Media Editor Route Experiment: Override media edit links to point to the new experimental media editor - #81559

andrewserong · 2026-08-13T04:36:52Z

Part of:

Media Library: Create a dedicated media editor #72734

What?

Override edit post links, i.e. those used in the core media library to point to the experimental media editor, when the "Media Editor (Route)" experiment is active.

Why?

While the media editor is very far from being feature complete (see the parity gaps in #72734) to help those of us working on this to test out the editor and get a feel for those gaps, this PR proposes wiring up the editor so that it's part of the flow of editing and managing media (when the experiment is on).

⚠️ there are very big gaps in behaviour between the core editor and this one, for example there's currently no way to save changes in this flow 😄. Fixes and filling in gaps will be for follow-ups.

How?

Filter on 'get_edit_post_link' and point to the URL for the experimental new media editor.
Also add a redirect to the new screen in case folks attempt to access the classic screen via direct url (I can remove this from the PR if it feels like too much for now)
JS change: in the media editor code add a scope prop that allows a consumer to pass in a custom scope for the editor — this could arguably be its own PR but while testing this PR out, I noticed that in the route-based approach if I'd had the sidebar closed in the media editor modal closed, then it'd be closed in the route-based editor. I think these should be separate scopes and we really want this editor to default to the sidebar being open.

Testing Instructions

Enable the Media Editor (Route) experiment:

Go to the Media library screen in wp-admin and click on an image or its "Edit" link:

This should navigate you to the new media editor screen, instead of the core screen.

Then, disable the experiment and double-check that when you use the above link it takes you back to the old screen.

Screenshots or screencast

2026-08-13.14.42.53.mp4

Use of AI Tools

Claude Code (Opus 5) to generate the change, reviewed and tested by me.

…the experimental media editor route Wire the route-based media editor into the places WordPress sends people to edit an attachment, so the experiment can be used in place of the classic Edit Media screen rather than only reached by hand-typed URL. - Filter `get_edit_post_link` for attachments, so the Media Library list table, the media modal's "Edit more details" and "Edit Image" links, and the admin bar navigate straight to the route with no redirect hop. - Redirect the classic screen on `load-post.php` to catch bookmarks and hard-coded links. GET and `action=edit` only, so the save handlers run untouched, and bail on missing capability or a trashed post so post.php keeps rendering its own errors. - Gate both on `upload_files`, which the media editor page requires but `edit_post` does not imply — a contributor can own an attachment without being able to upload, and would otherwise be sent to a screen that refuses them. - Give `MediaEditor` a `scope` prop so each frame keeps its own persisted details-sidebar visibility. The modal and the route previously shared one preference, so collapsing the sidebar in the modal permanently defeated `isActiveByDefault` on the route. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

github-actions · 2026-08-13T04:45:37Z

Size Change: +24 B (0%)

Total Size: 7.72 MB

📦 View Changed

Filename	Size	Change
`build/scripts/editor/index.min.js`	530 kB	+24 B (0%)

_{compressed-size-action}

github-actions · 2026-08-13T04:47:59Z

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Co-authored-by: andrewserong <andrewserong@git.wordpress.org>
Co-authored-by: ramonjd <ramonopoly@git.wordpress.org>

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ramonjd

Looks like a safe change. load.php is gated behind the experiment.

I tested manually and it works as described.

andrewserong · 2026-08-13T05:37:41Z

Thanks for the review! 🙇

None of the three entries were breaking. `scope` is still accepted and still compiles; `HistoryActions` rendering nothing under a condition is not an API change; and `MediaEditor.ImageControls` was added in #81563 and has never shipped, so no released caller can reference it. The two that describe real API movement move to Enhancements. The `scope` entry from #81559 goes: it described the same work the `ComplementaryArea` line above it already covers.

andrewserong self-assigned this Aug 13, 2026

andrewserong added [Feature] Media Anything that impacts the experience of managing media [Type] Experimental Experimental feature or API. labels Aug 13, 2026

Update experiment description

1f448fb

andrewserong marked this pull request as ready for review August 13, 2026 04:47

andrewserong requested a review from spacedmonkey as a code owner August 13, 2026 04:47

andrewserong requested a review from ramonjd August 13, 2026 04:47

ramonjd approved these changes Aug 13, 2026

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andrewserong merged commit 150cd6d into trunk Aug 13, 2026
49 checks passed

andrewserong deleted the update/media-editor-route-experiment-to-hook-edit-links branch August 13, 2026 05:38

github-actions Bot added this to the Gutenberg 23.9 milestone Aug 13, 2026

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Media Editor Route Experiment: Override media edit links to point to the new experimental media editor - #81559