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Use the AI chat

This page shows you how to set up the AI chat in the editor and what each of its controls does.

Unbot, the assistant built into Unblock, builds, styles and writes on the page or template open in the editor. To work from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor instead, see MCP Bridge.

Requirements​

The chat runs through WordPress Connectors, the AI layer built into WordPress. You bring your own API key: Unblock includes none.

  1. Go to Settings → Connectors in your WordPress admin.
  2. Add a provider, such as Anthropic, Google or OpenAI.
  3. Enter your API key and save.

WordPress Connectors settings page showing Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI providers

If no provider is set up, the chat answers your first message with No AI provider is configured on this site and an Open Connectors settings link.

The chat also needs an active Unblock license. Without one, the sidebar shows Unblock AI is locked, with an Activate license link if you can manage the license.

Common mistake

The chat has no API key of its own. Until a provider is set up in Connectors, it can't answer.

Turn it on or off​

The chat is on by default. To turn it off, open the Unblock modal from the editor toolbar, go to the Settings panel, Editor tab, and uncheck AI assistant under AI.

Who can use it​

Anyone who can edit posts (Contributors, Authors, Editors, Administrators) can use the chat.

The chat never does more than you could do by hand. Each of its tools follows the matching WordPress permission:

  • Styles need the right to change the site's CSS (Administrators by default). Without it, the AI builds and edits blocks and reuses the existing classes.
  • JavaScript needs the unfiltered_html capability, like the JS panel of a block.
  • Image generation needs the right to upload files, like the media library.

Developers can limit the chat to some roles with the unblock/ai/chat/can_use filter.

Open the chat​

Click the Unblock AI button in the editor toolbar, the one with the sparkles. The sidebar opens on the right, in the post editor and in the Site Editor.

When you can use both the chat and MCP, the sidebar has two tabs, Chat and MCP, and reopens on the last one you used.

The Unblock AI sidebar open on the Chat tab, with the agent selector, Unbot's greeting and the message box

Pick an agent​

The selector at the top of the chat holds three agents:

  • Builder: creates and changes blocks and the page structure.
  • Designer: changes how things look: colors, spacing, typography.
  • Writer: writes and edits text.

Switching agents starts a new conversation. Your page stays as it is, and the new agent reads it. See Chat agents for what each one can do.

Write your message​

Describe what you want in the message box, then press Enter or click Send. Shift + Enter adds a line break. While the AI answers, Send becomes Stop.

Type / to add a skill, such as image generation or an accessibility audit.

Attach files​

Click + to give the AI a design to follow, brand guidelines or a reference layout:

  • From computer: JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP images, PDFs and plain text files, up to 20 MB each.
  • From media library: images and PDFs from your site.

Response limit​

The response limit sets how long an answer may be. It's the button next to +:

  • Short: up to 4K tokens, for quick answers and small edits.
  • Medium: up to 16K tokens, for most tasks.
  • Long: up to 32K tokens, for pages with many blocks. This is the default.
  • Unlimited: the model's maximum.

If the AI stops mid-answer, raise the limit.

Temperature​

The temperature sets how predictable or varied the answers are. It's the button next to the response limit:

  • Auto: the default. The chat leaves the temperature to the model.
  • Precise (0.2): consistent output, for structured edits and code.
  • Balanced (0.5): between the two.
  • Creative (0.8): more varied output, for writing.
Google models

Some Google models refuse a custom temperature. If a Google model returns errors, set the temperature back to Auto.

Model​

The model list sits under the message box. Model (Auto) lets your provider pick. Open the list to choose a model yourself: type a few letters to find it. The list groups the models by provider and shows only those of the providers set up in Connectors.

Next to it, the chat shows how many tokens the last answer used.

Read the answer​

The answer streams in as the AI writes it. Under the text, the chat sums up what changed on the page: Inserted 5 blocks, Updated 2 blocks, Moved 1 block, Removed 3 blocks or Updated styles.

A conversation where the Builder agent added a gallery section, with the summary of the changes and the Undo and Restore buttons

A line in red means part of the answer didn't reach the page:

  • 1 change could not be applied. Ask again. The editor refused a change, for example on a locked block. The AI is told why, so asking again usually works.
  • 1 CSS rule was not imported. Unblock had no place to keep that rule.

Undo and Restore​

The last three answers that changed the page have two buttons:

  • Undo puts the page and its styles back as they were before that answer.
  • Restore brings back the result of that answer.

Older answers lose the buttons. The editor's own undo still works as usual.

Google Fonts​

When the AI picks a Google Font your theme doesn't ship, the chat asks: This design uses Google Fonts. Allow loading them from Google?

  • Allow installs the fonts in your site's font library, so your site serves them itself. The chat remembers your choice in this browser.
  • No thanks installs nothing, and the page shows a fallback font instead.

Start over​

Click Clear, under the conversation, to start a new one. The AI forgets the previous messages, but it still reads the page as it is now.

The conversation isn't saved: reloading the editor clears it, along with its Undo and Restore buttons.

Common mistake

The AI works from what's on your page. On an empty page, give it a detailed prompt. On a page with content, refer to what's there: "Make the hero darker" is enough.

Next steps​