6.9 Dev Note Tracking Issue

[priethor]

Tracking all Dev Notes from Gutenberg plugin releases v20.5 - v21.9

Please read the information below carefully. If you have questions or suggestions, connect via Slack in the #6-9-release-leads, ping @dream-encode, @ellatrix, or @priethor on GitHub, or comment here.

Important

🗓 Deadline Drafts for All Dev Notes - November 4th, 2025 (around Beta 3, so there's enough time for reviews)
🗓 Deadline All Dev Notes Published - November 10h, 2025 (before RC1)

Not all developer-related information must be in a separate DevNote on the Make Core blog for the field guide. We can group related information. We can already decide whether some features warrant a stand-alone blog post or a group post.

Stand-alone post

To streamline the process and eliminate bottlenecks, all writers of stand-alone dev notes will write them on the Make Core Blog.

Instructions

• Create your note in a new post,
• Save as Draft
• Enable public preview
• Share the link to the public preview in a comment below as ready for review
• "For dev notes, each one must have at least two reviewers" (Handbook)

Part of a group post

If the information related to your PR will be part of a group post, please write the dev note in a comment on the PR, so it can be reviewed and, if necessary, commented on by the release docs team or a reviewer.

Before you start writing 📣 please read the handbook pages:

• ⭐️ Writing developer notes
• ⭐️ Style & Substance section of the Post & Comment Guidelines for Make Blog
• ⭐️ Documentation Style Guide - Good for reference, when in doubt, especially when English is not your native language.

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Note

The list is incomplete. We are in the process of reviewing plugin release changelogs and add them as we progress on the task.

There are two labels relevant to DevNotes :

• needs dev note
• has dev note

If you worked on a feature/module/component that definitely needs a dev note, please assign the label needs dev note If you already added the Dev Note to the make blog on draft or as a comment on the PR, please label it has dev note

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TO DO

PRs by Gutenberg Release

• 20.7
• 21.1
• 21.3
• 21.4
• 21.5
• 21.6
• 21.7
• 21.9

PRs with label has-dev-note or a related DevNote draft are marked with [x]

• Content only -- not in 6.9 in the end
• Miscellaneous & deprecations - Published ✅ :
  • Block Variations: Have getActiveBlockVariation fall back to default variation #63858 @ockham @michalczaplinski @t-hamano
  • Core data: Deprecate the root/media entity #71038 @talldan @ramonjd @Mamaduka
  • Block Editor: Support passing updater function to 'setAttributes' #69709 @Mamaduka @gziolo @fabiankaegy
  • Social: Allow custom link icons using block variations #70261 @Mamaduka @t-hamano
  • SelectControl: Move classnames to root #70643 @t-hamano
• Notes iteration for WordPress 6.9 #66377 @adamsilverstein - Published ✅
• Migrate the post editor to an iframe: Dev note in make/core. ✅
  • block.json schema: Make the apiVersion field required and only allow 3 #71107 @t-hamano
  • Blocks: Display browser console warnings for blocks with apiVersion below 2 #70783 @t-hamano
• IAPI (draft) @DAreRodz @luisherranz - Published ✅
  • iAPI: Add official support for unique IDs #72161
  • Deprecate data-wp-ignore directive with warning message #70945
  • iAPI: Introduce AsyncAction and TypeYield type helpers #70422
• iAPI Router (draft) @DAreRodz @luisherranz - Published ✅
  • iAPI Router: Support new styles and script modules on client-side navigation #70353
  • iAPI Router: Update router regions inside elements with data-wp-interactive #71635
  • iAPI Router: Add support for new router regions with attachTo #70421
  • iAPI: Handle all getServerState and getServerContext sync scenarios #72381
• Themes: Support providing border radius presets #67544 - Published ✅
• Block Bindings: API to extend the UI to external sources. #71542 @cbravobernal @ockham Published ✅
• Allow template duplication + concept of active templates #67125 @ellatrix @youknowriad @kmanijak This feature will not be released in 6.9.
• DataViews, DataForm, et. al in WordPress 6.9 #70936 — Dev note in make/core. @oandregal ✅
• Heading block: Make background padding more specific to block #72837 @mikachan @t-hamano - Published ✅

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Template shamelessly based on 6.8's tracking issue

[t-hamano]

I made the following changes to the list:

• Deprecate moreHorizontalMobile. #71172: I removed it from the list. See: Deprecate moreHorizontalMobile. #71172 (comment) for the reason.
• SelectControl: Move classnames to root #70643: This change is minor and may be part of the DevNote for the component.
• Blocks: Display browser console warnings for blocks with apiVersion below 2 #70783 Newly added.
• iAPI: Add official support for unique IDs #72161: Newly added. See iAPI: Add official support for unique IDs #72161 (comment) for the reason.
• I added my username to the PR I worked on.

[jeffpaul]

Presumably should also add #66377?

[priethor]

@t-hamano, how are your deprecation dev notes going? Could you coordinate with @talldan to write a joint dev note about deprecations that includes #71038?

[t-hamano]

@priethor sorry, I haven't started yet, but I will complete the draft by the deadline.

[t-hamano]

I removed #69689 from the list. Please refer to #69689 (comment) for the reason.

[priethor]

@Mamaduka @ockham does it make sense to combine both block variation dev notes (#70261 and #63858) into one? I don't think so, but wanted to double-check with you.

[Mamaduka]

Perhaps we can combine the deprecations and #63858 into a single miscellaneous post.

Re #70261. @justintadlock did a fantastic job with the developer post. I don't think I can write a better dev note, if I wanted to 😄 Should I just write a summary and then link to the post?

Post: https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2025/08/registering-custom-social-icons-in-wordpress-6-9/.

[t-hamano]

• Components:
  • SelectControl: Move classnames to root #70643 @t-hamano

If there's a single dev note summarizing all the changes related to the components, it might be good to mention this PR within that note, but posting it as a standalone dev note might be unnecessary.

@WordPress/gutenberg-components What do you think? Are there any other dev notes regarding components in the 6.9 release?

[talldan]

@t-hamano, how are your deprecation dev notes going? Could you coordinate with @talldan to write a joint dev note about deprecations that includes #71038?

Sorry, was at an event last week so missed the ping. I'll work on something tomorrow that can combine with the other deprecations into a single dev note. I was planning on a simple what/why/how (What is the deprecation? Why make the change? How should I update my code?) as the format, so perhaps that can be replicated for the other deprecations.

[t-hamano]

To draw more attention to this issue, I've added the usernames of the contributors who submitted the pull request and the contributors who reviewed it.