Getting started with MCP

This tutorial walks you through connecting Claude Code (CLI) to the Power MCP service, authenticating with an API key, and running your first WordPress tool.

What you’ll build

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have:

• Configured Claude Code CLI to connect to the Power MCP service
• Authenticated with a personal API key
• Listed your WordPress sites
• Run a WordPress ability on a connected site

Prerequisites

• Claude Code CLI installed (download here)
• A WP Engine account with at least one WordPress site
• Power console access to create API keys
• 10 minutes

Step 1: Create a personal API key

The MCP server requires a personal API key (not a project key) to execute WordPress abilities on your behalf.

1. Sign in to the Power console
2. Select your project from the project picker
3. Navigate to API keys → Create key
4. Choose Personal key as the key type
5. Set permissions to include the MCP scope (or use “All permissions” for testing)
6. Copy the key value — it starts with wpe_ and is shown once

Store your key securely

Save the key in a password manager immediately. The Power console never re-displays it.

Step 2: Configure Claude Code

Run this command to add the Power MCP service:

claude mcp add --transport http coworker \
  https://api.ai.wpengine.com/v1/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"

Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with the key you copied in Step 1.

Using Claude Desktop instead? See Configure Claude Desktop.

Step 3: Verify the connection

Start a new Claude Code session and ask:

claude "Use the coworker MCP server to list my WordPress sites"

Claude will call the list_account_sites tool and return your active registered sites.

Expected response:

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.

Step 4: Connect your WordPress account

This step is only needed to run abilities or manage a site — which is what the rest of this tutorial does. Listing sites and searching a knowledge base work without it.

Complete the connection once per site.

1. Ask Claude: “What’s the WordPress connection status for my sites?”
2. For any site that isn’t showing “Connected”, follow the link to complete the consent flow in WordPress admin
3. Authorize the Power gateway to act on your behalf

This one-time setup grants the MCP server permission to execute abilities (create posts, manage plugins, etc.) as your WordPress user.

Step 5: Run your first ability

Now that your WordPress account is connected, run an ability:

claude "Can you create a post on my local site 'Today in the news with WP Engine' use the coworker mcp server"

Claude will:

1. Search for the core/create-post ability using search_abilities
2. Execute it on your site with run_site_ability
3. Return the new post ID and permalink

What’s next

You’ve completed the basic setup. Now explore:

• How-to guides — Manage sites, search abilities, handle errors
• Reference — Complete tool schemas, authentication details, error codes
• Concepts — Understand site vs WordPress account connections, account vs project scope

Troubleshooting

Claude can’t see the MCP server

• Verify the server URL is correct: https://api.ai.wpengine.com/v1/mcp
• Check the API key starts with wpe_ and is copied in full
• Ensure you created a personal API key (not a project key)
• Run claude mcp list to verify the server was added correctly

“Site not found” errors

• Confirm the site is registered in your WP Engine account
• Verify the site belongs to the same account as your API key’s project
• Check list_account_sites to see which sites are visible

“Not personally connected” errors

• Connect your WordPress account for the site in wp-admin
• Ensure you’re using a personal API key, not a project key
• Verify your Okta identity matches the one used during site registration

Still stuck? Check the How-to guides and Reference sections for more details.