Claude Desktop

import { Aside } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

Prerequisites

Claude Desktop installed (Mac or Windows)
MCPWP plugin active on your WordPress site
An API key (generate one here)

There are two ways to connect Claude Desktop today. Pick the config-file method if you can — it keeps your key out of the URL entirely.

Option A — Config file (header-based, more secure)

Open your Claude Desktop config file:

Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the MCPWP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-wordpress-site": {
      "url": "https://YOUR-SITE.com/wp-json/mcpwp/v1/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "mcpwp_YOUR_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The connection is established on startup. Because the key travels in a header, it never appears in the URL, in Claude’s connector settings screen, or in any logs that capture request URLs.

Option B — “Add custom connector” (URL-only)

Claude Desktop’s and claude.ai’s built-in Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector dialog only accepts a URL — there’s no field for a custom header. To authenticate this way, put the key in the URL as a query parameter:

https://YOUR-SITE.com/wp-json/mcpwp/v1/mcp?api_key=mcpwp_YOUR_KEY_HERE

Paste that full URL into the connector dialog and save.

Managing multiple sites

Add one entry per site:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "client-a": {
      "url": "https://client-a.com/wp-json/mcpwp/v1/mcp",
      "headers": { "X-API-Key": "mcpwp_KEY_A" }
    },
    "client-b": {
      "url": "https://client-b.com/wp-json/mcpwp/v1/mcp",
      "headers": { "X-API-Key": "mcpwp_KEY_B" }
    }
  }
}

First prompt

Run wp_introspect, then wp_onboard to get an overview of my site, then list all pages.