---
title: Connect Claude Code to your WordPress sites
description: Connect Claude Code to the AI MCP service with a single command, then run your first WordPress ability.
url: https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/mcp/how-to/configure-claude-code/
image: https://developers.wpengine.com/og/docs/ai/api/mcp/how-to/configure-claude-code.png
---

# Connect Claude Code to your WordPress sites

This guide connects Claude Code to your WordPress sites through the AI MCP service, from signing in to running your first ability. To configure *Claude Desktop*, see [Connect Claude Desktop](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/mcp/how-to/configure-claude-desktop/).

## Prerequisites

- **Claude Code** installed ([install guide](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/setup))
- **A WP Engine account** with at least one WordPress site
- **WP Engine AI access** for the user who authenticates with OAuth

## 1. Add the MCP server

Terminal window

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user wpengine \
  https://api.ai.wpengine.com/v1/mcp
```

That one command registers the server and sets the HTTP transport. Do not add an `Authorization` header. You authenticate with OAuth in the next step.

`--scope user` makes the server available in every directory. Without it, Claude Code registers the server only for the directory you ran the command in.

## 2. Sign in

1. Start a Claude Code session.
2. Run `/mcp`.
3. Select `wpengine`, then select **Authenticate**.
4. Sign in with your WP Engine account in the browser window that opens.

Claude Code stores the sign-in and renews it for you. Repeat these steps if Claude Code asks you to sign in again.

## 3. Confirm Claude Code can see your sites

Ask:

Terminal window

```bash
claude "Use the wpengine MCP server to list my WordPress sites"
```

Claude calls `list_account_sites` and returns your active registered sites, something like:

```text
You have 3 WordPress sites connected:
1. example.com (example-prod) - Active
2. staging.example.com (example-staging) - Active
3. dev.example.com (example-dev) - Active
```

> **Tool visibility**
>
> Claude Code shows MCP tool calls inline in the conversation — you’ll see the requests and responses.

If no tools appear at all, see [Troubleshooting](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/mcp/troubleshooting/).

## 4. Connect your WordPress account

Listing sites and searching a knowledge base work with what you have now. **Running an ability does not** — that needs a second, separate connection between you and each site.

This catches almost everyone out: registering a site with WP Engine grants nobody the ability to act on it, including the administrator who registered it. [The two connections](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/site-and-account-connections/) explains why.

Complete this once per site:

1. Ask Claude: “What’s the WordPress connection status for my sites?”

2. For any site that is not connected, Claude hands you a link. Open it while logged in to that site’s WordPress admin. If no link comes back, build it yourself:

   `{site_url}/wp-admin/admin.php?page=power-overview&action=trigger_wp_connection`

   Opening this link is the only way to start the connection — there is no option to start it manually anywhere in WordPress.

3. Review the permissions, then confirm with **Connect WordPress user**. You land back in wp-admin, now connected. ([The consent screen](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/site-and-account-connections/#how-to-make-one).)

## 5. Run your first ability

Terminal window

```bash
claude "Create a draft post on example.com titled 'Today in the news with WP Engine' using the wpengine MCP server"
```

Claude:

1. Finds the site’s **Create Post** ability (`wp-engine-ai/create-posts`) with `search_abilities`
2. Executes it with `run_site_ability`
3. Returns the new post ID and a link to the draft

![Screenshot: Claude creating a WordPress post via MCP](https://developers.wpengine.com/_astro/claude-creating-a-post.CsvBnQHQ_Z2lCU27.webp)

---

[Troubleshooting](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/mcp/troubleshooting/)Fixes by symptom, including a server your client can't see, the 'not personally connected' error, and what each error code means.

[Authentication](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/authentication/)How MCP clients authenticate with OAuth.

[Site and WordPress account connections](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/site-and-account-connections/)Why a registered site still can't be written to.

## Was this helpful?

Thanks for the feedback!

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