Training course · Agentic Coding · WordPress

Agentic Coding for WordPress Developers

Use autonomous coding agents effectively: specs instead of prompts, task decomposition, test-driven loops, multi-agent setups and governance.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

This course connects Agentic Coding with the everyday processes of WordPress. Participants work on realistic scenarios and leave with prompts, workflows and checklists they can use straight away.

Agentic coding means working with AI agents that carry out development tasks largely on their own: they read code, plan changes, run commands and tests, and correct themselves based on the results. Tools such as Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, the GitHub Copilot coding agent and Cursor’s agent mode have made this way of working practical for everyday use. This vendor-neutral course teaches the underlying methodology so that you achieve reliable results whatever the tool, and redefine the developer’s role within your engineering team.

The core shift is from ad hoc prompts to robust specifications. You will learn to decompose and describe tasks so that agents solve them reliably, to set up test-driven loops in which tests act as objective acceptance criteria, and to run several agents in parallel or with a division of labour. We also cover review strategies for agent-generated code and team governance: permissions, security boundaries, accountability, cost control and the gradual introduction of agentic workflows into your existing development processes.

WordPress powers a large share of all websites, from corporate sites and WooCommerce shops to complex portals. Development has changed considerably along the way: block themes, full site editing, Gutenberg blocks built in React and the REST API now sit alongside classic PHP plugins and long-lived themes. AI coding assistants and agents help you build custom blocks and plugins faster, modernise legacy code, track down security flaws such as missing escaping or nonces and analyse performance issues. Because WordPress projects are often maintained by small teams or individuals, the productivity gain is especially noticeable. In this course you learn to apply AI in line with the WordPress coding standards, combine it with WP-CLI and local development environments and ship plugins that are secure and maintainable.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • WordPress theme and plugin developers
  • Web agencies and freelancers specialising in WordPress
  • WooCommerce developers
  • Frontend developers building Gutenberg blocks
  • Technically minded website owners

Typical challenges we address

  • Long-lived themes and plugins with outdated PHP code and hard-to-maintain dependencies
  • Security flaws from missing escaping, missing nonces and unsafe database queries
  • Performance issues caused by plugin bloat, unnecessary queries and poor caching
  • Moving from classic themes and page builders to block themes and full site editing

What you will be able to do

  • You understand how coding agents work and choose the right tool and level of autonomy.
  • You write specifications and project context that agents can work with reliably.
  • You break initiatives into verifiable sub-tasks and steer agents through test-driven loops.
  • You use multi-agent setups and parallel work in a controlled way.
  • Develop Gutenberg blocks, plugins and block themes with AI support in line with the WordPress coding standards.
  • Systematically find and fix security and performance issues in existing WordPress installations.
  • Automate maintenance, deployment and content migrations with WP-CLI and AI agents.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Foundations of agentic development
  • How coding agents work: tool calls, context windows and feedback loops
  • Comparing tools: terminal agents, IDE agents and cloud agents
  • Recognising suitable tasks and choosing levels of autonomy deliberately
  • The new role in the team: from implementation to steering and acceptance
Module 2 Specifications instead of prompts
  • Describing tasks with goal, context, constraints and acceptance criteria
  • Keeping project context in files such as CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or rules
  • Plan-first approach: let the agent draft a solution and review it before implementation
  • Versioning specifications and maintaining them as part of the repository
Module 3 Task decomposition and test-driven agent loops
  • Breaking large initiatives into independent, verifiable sub-tasks
  • Having tests written first and using them as an objective stopping criterion
  • Using linters, type checks and builds as automatic feedback
  • Recognising stuck loops and restarting with a new strategy
Module 4 Multi-agent setups and parallel work
  • Defining specialised subagents for research, implementation, testing and review
  • Organising parallel work with branches, worktrees and isolated environments
  • Orchestration: merging results and resolving conflicts
  • Sharing tools and data sources through MCP

Day 2

Module 5 Review, security and team governance
  • Review strategies for large, agent-generated changes
  • Defining permissions, sandboxing and protection against prompt injection
  • Embedding agents in CI pipelines and pull request processes
  • Planning team guidelines, accountability, costs and a phased rollout
Module 6 Practice lab: WordPress
  • Developing Gutenberg blocks
  • Building and modernising plugins
  • Running a security audit
  • Analysing performance
  • Extending WooCommerce
  • Automating maintenance
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • WordPress projects handle form, customer and order data: you learn not to pass unfiltered database dumps to AI services, to respect GPL obligations for plugins and generated code, to protect credentials in wp-config.php and to implement GDPR requirements for tracking and forms.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Developing Gutenberg blocks

Generate custom blocks with block.json, React components for editor and front end, block attributes and style variations, and implement dynamic blocks with server-side rendering in PHP.

Building and modernising plugins

Generate plugin scaffolding with namespaces, autoloading, hooks and settings pages and gradually move existing plugins to current PHP language features and the WordPress coding standards.

Running a security audit

Examine theme and plugin code for missing escaping, unvalidated input, missing nonce and capability checks and unsafe SQL without prepare, and produce corrected versions. Each finding is explained.

Analysing performance

Investigate slow pages with Query Monitor and profiling data, optimise expensive WP_Query calls, autoloaded options and asset loading order, and propose sensible caching strategies using transients.

Extending WooCommerce

Implement custom shipping methods, payment hooks, product fields and checkout tweaks while staying compatible with High-Performance Order Storage and the block-based cart and checkout pages.

Automating maintenance

Create WP-CLI scripts for updates, database search and replace, migrations between environments and content imports, and wire them into deployment pipelines for staging and production.

Possible hands-on projects

Block library for client sites

A plugin with reusable blocks such as teasers, FAQ accordions and contact boxes, including style variations from theme.json and full translation support.

Plugin security scanner

A command-line tool that searches plugin code for common security patterns and produces a prioritised report with remediation hints. It runs locally or in CI.

Content migration script

A WP-CLI command that imports content from a CSV or XML source, maps fields, brings over images and detects duplicates.

Prerequisites

You have several years of development experience, are confident with Git, testing and CI, and ideally have already used AI coding tools. You have practical experience with PHP and WordPress theme or plugin development; basic JavaScript knowledge helps for block development.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with Git, a terminal and your development environment, plus access to at least one coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex, Copilot or Cursor.

Data protection & compliance

WordPress projects handle form, customer and order data: you learn not to pass unfiltered database dumps to AI services, to respect GPL obligations for plugins and generated code, to protect credentials in wp-config.php and to implement GDPR requirements for tracking and forms.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Wed, 25 November 2026 – Thu, 26 November 2026 Online Request
  • Mon, 7 December 2026 – Tue, 8 December 2026 Bremen Request
  • Wed, 20 January 2027 – Thu, 21 January 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 25 January 2027 – Tue, 26 January 2027 Salzburg Request
  • Wed, 3 February 2027 – Thu, 4 February 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 8 February 2027 – Tue, 9 February 2027 Kaiserslautern Request

Frequently asked questions

How does agentic coding differ from vibe coding?

Vibe coding relies on fast, intuitive iteration in natural language and is particularly suited to prototypes. Agentic coding is an engineering discipline for professional codebases: precise specifications, tests as acceptance criteria, clear permissions and structured reviews ensure that agents deliver reliable, maintainable results even in complex, long-lived projects.

Is the course tied to a specific tool?

No. The course teaches methods that work with Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, the GitHub Copilot coding agent, Cursor and comparable tools. The exercises highlight differences and common ground, for example in context files, permissions and subagents. You can work with whichever tool your organisation already uses or plans to adopt.

How do we stay in control of quality and security with autonomous agents?

Control comes from several layers: tightly scoped permissions and sandboxing, tests and static analysis as automatic checks, mandatory human review before merging, and clear team rules on accountability. During the course you develop a governance concept that fits your processes, security requirements and regulatory obligations.

Do AI assistants know the WordPress APIs well enough?

Core hooks, functions and patterns are well covered. For newer developments such as block bindings, the Interactivity API or editor changes, models sometimes suggest outdated approaches. Current documentation as context, project rules and automated checks with PHPCS and the WordPress coding standards fix this. You practise exactly this workflow in the course.

Can we use AI-generated code in commercial plugins?

In principle yes, but check the terms of your AI service and remember that WordPress plugins are generally licensed under the GPL. Generated code can resemble fragments of well-known projects, so review and, where appropriate, licence scanning belong in your process. In the course we discuss practical rules for agencies and product vendors.

How much does “Agentic Coding for WordPress Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

More courses for WordPress Developers

More Agentic Coding courses

All 32 Agentic Coding courses

Agentic Coding · MunichAgentic Coding · SalzburgAgentic Coding · BerlinAgentic Coding · AugsburgAgentic Coding · HanoverAgentic Coding · BremenAgentic Coding · StuttgartAgentic Coding · KaiserslauternAgentic Coding · Online