Complete your first AI-assisted task
The goal of a first run is not to produce publishable work. It is to prove that the license, the domain authorization, the credit balance and one tool all work together, using an operation that cannot damage anything.
Generating a new image is the best candidate: it creates a new attachment and modifies nothing that already exists.
Before you start
- Confirm that Settings → POM AI → License shows a valid license and an authorized domain.
- Confirm that a credit balance is displayed there. A balance of zero will stop the run at the confirmation step.
- Enable AI image generator under Settings → POM AI → AI Tools.
- Complete the short description and the relevant profile sections under AI Setup if you have not already. Image tools use the brand, offering, audience, positioning, visual identity and restrictions sections.
Use a subject that contains no confidential information. A landscape, an abstract texture or a generic office scene is enough to prove the pipeline.
Run the task
Open Media → AI generate images. The screen shows the remaining credit balance at the top, then four cards.
- Describe your image. Replace the example prompt with your own. The prompt allows up to 3,100 characters and a counter below the field shows the remaining allowance. If you have saved prompt templates for the image generator context, a dropdown appears above the field.
- Choose a style. Pick one of the preset styles — realistic portrait, product photography, realistic landscape, web illustration, 3D illustration, comic — or None (only based on your prompt).
- Choose a model. The options are Nano Banana 2 (Google Gemini), Nano Banana Pro (Google Gemini), ChatGPT Sunburst (OpenAI) and ChatGPT Flare (OpenAI). Start with the default Nano Banana 2 at 1K, or check the estimate for another choice. OpenAI models also show a quality selector and exact output dimensions.
- Select an aspect ratio. The default is 16:9. Ten ratios are available, from 21:9 through to 9:16.
Then use the button that calculates credits before confirming, rather than the one that generates directly.
The estimate and confirmation step
Choosing to calculate first sends the request parameters to the account service, which returns an estimated cost. A browser confirmation appears:
This will deduct approximately N credits from your account. Do you wish to continue?
Nothing is charged until you accept. Cancelling costs nothing and leaves the form as it was.
This estimate-then-confirm pattern is the same across POM AI: the tool asks the account for a quote, shows it, and only performs the paid work after you agree. The alternative button skips the quote and goes straight to generation, which is convenient once you know a tool's typical cost but is not the right choice for a first run.
Read the number before accepting. If it is far larger than expected, the cause is usually the model selection or an unintentionally large batch, not a fault.
While it runs
After you accept, a status line reports that the image is being generated and counts the elapsed seconds. Image generation is not instant; let it finish rather than resubmitting. A second submission is a second paid request.
Confirm the result
On success:
- the generated image appears under Your generated images at the bottom of the screen;
- the file has already been uploaded into the WordPress media library, so it is available anywhere an attachment can be used;
- the credit balance shown on the POM AI dashboard panel changes after the next refresh.
Verify all three. The third is the one that proves the account layer worked end to end, not just the local screen.
Then check the balance from a second place: open Dashboard → Home, find the POM AI panel and select Refresh in the Credits row. It should agree with what the account reports.
If something fails
Work outward from the layer that failed.
| Symptom | Where to look |
|---|---|
| The menu entry does not exist | The tool is not enabled under AI Tools, or your user lacks upload_files |
| The credit notice says the balance could not be determined | License tab: the key, the subscription and the domain authorization |
| The estimate never appears | Outbound HTTPS from the server, or a security plugin blocking admin-ajax.php |
| The estimate appears but generation fails afterwards | The account response; note the exact error text before retrying |
| Generation succeeds but no attachment appears | Media library write permissions on the uploads directory |
Understand license errors covers the license and domain codes in detail.
After the first success
Enable the tools you actually need, one at a time, and run a small example of each before using it for real work. Then use the POM AI setup checklist before the first production content is generated, and read Review AI output responsibly before anything generated is published.