Quickstart

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Before you start

• A MainWP Dashboard on version 6.0 or later, reachable over HTTPS
• Admin access to the WordPress site that runs your Dashboard
• Node.js 20.19 or later on the computer where your AI tool runs. Node.js is the free runtime the server runs on; if you don’t have it, the standard installer from nodejs.org is all you need.
• Claude Desktop, or another AI tool that supports MCP

1

Create an Application Password

An Application Password is a separate password WordPress issues for tools like this one. It never changes your login password and you can revoke it at any time.In the WordPress admin of your Dashboard site, go to Users → Profile and scroll to the Application Passwords section. Enter a name you will recognize later, such as MainWP MCP, and click Add Application Password.WordPress shows the generated password once. Copy it now; you cannot view it again later (you can always create a new one).

2

Add the server to Claude Desktop

Edit the Claude Desktop configuration file:

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

Add the MainWP server to the mcpServers block (create the file if it does not exist):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mainwp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mainwp/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "MAINWP_URL": "https://your-dashboard.com",
        "MAINWP_USER": "admin",
        "MAINWP_APP_PASSWORD": "xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace the URL with your Dashboard address, the username with the WordPress user that owns the Application Password, and the password with the one WordPress generated. Spaces in the password are fine either way, WordPress accepts it with or without them.

3

Restart Claude Desktop

Quit and reopen Claude Desktop so it picks up the new configuration. The MainWP tools load automatically when the app starts.

4

Run your first prompt

Ask:

List all my sites

A working setup returns your child sites by name and URL. From there, try “What sites need updates?” or anything from the Prompt Cookbook.

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If something didn’t work

• Nothing happens or the tools are missing: recheck the config file location and JSON syntax, then restart the app again.
• Errors mentioning 401 or authentication: the username must exactly match the user that owns the Application Password.
• Anything else: the Troubleshooting page covers the common failures with fixes.

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Next steps