This guide will help you build a basic block that demonstrates the Interactivity API in WordPress.
Scaffold an interactive block
Start by ensuring you have Node.js and npm installed on your computer. Review the Node.js development environment guide if not.
Next, use the @wordpress/create-block package and the @wordpress/create-block-interactive-template template to scaffold the complete “My First Interactive Block” plugin.
Choose the folder where you want to create the plugin, and then execute the following command in the terminal from within that folder:
npx @wordpress/create-block@latest my-first-interactive-block --template @wordpress/create-block-interactive-template
The slug provided (my-first-interactive-block) defines the folder name for the scaffolded plugin and the internal block name.
Basic usage
With the plugin activated, you can explore how the block works. Use the following command to move into the newly created plugin folder and start the development process.
cd my-first-interactive-block && npm start
When create-block scaffolds the block, it installs wp-scripts and adds the most common scripts to the block’s package.json file. Refer to the Get started with wp-scripts article for an introduction to this package.
The npm start command will start a development server and watch for changes in the block’s code, rebuilding the block whenever modifications are made.
When you are finished making changes, run the npm run build command. This optimizes the block code and makes it production-ready.
View the block in action
If you have a local WordPress installation already running, you can launch the commands above inside the plugins folder of that installation. If not, you can use wp-now to launch a WordPress site with the plugin installed by executing the following command from the plugin’s folder (my-first-interactive-block).
npx @wp-now/wp-now start
You should be able to insert the “My First Interactive Block” block into any post and see how it behaves in the front end when published.