How to Connect Your WordPress Site with Cursor Desktop?

Overview

Setting up the WordPress MCP Adapter with Cursor Desktop gives you a direct line between your code editor and your WordPress site. Through HTTP transport, Cursor can access your WordPress posts, pages, and site settings via the REST API, making it possible to handle plugin and theme management, user management, system diagnostics, settings control, and error debugging right from inside Cursor.

This guide takes you through every step of the configuration, from setting up the MCP server to generating an Application Password and checking that everything is working correctly.

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Pre-requisites : Download And Installation

Before you begin, make sure you have the following ready:

• WordPress version 6.9 or higher is installed and running.
• The WordPress MCP adapter is downloaded and installed on your WordPress site.

Note: If you also want to connect your WordPress site with ChatGPT or Claude Desktop, we have dedicated setup guides available for both integrations.
HTTP transport only works on sites running on HTTPS.

Configuration Steps

Step 1: Open the Cursor Desktop

• Open the Cursor Desktop application. Go to Cursor Settings, then click on Tools & MCP, then click New MCP Server.

Step 2: Configure Your Server

• Paste the configuration block below in the new server setup. This tells Cursor how to locate and connect to your WordPress site. Replace the placeholder values with your actual site URL, Admin Username, and Application Password before saving.

    {
        "mcpServers": {
            "wordpress-http-default": {
                "command": "npx",
                "args": [
                    "-y",
                    "@automattic/mcp-wordpress-remote@latest"
                ],
                "env": {
                    "WP_API_URL": "<WP_SITE_URL>/wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server",
                    "WP_API_USERNAME": "<admin_username>",
                    "WP_API_PASSWORD": "<application password>"
                }
            }
        }
    } 

Step 3: Get Your Application Password

To fill in the WP_API_PASSWORD field, generate an Application Password from your WordPress admin panel.

• Log in to your WordPress Admin.
• Go to your User Profile.
• Scroll down to the Application Passwords section.
• Give it a name like Cursor AI and click Add New Application Password to generate the key.
• Copy the password and paste it into the WP_API_PASSWORD field in the config from Step 2.

Step 4: Restart Cursor Desktop

• Close all open Cursor windows completely and reopen the application. The cursor needs a full restart to load the new MCP server configuration.

Step 5: Verify the Connection

• Go to the Cursor Settings and click on Tools & MCP. You should see the MCP Adapter tools listed there. If they appear, the connection is active, and the cursor is ready to work with your WordPress site.
• If the tools do not appear, check that your WP_API_URL, WP_API_USERNAME, and WP_API_PASSWORD values are correct and that your site is running on https.

Your WordPress site is now live and connected to Cursor Desktop through the MCP Adapter. You can start managing your WordPress posts, pages, and site settings directly from inside Cursor without any additional setup.

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