AI Workflow Automation is designed to be lightweight and runs on most standard WordPress hosting. Here is what you need.
WordPress and server
- WordPress 6.2 or higher. Version 6.2 is the minimum because it bundles the React 18 runtime the builder uses.
- PHP 8.0 or higher.
- MySQL 8.0 or higher, or MariaDB 10.5 or higher.
- An SSL certificate, so AI provider calls and cloud communication are secure.
- A modern web browser: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.
The plugin is fully functional on WordPress 6.x. If you run WordPress 7.0, the optional agent surface (exposing workflows as core Abilities and over the MCP Adapter) lights up automatically. It is opt-in and off by default.
For AI, you need one of two things
You need either your own provider key or a connected account, not both.
- Local (BYOK). An API key from an AI provider such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter. You pay that provider directly for usage, and the key never leaves your WordPress install.
- Cloud (keyless). A free connected account. AI calls run through our hosted proxy, metered in credits, so you do not manage a key at all.
Some nodes use third-party services when you enable them, for example Firecrawl for web scraping or document parsing for the Knowledge Base. Those run through the cloud service. See BYOK keys vs keyless credits for details on which is which.
Hosting recommendations
The plugin runs on shared hosting, but for sites that run complex or frequent workflows we recommend at least 2 GB of RAM and a VPS or dedicated host. Long-running AI steps can hit PHP execution time limits on constrained hosts. If that is a concern, run those workflows in Cloud mode, which has no PHP timeouts.