Experimental Lab · by Anup Kankale · Mumbai

Where curiosity turns into working code.

DevXpert Labs is the experimental arm of Anup Kankale. It's a workbench where freelance client projects and self-driven experiments get built side by side, just to see how far an idea can go.

DevXpert Labsby Anup Kankale Active
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// try the toggle ↑ devxpert-labs.php
Giving back

Contributing to the community, no strings attached.

Before the lab ships anything of its own, it gives back. These are the places I contribute time and code to the open web, freely.

WordPress Core Contributor

WordPress 7.0 "Armstrong"

Credited among 875-plus contributors on a WordPress core release used by millions of sites. Code that helps everyone, owned by no one.

See the release credits
Free plugin · WordPress.org Live · 5 stars

DevXpert Lead Dashboard

A free, open-source (GPL) plugin on the official directory. Built for a real problem, given to the whole WordPress community to install and use.

View on WordPress.org
Open source Contributor

NudgeBee v1.3.0

Contributing to open-source tooling beyond WordPress, pitching in on a project release for the wider developer community.

View the release

This part matters to me most. I contribute to WordPress core and open source without expecting anything back, because the tools I build my work on were given to me the same way. The lab is my way of paying that forward.

What the lab tinkers with

The stack the experiments run on.

Client work or late-night what-if, most builds land somewhere in here.

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Custom Plugins

Purpose-built plugins wired to your business logic, not a generic settings page you'll never fully use.

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Gutenberg Blocks

Custom blocks and full-site-editing patterns that feel native to the editor and are easy for your team to reach for.

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WooCommerce

Checkout tweaks, custom flows and integrations for stores that have outgrown the defaults.

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REST & Integrations

Endpoints and third-party hooks that let WordPress talk cleanly to the rest of your stack.

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AI Features

Chatbots and LLM-powered helpers that capture leads and quietly remove repetitive busywork.

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Performance & Fixes

Audits, caching and the unglamorous bug-hunts that make a WordPress site fast and quiet again.

Projects & experiments

Most of my projects land here.

New builds get added over time, each with a link to dig in, live on WordPress.org or open on GitHub.

Live · WordPress.org

Lead Dashboard for Forminator & CF7

Built for a travel agency drowning in form submissions and priced out of a CRM. It turns Forminator and Contact Form 7 entries into trackable leads inside WordPress, with statuses, feedback notes and CSV export. Rated 5 stars.

View on WordPress.org
Experiment · WordPress Plugin

AI Chatbot Plugin

Started as a "can an LLM live inside WordPress cleanly?" test. Now a free plugin for drop-in support and lead capture, minus the heavy setup.

View on GitHub
Experiment · Automation

AI Content Pipeline

A curiosity build to see how far content could route itself: an LLM automation that carries a draft from prompt to published with barely a hand on it.

View on GitHub
Why the lab exists

One real problem at a time.

Five years studying Computer Science, a bachelor's then a master's, followed by three to four years building software professionally and contributing to WordPress core and the wider open-source community. Somewhere in there, a pattern became hard to ignore.

The same real-world problems keep coming back, and most tools answer them by piling on complexity instead of removing it. DevXpert Labs is the response: pick one problem, understand it properly, and build the smallest thing that genuinely solves it.

01 · Foundations

Five years of Computer Science

A bachelor's then a master's, learning how software works from the ground up.

02 · Practice

Building professionally

Three to four years shipping real software for real users and clients.

03 · Community

Giving back to open source

Credited as a contributor on WordPress 7.0 "Armstrong" core, and on projects like NudgeBee.

04 · The lab

Turning problems into tools

Taking the problems that keep resurfacing and solving them one focused build at a time.

About the lab

Run by Anup. Powered by curiosity.

DevXpert Labs is the experimental workshop of Anup Kankale, a WordPress & PHP developer from Mumbai. It's the place where client deadlines and personal what-ifs get worked out with the same care.

The lab exists for one reason: to keep asking how things actually work, then build the answer. The useful experiments become plugins and tools; the rest become lessons. Either way, something ships, usually alongside an uncountable number of cups of chai. ☕

More about Anup →

Work with the lab

Have something worth testing?

A client project to ship, a plugin idea, or a "could we actually build this?" Bring it to the bench and let's find out.