugin.
1. Install Claude code
Go to Claude Code and sign up for an account – you can choose any paid plan available.
Run the native installer from the settings page and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
The installation takes a minute or two. When it’s done, Claude Code is ready to use.
2. Install WordPress Studio
Download WordPress Studio – it’s completely free and works on both Mac and Windows.
Install it and then create a new site. Give it any name you want, for example “My WordPress Website” works fine.
Because Studio runs locally on your computer, everything you build stays safely on your computer, so you can experiment with AI-generated plugins without risking a live website.
3. Start Claude Code
Using the Open about… options on the Outline tab in Studio, click Terminal. This will open a terminal window at the location of your project file.
Then type claude. If this is your first time, you will be asked to log into your Claude account and confirm that you trust the files in this folder.
Click Enter/return on your keyboard to trust the folder, and you will see the welcome message.
5. Build your first plugin
Describe what you want in the Claude terminal. Give it some context about where you are and what you need. For example:
“We are in the root of the WordPress sitemap. I want a simple plugin that prints ‘Hello’ [Your Name]’ in the site administrator.”
From here, Claude will ask some follow-up questions, create a plugin folder, and generate the entire plugin file with the correct WordPress structure.
6. Activate and test
Go back to WordPress Studio and open your WordPress admin. Navigate to Plugins, find your new plugin and activate it.
If the plugin works properly, your custom message will appear at the top of the admin area. In our case, “Hello Nick” appears as an administrator notification.
If you haven’t changed your name, you might see “Hello Admin.” Simply go to your User List and change the name of your default user.
This is the simplest plugin possible, but shows how quickly you can build with Claude and WordPress.
7. Keep building
From here you can add more features.
Go back to the Terminal in your editor and ask Claude to add new functionality: settings pages, custom blocks, whatever you need.
As with any AI tool, experimenting with prompts will help you achieve better results:
- Give Claude context about where you are in the file structure
- Be specific about what you want the function to do
- Break complex functions into smaller steps
- If something is wrong, ask Claude to explain the generated code
Bonus tip: Telex – an alternative to WordPress blocks
Telex is another unique tool that lets you generate WordPress blocks with AI – and it’s completely free to use.
Just describe which WordPress block you want, and Telex will build it with a live preview in WordPress Playground.
Test it, refine it with follow-up questions, then download it as a plugin and install it on your WordPress site.
You’re ready to build with AI
You now have an AI-powered setup for building plugins for your WordPress site.
- Describe the plugin you want to build and watch Claude generate working code on your WordPress Studio site.
- Experiment with Telex to create full WordPress blocks.
- Keep experimenting and trying new things.
Start simple and then tackle more complex projects as you feel comfortable.
And if you build something cool, share it in the comments. We’d love to see what you make.
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