GDS MCP

WordPress MCP abilities plugin for content management, translations, and forms. Exposes WordPress functionality as MCP tools that AI assistants (Claude Desktop, etc.) can use to manage content on behalf of editors.

Built on the WordPress MCP Adapter and Abilities API.

Requirements

• PHP >= 8.0
• WordPress >= 7.0
• wordpress/mcp-adapter (required for MCP HTTP/STDIO transport)

Installation

composer require generoi/gds-mcp
wp plugin activate gds-mcp

Install and activate the MCP adapter as a normal WordPress plugin or Composer-managed dependency. gds-mcp bootstraps the adapter when the adapter class is present, so host projects do not need a separate adapter MU-plugin.

Architecture

CRUD abilities delegate to the WordPress REST API via rest_do_request() — a pure PHP call that works in HTTP, STDIO, and CLI contexts. Input/output schemas are pulled dynamically from REST route registrations. Permissions are handled by the REST API itself.

Custom abilities (duplication, block patching, translations, etc.) handle operations without REST equivalents, returning REST responses where possible for consistency.

Abilities

REST-Delegated CRUD (auto-registered for all post types and taxonomies)

Post types: gds/{rest_base}-list, gds/{rest_base}-read, gds/{rest_base}-create, gds/{rest_base}-update, gds/{rest_base}-delete

Post Type	Abilities
Pages	gds/pages-list, gds/pages-read, gds/pages-create, gds/pages-update, gds/pages-delete
Posts	gds/posts-list, gds/posts-read, gds/posts-create, gds/posts-update, gds/posts-delete
Media	gds/media-list, gds/media-read, gds/media-create, gds/media-update, gds/media-delete
Patterns	gds/blocks-list, gds/blocks-read, gds/blocks-create, gds/blocks-update, gds/blocks-delete
Templates	gds/templates-list, etc.
Template Parts	gds/template-parts-list, etc.
Menu Items	gds/menu-items-list, etc.
Navigation	gds/navigation-list, etc.
Custom types	Auto-registered for any show_in_rest post type

Taxonomies: gds/{rest_base}-list, gds/{rest_base}-read, gds/{rest_base}-create, gds/{rest_base}-update, gds/{rest_base}-delete

Taxonomy	Abilities
Categories	gds/categories-list, gds/categories-read, etc.
Tags	gds/tags-list, gds/tags-read, etc.
Menus	gds/menus-list, gds/menus-read, etc.
Custom taxonomies	Auto-registered for any show_in_rest taxonomy

All REST parameters pass through — use _fields, search, per_page, page, slug, include, orderby, lang, etc.

Custom Abilities (always available)

Ability	Description
gds/help	Grouped summary of all available tools and resources
gds/posts-duplicate	Clone a post with content, meta, terms, and featured image
gds/posts-bulk-update	Update status or meta across multiple posts (supports dry run)
gds/revisions-list	List revisions for a post (REST-delegated)
gds/revisions-read	Read a single revision (REST-delegated)
gds/revisions-restore	Restore a post to a previous revision
gds/blocks-get	Block details with attributes, supports, and real-world usage examples from published posts
gds/blocks-patch	Update specific blocks within a post without replacing full content

Resources (always available)

Ability	URI	Description
gds/block-types-list	blocks://catalog	All registered block types (REST-delegated to /wp/v2/block-types)
gds/site-map	site://pages	Site structure from navigation menu + disconnected pages
gds/design-theme-json	theme://json	Design tokens from theme.json + resolved CSS custom properties

ACF (when active)

Ability	URI	Description
gds/acf-fields	acf://fields	ACF field groups with fields, types, and post type assignments

ACF fields are also included in REST responses for post types via the acf field.

Polylang (when active)

Ability	Description
gds/languages-list	List languages (REST-delegated to /pll/v1/languages)
gds/translations-create	Create a translated post linked via Polylang
gds/translations-create-term	Create a translated taxonomy term
gds/translations-audit	Audit content for missing translations
gds/strings-list	List Polylang string translations
gds/strings-update	Update a string translation
gds/translations-machine	Machine-translate via DeepL (Polylang Pro)

Polylang also adds lang and translations fields to all REST responses automatically.

Gravity Forms (when active, REST API must be enabled)

Ability	Description
gds/forms-list	List forms (REST-delegated to /gf/v2/forms)
gds/forms-read	Read a form with fields
gds/forms-create	Create a form
gds/forms-entries	List form submissions

Cache (sage-cachetags)

Ability	Description
gds/cache-clear	Flush site cache or purge by tag

Redirects (Safe Redirect Manager / Redirection / Yoast)

Ability	Description
gds/redirects-manage	List or create URL redirects (auto-detects plugin)

Stream (when active)

Ability	Description
gds/activity-query	Query the activity log

Connecting

gds-mcp registers WordPress abilities. The wordpress/mcp-adapter plugin exposes those abilities as an MCP server.

STDIO (developers with shell access)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wordpress": {
      "command": "ddev",
      "args": ["wp", "mcp-adapter", "serve", "--server=mcp-adapter-default-server", "--user=admin"]
    }
  }
}

HTTP (production, remote access)

1. Create an application password:

# Via WP-CLI
wp user application-password create USERNAME yourname-claude-mcp --porcelain

# Or via WP Admin: Users > Profile > Application Passwords

2. Claude Code:

AUTH=$(echo -n 'USERNAME:YOUR_APP_PASSWORD' | base64)
claude mcp add-json -s local my-site \
  "{\"type\":\"http\",\"url\":\"https://example.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server\",\"headers\":{\"Authorization\":\"Basic $AUTH\"}}"

3. Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wordpress": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@automattic/mcp-wordpress-remote@latest"],
      "env": {
        "WP_API_URL": "https://example.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server",
        "WP_API_USERNAME": "USERNAME",
        "WP_API_PASSWORD": "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Development

composer install
composer lint        # Check code style
composer lint:fix    # Fix code style

Testing

npx @wordpress/env start
npx @wordpress/env run tests-cli wp plugin activate gds-mcp polylang-pro gravityforms wordpress-seo safe-redirect-manager redirection stream
npx @wordpress/env run tests-cli --env-cwd=wp-content/plugins/gds-mcp vendor/bin/phpunit
npx @wordpress/env stop

License

MIT