
Tired of searching stock photo sites for every blog post? AI Featured Image Generator lets you create a fitting featured image with one click — directly from the post editor.
Key features:
- One-click generation from the Block Editor sidebar
- Bring Your Own API Key — supports OpenAI (DALL-E 3) and Ideogram
- Custom prompt option — override the auto-generated prompt before generating
- Generated images are stored in your Media Library and automatically set as Featured Image
- Regenerate variations with a single click
- Lightweight — no tracking, no telemetry, no admin notice spam
Why “Bring Your Own Key”?
Image generation costs money. Instead of charging you a markup, you connect your own API key and pay providers directly at cost. Typically a few cents per image.
Supported providers:
- OpenAI DALL-E 3 (openai.com) — recommended, sign up at platform.openai.com
- Ideogram (ideogram.ai) — alternative provider
What this plugin is NOT:
- Not a 50-feature AI suite
- Not a stock photo replacement (you control the prompts)
- Not phoning home — your data stays between you and your chosen AI provider
Source Code
The Block Editor sidebar is compiled JavaScript built with @wordpress/scripts. The unminified source is included in the plugin package under src/sidebar.js.
To rebuild from source:
- Install Node.js (v18 or higher) and npm.
- In the plugin directory, run:
npm install - Build the production bundle:
npm run build
The compiled output is written to assets/js/sidebar.js and assets/js/sidebar.asset.php.
External Services
This plugin connects to external AI services to generate images. These connections are made exclusively when a user manually triggers image generation or tests their API key — never automatically.
OpenAI (DALL-E 3)
When OpenAI is selected, the plugin sends your post title and optional custom prompt to the OpenAI API in order to generate an image.
- Service URL: https://api.openai.com/
- Terms of Use: https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use
- Privacy Policy: https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy
Ideogram
When Ideogram is selected, the plugin sends your post title and optional custom prompt to the Ideogram API in order to generate an image.
- Service URL: https://api.ideogram.ai/
- Terms of Use: https://ideogram.ai/about/terms-of-service
- Privacy Policy: https://ideogram.ai/about/privacy-policy
No data is sent to the plugin author or any third parties. Generated images are stored in your own WordPress Media Library.
Screenshots

Generate panel in the Block Editor sidebar

Settings page for API key and defaults

Generated image set as Featured Image

Generated image in Media Library