How ReplyMind works

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The 30-second version

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The full flow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Visitor submits comment                                    │
│     ↓                                                          │
│  2. WordPress approves comment (auto or moderated)             │
│     ↓                                                          │
│  3. ReplyMind hooks into 'comment_post', schedules WP-Cron     │
│     ↓ (visitor's POST returns immediately — never blocked)     │
│  4. WP-Cron fires 'replymind_process_comment' (≈ within 10s)   │
│     ↓                                                          │
│  5. Plugin builds the prompt + calls the AI provider           │
│     ↓                                                          │
│  6a. SUGGESTION mode → saves draft in comment meta             │
│      _replymind_pending_reply (yellow "Draft Ready" badge)     │
│  6b. AUTO mode → posts a child comment as the post author      │
│      (green "Published" badge)                                 │
│     ↓                                                          │
│  7. You review (suggestion) or it's already done (auto).       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Step 1 — A visitor leaves a comment

Nothing special happens here. The plugin doesn't replace, intercept, or modify the comment form. WordPress's standard comment submission flow runs normally.

The plugin attaches a listener to comment_post, the standard WP action that fires once a new comment is saved. That listener does the minimum work needed: validate that the comment is approved, the type is comment (not trackback or pingback), and that the plugin is enabled. If any of those fail, nothing else happens.

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Step 2 — The visitor's request returns immediately

This is important: the AI call is never made on the visitor's request.

If we called the AI directly inside comment_post, the visitor's "Submit Comment" button would hang for 1–10 seconds while we wait for OpenAI or Anthropic. That's bad UX and slow on mobile networks.

Instead, ReplyMind uses wp_schedule_single_event. The visitor's request returns at normal speed (a few hundred milliseconds), and a background job is queued to run "asap" via WP-Cron.

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Step 3 — WP-Cron fires the background job

Within roughly 10 seconds (depends on traffic; see below), WP-Cron fires the replymind_process_comment event. The handler:

• Re-checks the comment is still approved (it might have been moved to spam in the meantime).
• Re-checks the plugin is still enabled.
• Re-checks the comment hasn't already been processed.
• Calls the replymind_send_comment_data filter, allowing developers to skip specific comments programmatically.
• Verifies the daily rate limit hasn't been hit.

If all checks pass, generation proceeds.

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Step 4 — The plugin builds the prompt

The prompt assembled by the plugin combines:

The visitor's comment text is sent as the user message — but only after running through wp_strip_all_tags and html_entity_decode. HTML and embedded tag attempts never reach the model intact.

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Step 5 — The AI call

A single HTTP POST to whichever provider you've configured:

The response is parsed for the reply text. Anything else (errors, content blocks, tool calls) becomes a WP_Error and is logged to Settings → ReplyMind → Logs.

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Step 6 — What happens to the reply

Suggestion mode (default)

The reply is saved into comment meta _replymind_pending_reply on the original visitor's comment — not as a published reply yet.

The Comments screen shows the comment with a yellow Draft Ready badge and an inline preview. Three row actions become available:

• Edit & Publish — opens an inline modal pre-filled with the AI text. Edit, click Publish.
• Publish As-Is — publishes the existing draft, no edit step.
• Generate AI Reply — re-generate the draft if you didn't like the first attempt.

Nothing visible happens on the public site until you click one of these.

Auto mode

The reply is published immediately as a child comment of the original. The published comment is attributed to:

• The post author's display name, email, and URL.
• Falls back to the site name + admin email if the post has no author.

The Comments screen shows a green Published badge.

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What ReplyMind does NOT do

• ❌ Send any data to ReplyMind's servers. Comment data goes only to the AI provider you configure.
• ❌ Modify or delete existing comments.
• ❌ Change anything visible on the public site beyond posting the reply itself.
• ❌ Add custom post types, REST endpoints, shortcodes, blocks, or widgets.
• ❌ Run during page rendering — all logic is admin-side or in cron.
• ❌ Call out to any third party except your configured AI provider.

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Where you'll see ReplyMind in your admin

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Glossary

• Comment meta — small key/value pairs WordPress lets you attach to a comment. ReplyMind uses these to track state without creating custom database tables.
• WP-Cron — WordPress's built-in task scheduler. Runs deferred jobs on page visits (or via real cron if configured).
• Suggestion mode — drafts are saved for review; nothing is auto-published.
• Auto mode — replies are posted automatically when generated.
• Cron-deferred — work that runs in the background, not on the visitor's request.

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Read next

• Getting started — set up your first reply
• Daily workflow — what your day looks like with ReplyMind running
• Security — what protects your site
• Cost guide — what AI costs to expect