feat: Expand application password abilities

[dcalhoun]

Allow authenticating for admin-ajax and post preview requests with application passwords. This enables cookie-less clients—e.g, the iOS and Android mobile apps—to successfully authenticate these requests.

Ref CMM-713. Close CMM-766.

Proposed changes:

Leverage the application_password_is_api_request filter to conditionally extend application password authentication for:

• admin-ajax
• Post previews

Other information:

• [x] Have you written new tests for your changes, if applicable?
• [x] Have you checked the E2E test CI results, and verified that your changes do not break them?
• [ ] Have you tested your changes on WordPress.com, if applicable (if so, you'll see a generated comment below with a script to run)?

Jetpack product discussion

pbArwn-7AD-p2

Does this pull request change what data or activity we track or use?

No

Testing instructions:

[!Tip] Apply these Jetpack changes to your site (see comment) before testing.

1. Authenticate admin-ajax requests with application passwords

1. Request an admin-ajaxaction:

   curl -I 'https://<site_domain>/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=logged-in'
   

2. Verify the 400 response.
3. Request an admin-ajaxaction:

   curl -I 'https://<site_domain>/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=logged-in' \
     -H "Authorization: Basic $(echo -n '<username>:<application_password>' | base64)"
   

4. Verify the 200 response.

2. Authenticate post preview request with application passwords

1. Save a draft post and note the post ID.
2. Request a preview:

   curl -I 'https://<site_domain>/?p=<post_id>&preview=true'
   

3. Verify the 404 response.
4. Request a preview:

   curl -I 'https://<site_domain>/?p=<post_id>&preview=true' \
     -H "Authorization: Basic $(echo -n '<username>:<application_password>' | base64)"
   

5. Verify the 200 response.

3. Retrieve application password abilities

1. Request the REST API endpoint:

   curl 'https://<site_domain>/wp-json/wpcom/v2/application-password-extras/abilities' \
     -H "Authorization: Basic $(echo -n '<username>:<application_password>' | base64)"
   

2. Verify the expected response:

   {"admin-ajax":true,"post-previews":true}
   

[github-actions[bot]]

Are you an Automattician? Please test your changes on all WordPress.com environments to help mitigate accidental explosions.

• To test on WoA, go to the Plugins menu on a WoA dev site. Click on the "Upload" button and follow the upgrade flow to be able to upload, install, and activate the Jetpack Beta plugin. Once the plugin is active, go to Jetpack > Jetpack Beta, select your plugin (Jetpack), and enable the feat/expand-application-passwords-abilities branch.
• To test on Simple, run the following command on your sandbox:

bin/jetpack-downloader test jetpack feat/expand-application-passwords-abilities

Interested in more tips and information?

• In your local development environment, use the jetpack rsync command to sync your changes to a WoA dev blog.
• Read more about our development workflow here: PCYsg-eg0-p2
• Figure out when your changes will be shipped to customers here: PCYsg-eg5-p2

[github-actions[bot]]

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---

Follow this PR Review Process:

1. Ensure all required checks appearing at the bottom of this PR are passing.
2. Make sure to test your changes on all platforms that it applies to. You're responsible for the quality of the code you ship.
3. You can use GitHub's Reviewers functionality to request a review.
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If you have questions about anything, reach out in #jetpack-developers for guidance!

---

Jetpack plugin:

The Jetpack plugin has different release cadences depending on the platform:

• WordPress.com Simple releases happen as soon as you deploy your changes after merging this PR (PCYsg-Jjm-p2).
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  • Scheduled release: December 2, 2025

If you have any questions about the release process, please ask in the #jetpack-releases channel on Slack.

[jp-launch-control[bot]]

Code Coverage Summary

Cannot generate coverage summary while tests are failing. :zipper_mouth_face:

Please fix the tests, or re-run the Code coverage job if it was something being flaky.

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