wpcomsh: Trigger Jetpack sync on auto_update_plugins option change

[gcsecsey]

Fixes DOTDEV-234
Related thread p1761317492233479-slack-CDLH4C1UZ

Proposed changes:

• Fix Calypso auto-update toggle not working for newly installed plugins on WordPress.com Atomic (WoA) sites
• Trigger Jetpack sync when the auto_update_plugins option is updated via the wpcomsh_auto_update_new_plugins_by_default function
• Ensure that when new plugins are automatically added to the auto-update list, the change is properly synced to the shadow site

Other information:

• Have you written new tests for your changes, if applicable?
• 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

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

Testing instructions:

This issue only affects sites where auto updates haven't yet been set from the WP Admin side.

Setup:

1. Set up a new Atomic or WoA site and install Jetpack Beta on it
2. Use the beta tested to check out wpcomsh from this branch

Test the fix:

1. Install a new plugin on the site, eg. https://wordpress.com/plugins/manage/sites/all-in-one-wp-migration
2. After the plugin is installed, check that the Autoupdate toggle is enabled by default
3. Try to disable the auto-update toggle
4. Check that the toggle is disabled and the value is the same after a refresh
5. Check on Site Explorer (39688-pb) that jetpack_autoupdate_plugins option is synced

After installing	After disabling and refreshing

[github-actions]

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 (WordPress.com Site Helper), and enable the update/auto-update-trigger-sync branch.

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]

Thank you for your PR!

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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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Wpcomsh plugin:

• Next scheduled release: Atomic deploys happen twice daily on weekdays (p9o2xV-2EN-p2)

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

[jp-launch-control]

Code Coverage Summary

Coverage changed in 1 file.

File	Coverage	Δ%	Δ Uncovered
projects/plugins/wpcomsh/feature-plugins/managed-plugins.php	8/195 (4.10%)	-0.04%	2 ❤️‍🩹

Full summary · PHP report

[epeicher]

Thanks for solving this @gcsecsey ! I have tested it, and it works as advertised. I was able to reproduce the issue using the production version of the wpcomsh plugin and then I was not able to reproduce it anymore after applying this branch. LGTM!

Before

CleanShot.2025-10-28.at.16.19.00.mp4

After

CleanShot.2025-10-28.at.17.11.58.mp4

[epeicher]

I have reviewed it again after some Slack discussion p1762421903778689/1761317492.233479-slack-CDLH4C1UZ and I have identified an issue with this by following the following test steps:

• Ensure you have a WoW Dev blog with Jetpack Beta pointing to this branch

1. Install a new plugin on the site, eg. https://wordpress.com/plugins/manage/sites/all-in-one-wp-migration
2. After the plugin is installed, check that the Autoupdate toggle is enabled by default
3. Try to disable the auto-update toggle -> Refresh the page
4. The toggle changes to disable

This is the result when I am on the step 2 above, just after installing the plugin, refreshing the page:

CleanShot.2025-11-06.at.11.23.30.mp4