# Abilities

WordPress 6.9 added the Abilities API: a registry of actions that WordPress,
plugins and themes offer, each with a name such as `core/get-site-info`, a
description, a schema of its input and output, and its own permission check.
The [Agent](/docs/ai/agent/general.md) can find and run them in every mode. On
an older WordPress, the Agent answers that abilities are not available.

## How the Agent uses them

The Agent has two tools for abilities:

- `search_abilities` lists the abilities you may run, optionally filtered by
  a search term, matched against their name, label and description, and by a
  category.
- `execute_ability` runs one ability by name with its input.

Ask for something an ability can do, such as "What is the site's name?", and
the Agent searches for a fitting ability, reads what input it needs, runs it
and reports the result.

## Permissions

The Agent sees and runs only the abilities you may use: each ability's own
permission check runs before it is listed and again before it runs. The Agent
cannot do through an ability what you could not do yourself. Searching and
running abilities also needs the `manage_options` capability, through the
`Abilities_list` and `Abilities_run` operations.

## Where abilities come from

Any plugin can register abilities, and the Agent gains them without any
setting. That includes the SleekWP products: the capabilities they declare for
the workspace assistant are registered as WordPress abilities too, so the
Agent can find and run them as well.