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Every tool Talos can use.
And the risk level of each one.

Talos does not improvise changes to your site. Every action it can take is a defined tool with validated inputs, a permission check and a declared risk level — and you can disable any of them individually. This is the full catalog.

Total tools

49
Read
31
Write
13
High impact
5

Read

Inspects only. Available in every mode, including Ask.

Write

Changes the site. Agent mode only, and tracked in a change set where supported.

High impact

Agent mode only, and gated behind an explicit confirmation in chat.

Risk levels decide what needs your approval

Every tool is classified as read, write or high impact. Read tools inspect and are available in every mode, including inspect-only Ask mode. Write tools change the site and are Agent-mode only. High impact tools are Agent-mode only and stop for an explicit confirmation in chat.

You set the policy per tool

In settings, each tool can be disabled entirely, set to always ask, or fully allowed. A disabled tool is not merely blocked — it is hidden from the agent, so it never appears as an option.

The catalog is extensible

Tools are registered through a filterable registry, so a developer can add site-specific tools or remove ones that do not apply, using the wp_engineer_agent_tools and wp_engineer_agent_tool_definitions filters.

The specifics.

Policy options

Disabled · Always ask · Fully allowed

Risk bands

Read · Write · High impact

Mode restriction

Write and high impact are Agent mode only

Extensibility

Filterable tool registry

49 tools, grouped by what they touch.

Context and conversation

How the agent orients itself before acting, and how it hands control back to you mid-run.

5 tools

get_site_context

Compact site summary: versions, active theme, plugins, content counts and the current admin screen.

Read
search_past_conversations

Search prior chats and reports, or load one session’s messages for continuity.

Read
ask_question

Pause the run and show an interactive multiple-choice question in chat.

Read
submit_plan

Submit a structured plan for your approval before any work starts. Used in Plan mode.

Read
search_web

Public web search for current background information, such as a newly disclosed vulnerability.

Read

Plugin management

Read-only inspection of plugin source, plus lifecycle actions that all sit behind confirmation gates.

10 tools

list_plugins

List installed plugins with status, version and available updates.

Read
get_plugin

Full details for one plugin, by file path or name.

Read
grep_plugin_files

Regex-search sandboxed plugin source code.

Read
read_plugin_file

Read numbered line ranges from a plugin file, capped at 200 lines per call.

Read
search_wp_plugins

Search the WordPress.org plugin directory.

Read
activate_plugin

Activate an installed plugin.

High impact
deactivate_plugin

Deactivate a plugin. Talos cannot deactivate itself.

High impact
install_plugin

Install from WordPress.org by slug, with optional activation.

High impact
update_plugin

Update an installed plugin.

High impact
delete_plugin

Permanently delete an inactive plugin.

High impact

Content

Everything behind Posts, Pages, Media and the taxonomy screens, available as structured actions.

7 tools

search_posts

Keyword search across posts, pages and public post types.

Read
get_post

Load a single post or page by ID.

Read
create_post_draft

Create a draft post or page.

Write
manage_content

List, read, create, update, trash and restore content, plus revisions and meta.

Write
manage_media

List, inspect and edit media, alt text and featured images. Existing attachments only.

Write
manage_taxonomy

Discover taxonomies, then list, create, update, delete and assign terms.

Write
manage_comments

List, read, create, edit, moderate, trash, restore and delete comments.

Write

Native WordPress administration

The routine administration surfaces, with allowlists and redaction around anything sensitive.

7 tools

manage_menus

Navigation menus and their items.

Write
manage_users

Users and roles. Passwords are never accepted or returned.

Write
manage_themes

List, inspect, activate and update themes. No remote install or delete.

Write
inspect_settings

Read allowlisted settings. Secrets, protected and serialized values are denied or redacted.

Read
update_setting

Update one allowlisted setting, with validation.

Write
inspect_database

Table, column and index metadata. No row data.

Read
query_database_readonly

Bounded SELECT, SHOW, DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN. Dangerous SQL is blocked and secrets redacted.

Read

Diagnostics and site health

Bounded, redacted reads of the signals you would otherwise gather by hand across six different screens.

7 tools

inspect_site_health

Runs bounded WordPress Site Health direct tests and returns structured findings.

Read
read_error_logs

Bounded, redacted log tail with search, a time window and error grouping.

Read
inspect_cron

WP-Cron events, overdue items, schedules and unusually frequent hooks.

Read
inspect_http

One bounded same-site loopback or REST check, reporting status, latency and size.

Read
inspect_database_health

Database server metrics, connection pressure and the largest prefixed tables.

Read
inspect_cache

Object cache state, transients and autoloaded-option pressure.

Read
compare_diagnostics

Diff two diagnostic snapshots to show what actually moved.

Read

Change sets and restore

The audit trail. Every tracked write can be previewed, verified against checksums and reversed.

4 tools

preview_change_set

Preview rollback order and conflicts without touching the site.

Read
verify_change_set

Verify current resources against the change set’s recorded checksums.

Read
get_restore_point

Restore point metadata, approval state, checksums and pre/post images.

Read
rollback_change_set

Roll back an approved change set in reverse order. Refuses resources that have drifted.

Write

Skills, workflows and jobs

How one-off work becomes repeatable, and how long-running work survives a page refresh.

5 tools

manage_learned_skill

Draft, approve, reject, search and inspect learned skills. Approve and replay escalate risk.

Read
manage_agent_workflow

Draft and inspect scheduled or hook-triggered workflows. Drafting counts as a write.

Read
send_workflow_email_report

Email a workflow report to its fixed recipients. The agent cannot change the To list.

Write
get_job_status

Durable job status, result and history.

Read
cancel_job

Request cancellation of a queued, running or approval-paused job.

Write

Reports and visuals

Structured output rendered inline in chat, so findings arrive with evidence attached.

4 tools

create_report

Inline structured report cards for security, SEO, health and other audits, with file and line evidence.

Read
create_chart

Inline bar, line, area and pie charts built from real site data.

Read
create_table

Inline structured data tables.

Read
generate_image

Generate an image via OpenAI or xAI and save it to the media library.

Write

Good to know.

Can I stop Talos touching plugins entirely?

Yes. Disable the plugin lifecycle tools — install, activate, deactivate, update and delete — in the per-tool policy editor. They will be hidden from the agent, so it will not propose them.

What stops the agent using a tool it should not?

Several layers. The mode restricts which risk bands are available at all, per-tool policy can disable or gate each one, workflow scopes further narrow what an unattended run can do, and a capability mapping checks the acting user’s WordPress capabilities.

Does Talos have shell or filesystem write access?

No. Source access is read-only and sandboxed to plugin and theme directories, and there is no shell tool. Writes go through validated WordPress APIs.

Put an agent to work in WordPress.

Spend less time clicking through admin and more time moving your site forward.