---
title: Connect Claude Desktop to your WordPress sites
description: Connect Claude Desktop to the AI MCP service as a custom connector, then run your first WordPress ability.
url: https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/mcp/how-to/configure-claude-desktop/
image: https://developers.wpengine.com/og/docs/ai/api/mcp/how-to/configure-claude-desktop.png
---

# Connect Claude Desktop to your WordPress sites

This guide connects Claude Desktop to your WordPress sites through the AI MCP service, from adding the connector to running your first ability.

To configure Claude Code, see [Connect Claude Code](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/mcp/how-to/configure-claude-code/).

## Prerequisites

- Claude Desktop installed ([download](https://claude.ai/download))
- **A WP Engine account** with at least one WordPress site
- **WP Engine AI access** for the user who authenticates with OAuth

## 1. Add the connector

1. In Claude Desktop, open **Settings → Connectors**.
2. Select **Add custom connector**.
3. Enter the name `wpengine` and the URL `https://api.ai.wpengine.com/v1/mcp`.
4. Select **Add**.

Do not add an `Authorization` header. You authenticate with OAuth in the next step.

## 2. Sign in

1. Select **Connect** on the new connector.
2. Sign in with your WP Engine account in the browser window that opens.

Claude Desktop stores the sign-in and renews it for you.

## 3. Confirm Claude Desktop can see your sites

Start a new chat, then ask:

```text
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
```

If no tools appear:

- Confirm the connector shows as connected under **Settings → Connectors**. If not, select **Connect** and sign in again
- Confirm the URL is exactly `https://api.ai.wpengine.com/v1/mcp`
- Review Claude Desktop logs under **Settings → Developer**
- See [Troubleshooting](https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/ai/api/mcp/troubleshooting/) for anything else

## 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

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

Claude finds the site’s **Create Post** ability (`wp-engine-ai/create-posts`) with `search_abilities`, executes it with `run_site_ability`, and returns the new post ID and a link to the draft.

---

[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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