Developing custom website features with the AI Engineer

For WordPress, possible projects include a small site-specific plugin, a custom behavior, a supported snippet, or a targeted fix to existing code. On Web Hosting, the Engineer may help with an application script, configuration, or a feature in the technology your hosting plan supports. Requirements such as a different runtime, privileged server changes, or a long-running service may need another solution.

Start with a concrete brief. Explain who will use the feature, its inputs and expected output, how it should fit the existing website, and what must keep working. Identify any external service involved and whether you already have the required account or licence. Ask for an outline of the proposed implementation before authorizing changes.

We recommend building and checking significant changes in a staging or test environment where available. Keep a suitable backup, review changes that handle customer data, and test normal behavior alongside invalid inputs and error cases. A payment integration, for example, needs its own supported test process and careful validation before it is used for real transactions.

The Engineer can reduce the effort involved in turning a clear requirement into working code, but generated code still needs review and testing. Project size, compatibility, external dependencies, hosting limits, and available AI allowance affect what can be completed in a session.

Ask the Engineer to add a small area calculator to an existing page. Specify two inputs, width and length in metres, a result in square metres, readable validation messages and a layout that works on a phone. Request an implementation plan before editing.

[
  {"width": 5, "length": 4, "expected_area": 20},
  {"width": 2.5, "length": 3, "expected_area": 7.5},
  {"width": "", "length": 3, "expected": "validation message"},
  {"width": -2, "length": 3, "expected": "validation message"}
]

These are test cases, not deployment instructions. Have the Engineer adapt the implementation to the existing application and test it in the agreed environment.

Expected result: valid inputs calculate correctly and invalid inputs receive a useful response without breaking the page.

1. Describe the feature, its inputs, expected output, required permissions and failure cases.
2. Ask the Engineer to inspect the existing implementation and propose the files or settings that need changing.
3. Build in an appropriate test environment, review the result, then deploy with a recovery copy and repeat the acceptance tests.

Keep application secrets in the supported private configuration, and use test credentials for integrations where possible. A successful syntax check does not establish that validation, payment handling, permissions or customer-data processing is correct. Review those behaviours explicitly before using a feature with real customers.

• Writing an effective request for your AI Engineer
• Understanding AI Engineer SSH access and account permissions
• Recovering AI changes with supported Undo, backups and restoration
• Choosing the correct AI Engineer for your hosting service

• Nabtech Web Hosting