Getting started with Darwin AI

Darwin AI is a WordPress plugin that lets AI work on your site safely. It does this in two ways. There is a chat inside wp-admin for small, everyday edits. There are also handoffs: time-limited passes you give to your own AI coding agent, such as Claude Code, for bigger jobs. Everything either of them does is recorded in a shared history.

Requirements

• WordPress 6.0 or later and PHP 8.1 or later. This is what the plugin needs to install and run handoffs.
• WordPress 7.0 or later for the chat. The chat talks to AI through the Connectors screen and the AI features that arrived in WordPress 7.0. On older versions, the chat explains that it cannot run, and handoffs still work.
• WordPress 7.1 or later for the Abilities API. Abilities are a WordPress feature that lets other AI tools on your site discover what plugins can do. On 7.1, Darwin AI also offers its read-only tools there. It never offers its editing tools that way.
• To install updates from Darwin Labs, your server's PHP needs its standard signature-checking extension (sodium). Darwin AI uses it to check that every update really comes from Darwin Labs.

Installing

1. In wp-admin, go to Plugins and upload the Darwin AI zip file.
2. Activate the plugin.
3. Open any admin screen. A round Darwin AI button appears in the bottom-right corner.

Darwin AI does not come from wordpress.org. Once a licence key is active, its updates appear on WordPress's own Updates screen (see Licence key and updates).

Where Darwin AI appears

Darwin AI has no menu item. Instead, a round button sits in the bottom-right corner of every wp-admin screen. Click it to open the Darwin AI panel, and click it again (or press Esc) to close it. Nothing loads on the public side of your site.

Only users who can manage the site's settings see the button. In practice, that means administrators. You can narrow this further with incognito mode:

• Turn on Enable incognito mode under Settings > Global > Access.
• Choose the Authorized users, then click Save. Only administrators can be chosen, and your own account always stays on the list.
• Administrators who are not on the list do not see the panel. Darwin AI is also hidden from their Plugins list.
• Removing someone from the list immediately cancels any handoffs they created.

The panel and what each part is for

The panel's top bar shows the plugin version and three status lines: the chat's state (Chatbot ready, Chatbot setting up or Chatbot offline), your live handoffs and leases, and the total number of history events. A switch under the top bar moves between the two modes:

Part	What it is for
Chat	Talk to Darwin about your site and ask for small edits. You confirm every change before it happens. See The admin chat.
Handoff > Handoffs	Create, copy and revoke handoffs for your own AI agent, and see the leases (agent sessions) under each one. See Passes and access levels.
Handoff > History	Every tool call and every handoff event, from every administrator, with a search box. See History.
Tools button	Browse every tool and mode Darwin AI has on this site, filtered by the lowest permission level each one needs. See Tools.
Feedback button	Send an issue, idea, praise or question to Darwin Labs.
Settings button	Opens a sidebar with two tabs: Personal and Global.

Personal settings

These apply to you only.

• Auto-hide the Chat / Handoff switch: tucks the switch away until your cursor comes near it.
• Chatbot permission level: how far the chat may go on its own. The default is Editor.
• Default permission level and Default lifetime: what the new-handoff form starts with. Out of the box, these are Builder and 8h. These two defaults are remembered in your browser.

Global settings

These apply to the whole site.

• Licence and updates: your licence key and Darwin AI updates.
• Chatbot: which AI model the chat uses, the hourly and daily spending limits, and a spending meter.
• Access: incognito mode, plus Endpoints. Darwin AI checks the web addresses agents use to reach it. Click Check endpoints after you move the site, change web server or edit rewrite rules.
• Reporting: Send tool improvement reports. This lets agents report tool errors and missing features to Darwin Labs. It is off by default. See Privacy.

Licence key and updates

A licence key only controls updates. Darwin AI works without a key. Without one, you can still use chat, handoffs and every tool. You just do not receive new versions.

1. Open the panel, click Settings and choose the Global tab.
2. Under Licence and updates, type your key into the Licence key field and click Activate.
3. Darwin Labs confirms the key for this site. The panel then shows only the last four characters of the key.

• A key covers a limited number of sites. Deactivate this site frees this site's slot. You click it twice to confirm.
• Darwin AI checks the key once a day. If Darwin Labs cannot be reached, the last good answer counts for a grace period (7 days unless Darwin Labs sets another). After that, updates pause. The plugin keeps working.
• Your key is sent only to Darwin Labs, never in a web address.
• With an active key, the Updates section shows your installed version, any newer version with its changelog, Check now and an update button. Updates also appear on WordPress's normal Updates screen.
• Every release is digitally signed by Darwin Labs. Before WordPress replaces any files, Darwin AI checks the signature and every file. If anything is missing, changed or added, the update is refused, and the panel says why.

First steps

1. Open the panel from the round button in the bottom-right corner.
2. Choose how you want to work:
   • To chat in wp-admin, follow Connect a provider in the Chat pane. The chat guide walks you through it.
   • To use your own agent instead, choose Work with your own agent, or switch to Handoff and click + New handoff. Then follow Connect an agent.
3. Start with the lowest permission level the job needs. You can always create a new handoff at a higher level later.
4. After your first session, open Handoff > History to see exactly what was done.
5. If you have a licence key, add it so you receive updates.

Before you hand any work to AI, read Safety.