Most WordPress users never think twice about the plugins repository: search, install, done. But behind that simple flow sits a review pipeline that handles roughly 800 new submissions a week, run by fewer than 10 active volunteers, with help from automated tools and AI. Francisco walks through how that process actually works, why plugin submissions have surged since AI coding tools took off, and where the system still can't fully protect against bad actors, including a real supply-chain attack the team dealt with after a popular plugin changed hands.

Key topics include:

• How the review pipeline works, from the Plugin Check tool to AI-assisted first review to human reviewers
• Why the repository grew from 60,000 to 70,000+ plugins in under two years
• How AI model releases correlate directly with spikes ...