Claude Code and WordPress: build the site, or run it

Claude Code does two different jobs on WordPress, and most of the confusion comes from mixing them up.

• Building: themes, plugins and blocks. Claude Code works on files, in a WordPress running on your own computer.
• Running: posts, pages, SEO, menus and the shop on a live site. Claude Code works through an MCP server and never touches a file.

The first is software development; the second is looking after a site. They need different set-ups, and the commonest mistake is using the first to do the second — pointing Claude Code at a live site’s files to change a blog post.

One thing first: Claude Code needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise plan, or a Console account. The free Claude plan does not include it.

Job one: building themes and plugins

Claude Code needs a WordPress to work against, and it should be one on your own computer. There are three free ways to get one.

• WordPress Studio, Automattic’s desktop app. It has its own MCP server (studio mcp) and bundled agent skills, so Claude Code can create and start sites, run WP-CLI and take screenshots.
• WordPress Playground, which runs WordPress without a server. Its MCP server connects Claude Code to a Playground site open in your browser.
• wp-env, the Docker-based environment from the Gutenberg project, for plugin work that needs a full stack and its tests.

Playground’s MCP server goes in with one command:

claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user wordpress-playground -- npx -y @wp-playground/mcp

Then give Claude Code the WordPress know-how. The WordPress project publishes Agent Skills for WordPress: eighteen skills covering blocks, block themes, plugins, the REST API, the Abilities API, WP-CLI, performance and more, for WordPress 7.0 and later. Install the ones you need:

npx skills add WordPress/agent-skills --skill wp-plugin-development

WordPress.com also publishes a Claude Code plugin, Build with WordPress. Describe a site, pick one of three designs, and it builds a block theme on a local Studio site. Despite the name, it is a plugin for Claude Code, not for WordPress.

Keep this work in git, and keep it local. Build on your own machine, test, then deploy the way you always do. Claude Code editing files on a production server is how a site breaks at six on a Friday evening.

Job two: running a live site

For content work, Claude Code does not need your files at all. It needs tools: create a post, update an SEO title, change a price. That is what an MCP server provides, and there are three ways to get one.

The MCP Adapter, on the site

WordPress’s official MCP plugin, in the plugin directory since 2 October 2026. Install it on the site, create an application password, then connect Claude Code through a small proxy:

claude mcp add mysite --env WP_API_URL=https://example.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server --env WP_API_USERNAME=your-username --env WP_API_PASSWORD='your application password' -- npx -y @automattic/mcp-wordpress-remote@latest

Put the server name before the --env options. Written the other way round, as some guides have it, Claude Code reads the name as one more variable and rejects the command. And remember that the adapter only offers what your plugins register as abilities: on a plain site that is three read-only ones. The MCP Adapter guide has the detail.

WordPress.com’s MCP server

If your sites are on WordPress.com, or on Jetpack with Jetpack AI or Jetpack Complete, add its server and sign in:

claude mcp add --transport http wpcom-mcp https://public-api.wordpress.com/wpcom/v2/mcp/v1

Then type /mcp inside Claude Code to sign in with WordPress.com. It needs a paid WordPress.com plan, and it asks you to confirm every change.

PressHand

PressHand connects every site you own through application passwords you approve in your own wp-admin, with nothing installed on the sites. When you switch it on, the desktop app adds itself to Claude Code for all your projects, under the name wordpress. Check that it is there:

claude mcp list

If you run PressHand’s server edition instead, add it by address:

claude mcp add --transport http wordpress https://wp.yourdomain.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer presshand_yourkey"

What a session looks like

Once a site is connected, you ask in ordinary words. A few that work with PressHand:

• “List my sites, then check the SEO on the five newest posts on each.”
• “Turn notes/launch.md into a draft post on example.com, with a free photo.”
• “Compare the main menus on both sites and add the missing Contact link.”
• “What still needs sending in the shop?”

The second one is where Claude Code beats a chat window: it can read a file in your project and turn it into a post on a live site in the same breath.

Doing both at once

Nothing stops you having both kinds of server in one session: Studio or Playground for the plugin you are building, and the live-site server for content. Keep the two apart in one way, though. Servers added with --scope project are saved in the project’s .mcp.json, which is committed with the code, so never put a site’s password or key there. Keep live sites in your user scope, where a teammate who clones the repository does not inherit access to them.

Mistakes to avoid

• Editing production files to change content. Use MCP for content; keep file edits for code, in git.
• Using your own password. Every route here uses a separate key or sign-in that you can revoke on its own.
• Putting site keys in a shared .mcp.json. Project scope travels with the repository.
• Letting it run unattended on a live site. Claude Code asks before it uses a tool unless you have told it not to. Keep it asking for anything that publishes.
• No backup. An assistant that can publish can also overwrite. Have a backup you have restored at least once.

Questions people ask