Connecting MCP clients

Which MCP server this page is about

This entire page is about the WordPress MCP Adapter's default server, the one the official WordPress/mcp-adapter plugin exposes at /wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server. This is the server Inhale: MCP Abilities controls. The plugin's job is exactly one thing: choose which abilities are visible at that endpoint.

If you also have Respira for WordPress installed on the same site, it runs its own separate MCP server with its own endpoint, its own authentication, and its own ability surface. Inhale: MCP Abilities does not interact with the Respira MCP server in any way. The two servers are independent: same site, different code paths, different URLs, different visibility settings. If you want abilities exposed to AI clients via Respira's MCP server, configure that inside the Respira plugin. If you want abilities exposed via the WordPress MCP Adapter's default server, use Inhale: MCP Abilities.

The rest of this page talks only about the WordPress MCP Adapter's default server.

The endpoint

Inhale: MCP Abilities shows your site's MCP endpoint in the Connection section of the settings page. It looks like:

https://your-site.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server

This endpoint is served by the WordPress MCP Adapter (the WordPress/mcp-adapter plugin), not by Inhale: MCP Abilities. Inhale: MCP Abilities only controls which abilities are visible through it.

Authentication

For local development, the HTTP endpoint may be reachable directly. For any production site, use an Application Password:

1. In wp-admin, go to Users → Profile.
2. Scroll to Application Passwords.
3. Name the password (e.g. mcp-client) and click Add New Application Password.
4. Copy the 24-character token (four groups of six). You will not be able to see it again.
5. Use your username + this token wherever the client config asks for credentials.

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/; Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wordpress-inhale": {
      "transport": "http",
      "url": "https://your-site.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server",
      "auth": {
        "type": "basic",
        "username": "admin",
        "password": "xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The configured server appears under the MCP icon in the chat input.

Cursor

Cursor reads MCP configs from ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or <workspace>/.cursor/mcp.json (per-project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wordpress-inhale": {
      "transport": "http",
      "url": "https://your-site.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Basic <base64 of admin:xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor doesn't currently accept the auth.basic shorthand; encode the credentials yourself.

Claude Code (CLI)

Claude Code reads MCP servers from its standard config. Add via the CLI:

claude mcp add wordpress-inhale \
  --transport http \
  --url https://your-site.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server \
  --header "Authorization: Basic <base64>"

Or edit the config file directly with the same JSON shape Claude Desktop uses.

Generic STDIO transport (via WP-CLI)

If your client supports a local stdio process and you have WP-CLI on the same machine as the site, you can skip the HTTP layer:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wordpress-inhale": {
      "command": "wp",
      "args": [
        "--path=/var/www/html",
        "mcp",
        "stdio",
        "--server=mcp-adapter-default-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Adjust --path to your site's WordPress install directory. STDIO bypasses application passwords because WP-CLI runs as the same OS user as the web server.

Testing the connection

After configuring the client, ask it to "list available WordPress abilities." If everything is wired up, you'll see only the abilities you inhaled, not every registered ability on the site. That asymmetry is the entire point of Inhale: MCP Abilities.