Connecting MCP clients

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, 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.