0010. Leave WordPress's own auto-update emails alone¶
Status: Accepted. Date: 2026-10-19.
Context¶
1.x had an "Automatic updates" setting that rewrote the email WordPress sends after a core auto-update, sending it to the plugin's notification address. It covered core only, because plugin and theme auto-update emails still went to the admin email. With channels, "the notification address" is a guess: there may be no email channel, several, or a switched-off one. It also changed WordPress's default behaviour.
An issue to route plugin and theme auto-update emails the same way was open.
Decision¶
The plugin reports available updates through its channels and does not touch WordPress's own emails. The notify_automatic setting and the hook on auto_core_update_email are removed. WordPress sends these emails to the site admin email. An admin who wants them elsewhere changes that email, or uses the auto_core_update_email and auto_plugin_theme_update_email filters. The request to route plugin and theme emails was closed as not planned.
Consequences¶
- Good: less code, and WordPress behaves as documented.
- Good: no rule is needed to pick an email channel.
- Bad: a breaking change for sites that used the setting. Their core auto-update emails now go to the admin email.