WordPress Gutenberg 22.7 quietly adds AI connectors and content rules that change how you edit

WordPress Gutenberg 22.7: Key details

According to the official release notes, Gutenberg 22.7 focuses on editing workflow updates and experimental AI integrations. The plugin ships with interface changes, new configuration options, and multiple bug fixes across the block editor.

• Block developers can now define custom CSS selectors in block.json that Global Styles recognizes. This lets Global Styles target specific inner elements instead of only a block's outer wrapper.
• Core blocks such as Heading, Image, Paragraph, and Button now show live previews when switching style variations. Style variations are also available for patterns in contentOnly mode.
• A new Connectors admin page appears under Settings > Connectors, letting users view and manage their connectors. This experimental screen manages AI keys and credentials and exposes extension hooks for plugin-defined connectors.
• Gutenberg 22.7 introduces an experimental Content Guidelines feature, backed by a REST API and custom post type. It lets site owners define and manage site-wide content rules from a central interface.
• The release adds interfaces for site, copy, image, and additional guidelines, plus actions for import, export, and revisions. These capabilities are documented in Gutenberg pull requests #75420 and #76155.
• Real Time Collaboration is now enabled by default in the Gutenberg plugin to match behavior planned for WordPress 7.0. The change does not override any existing deliberate user setting for this feature.
• The update includes multiple fixes across blocks, patterns, and editor controls, as listed in the changelog.

Background context for Content Guidelines and AI connectors

Gutenberg is the feature plugin that powers and previews the WordPress block editor before features land in core releases. Version 22.7 continues this role by aligning the plugin's default Real Time Collaboration behavior with the plan for WordPress 7.0. Any explicit user preference for collaboration remains respected.

The Content Guidelines system builds on a proposal published by Automattic's James LePage, co-lead of the WordPress AI team. In the proposal, LePage describes Content Guidelines as:

"a single place in WordPress to capture site-wide content standards and context."

He notes that many sites already maintain voice, tone, structural, image, accessibility, and linking rules outside WordPress.

According to the proposal, the feature aims to create one shared source of truth for content standards. It is also intended to support more steerable AI behavior and provide guardrails for automated agents. Import and export capabilities are designed to keep guidelines portable between environments and reusable across new sites.

Official sources and documentation

Details of Gutenberg 22.7 are documented in the Make WordPress Core announcement and accompanying Gutenberg GitHub pull requests. These sources outline the new editing features, experimental AI connectors, and the Content Guidelines infrastructure.

• Official release post: "What’s new in Gutenberg 22.7? (11 March)" on Make WordPress Core.
• Content Guidelines management implementation: Gutenberg pull request #76187.
• Guidelines user experience for site, copy, image, and additional rules: Gutenberg pull request #75420.
• Import, export, and revisions for guidelines: Gutenberg pull request #76155.