Update Template is a WordPress ability from Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder — usable via Easy MCP AI, which connects Claude, ChatGPT, and any AI assistant to your site.
Install Free Plugin →Update Template
WriteUpdate an existing template's title, layout data, type, or display conditions.
Requires the Pagelayer plugin on WordPress 6.9+ (or another source of wp_register_ability()) for the Abilities API — registration is skipped entirely via a function_exists() guard when it isn't available, and ability categories similarly require wp_register_ability_category(). Most abilities require the 'edit_posts' capability; update-global-styles, create-menu, and delete-menu require 'manage_options'. search-images additionally needs a Pexels API key configured on the Pagelayer AI Agents settings page, and get-library-sections/import-library-section call Pagelayer's own hosted library API. Four near-duplicate abilities (get-widget, get-widgets-summary, edit-layout, navigator) are registered in source with mcp_public:false — fully callable over the REST Abilities API but intentionally left out of the advertised MCP tool list as duplicates of get-widget-schema, list-widgets, update-page, and get-page respectively — and are excluded from this listing.
What it does
Updates any of title, type, conditions, or pagelayer_data on an existing pagelayer-template post identified by template_id. When pagelayer_data is supplied it goes through the same inline-CSS gate, header nav-menu gate, and, unless skip_validation is set, content-quality gate as create-template, and conditions are re-forced to include the site-wide rule for header/footer types.
See it in action
You ask your AI assistant
"Update template 45's layout to add a new call-to-action button."
Inputs
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| template_id | integer | Yes | Template post ID. |
| title | string | No | New title. |
| type | string | No | New template type. |
| pagelayer_data | object | No | New layout node tree. |
| conditions | array | No | New display conditions. |
| single_page_site | boolean | No | Opts a header out of the Primary Menu widget requirement. |
Returns
An object with success:true, or a WP_Error if the template isn't found or a gate rejects the new layout.
Permission
Requires the 'edit_posts' capability.
More Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder abilities
Add Element
Insert a new element node into a page at a given parent container and index.
Begin Transaction
Snapshot a page's current layout and content as a backup before a multi-step editing sequence.
Change Element Styles
Batch-apply style property changes to page elements matched by ID, pagelayer-id, or widget tag.
Commit Transaction
Discard a page's transaction backup, finalizing the changes made since begin-transaction.
Create / Update Navigation Menu
Create a WordPress nav menu from a list of items (or rebuild an existing one of the same name), optionally with nested Mega Menu content, and assign it to a theme location.
Create Design UI Sections
Append new section nodes onto an existing page without touching what's already there.