As a WordPress developer for more than a decade, I've built numerous WordPress blocks, ranging from simple callouts and icon blocks to multi-block forms and slideshows. The process can be demanding and requires a solid grasp of how WordPress works under the hood, as well as familiarity with React, JavaScript, PHP, and other relevant technologies.
Scaffolding tools like WordPress's create-block help. Modern AI code editors, such as Cursor, and assistants like Claude Code, also speed things up. With the right setup and context, you can abstract away much of the complexity. The catch is that you still need to provide the AI with WordPress-specific context and wire everything together. That's fine for developers, but it keeps the barrier high for everyone else.
What if you could skip that complexity entirely? That's where Telex comes in.
What is Telex?
Telex is an experimental tool from the Automattic AI team that turns natural-language prompts into working WordPress blocks. You simply describe what you want, and Telex generates the block.
Everyone can use Telex, from:
- Site owners who want custom functionality tailored to their site or who want to experiment with a new idea.
- Agencies and freelancers who need quick prototypes or small utility blocks for client projects.
- Developers who want fast scaffolding in a real WordPress context and code they can refine.
- Aspiring developers who learn best by seeing a working example and reading the code behind it.
Under the hood, Telex packages your block as a single block plugin and previews the result in your browser, all powered by WordPress Playground. There's no local setup. You can refine the block with short follow-up prompts or edit the code directly, then download the plugin and install it on a site when you're ready. You can also share your work as a link.
Since Telex is an experiment, results will vary and you may run into bugs and issues along the way. That's part of the process. We're learning where AI can remove friction in block creation and where it can be genuinely useful. It is also not an AI website builder. Think of it as an AI that helps you make small functional tools as blocks.
Telex is currently free to use and you can create as many blocks as you like. Give it a try now.
How to build blocks with Telex
Start by thinking about what you want to create. It could be a feature your site is missing or a playful idea to see what Telex can do. This is an experiment, so exploration is welcome. You can also check out one of the featured projects on the Telex homepage for inspiration.
For this post, I'm stepping into the shoes of a food blogger. I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe to share, and I'd like to display an ingredient list that readers can scale up to 4 times. Readers should be able to check off ingredients as they go. There should also be a copy button on the frontend that copies the ingredient list to the clipboard. In the editor, I want to add ingredients in a simple table with three columns: quantity, unit, and ingredient. I should also be able to remove and reorder ingredients up or down in the table using buttons.
I started by entering this prompt in Telex:
Please build an Ingredient List block. This will display a list of ingredients (think food blog) that readers can check off. Add a copy button on the front end that copies the ingredient list to the clipboard. Include a built-in recipe scaler so readers can 2x, 3x, and 4x the recipe, updating ingredient quantities accordingly. In the editor, I need to enter ingredients in a table with three columns: quantity, unit, and ingredient. I should also be able to remove and reorder ingredients up or down in the table using buttons.
I then clicked Build, and Telex got to work.
The more context you include in your initial prompt, the better. Still, don't hesitate to try a quick prompt. You can spin up as many blocks as you want, even at the same time. Just open a new browser tab.
In about two minutes, I had a working WordPress block with all the functionality I requested. Here's a look at the Editor view with the ingredients for my recipe entered into the table. Notice the action buttons like I requested.
The frontend delivered all the functionality immediately, though the styling needed some refinement. This is where additional prompts help to fine-tune things.
I generally prefer a block to inherit my theme's styles. I also wanted checked ingredients to show a strikethrough, and I wanted ingredient quantities formatted as whole numbers or fractions where possible. Finally, to add a bit of excitement, when the reader checks off all items, perhaps there's a confetti animation.
I handled each change with multiple short follow-up prompts:
Let's simplify the styling so this ingredient list inherits the current theme styles.
On the front end, when a reader checks an ingredient, also apply a strikethrough.
Convert ingredient quantities to whole numbers or fractions on the frontend where possible. No decimals, please.
For fun, when a reader checks off all the items on the ingredients list, shower the screen with a confetti animation.
I recommend giving Telex one task at a time in your follow-up prompts. After four iterations, one for each of the tasks above, my Ingredient List block looked like this:
You can also modify the code directly, which is handy if you prefer to make quick, targeted changes. It's also a great way to learn how the block is assembled.
In my case, I wanted the scale buttons to look a bit different and to update the table in the Editor, so I switched to Code view and adjusted the style.scss and editor.scss files manually.
Here's the final result. It took about 10 minutes to build in total:
Note: Telex is not deterministic. If you try the prompts outlined in this post, expect slightly different results. No two builds will be exactly the same.
Of course I could have kept iterating. Perhaps add JSON-LD structured data to the ingredient list for search engine optimization, or the ability to convert the units to metric. The possibilities are endless.
Once satisfied with your block, you have two options: use the Download button to get the plugin zip file, or click the Share button. The latter copies a unique link to your clipboard. Anyone with this link can view your block in Telex without needing to log in.
Here's the link to the block I built for this blog post:
If you click the preview link above, you'll also be able to download the Ingredient List block as a zip file, just as if you had created the block yourself. You can then install it on any WordPress site that supports plugin uploads, or test it locally using WordPress Studio.
Troubleshooting and known gaps
Telex is experimental, so you may hit the occasional hiccup. Sometimes the AI makes a wrong assumption or generates code that does not run. This is common with all AI tools. If you see a warning like the one below, keep iterating. Ask Telex to fix the specific error or copy the details to a new prompt. Then describe the outcome you expect. You can ask as many follow-up questions as you like. If things get tangled, start a fresh session and restate your block requirements.
There are also many ways to build a block in WordPress, and part of this experiment is to identify areas that need improvement in Telex. For example, blocks that require inner blocks are not currently supported. A slideshow with a parent "Slideshow" block and child "Slide" blocks is a common use case, and Telex will struggle to implement it.
If you run into a scenario where Telex repeatedly fails to complete your request, please let us know in the comments or share your feedback in the in-app feedback form. Sharing your prompt, the error message, and a brief description of what you were trying to build will help the team improve Telex.
Keep iterating
Telex is an early look at how AI can lower the barrier to block creation. We'll keep improving it based on what you build and the feedback you share, so spin up a block, post your preview link, and tell us what worked and what didn't.
Some ideas we're considering for the future include version history, visual descriptors to make your project list more visual, uploading and customizing existing blocks, and other improvements, whether big or small.
Together, we can make WordPress block development faster, friendlier, and more accessible to everyone.
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