Give Claude — or any MCP client — full read/write access to posts, SEO, media, menus, and Elementor. Plus read-only access to your IATO crawl data when you connect an API key. Free. Self-hosted. No subscription.
Watch a quick walkthrough of IATO MCP — installing the plugin, connecting an AI client, and running real read/write workflows on a self-hosted WordPress site.
WordPress.com launched their own MCP server — but it only works on paid WordPress.com plans. If you self-host WordPress like 43% of the web, you need IATO MCP.
| Feature | WordPress.com MCP | IATO MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Paid plan required (~$48/yr+) | Free |
| Hosting | WordPress.com only | Any self-hosted WordPress |
| AI Clients | Any MCP client | Any MCP client |
| SEO Tools | None | Read & write via Yoast, RankMath, SEOPress |
| Crawler Integration | None | 12 IATO bridge tools (read + crawl control) |
| Self-Hosted Support | No | Yes — any host |
| Rollback Support | No | Yes — per-change rollback with receipts |
| Tool Count | 9 categories | 52 individual tools |
Every tool follows the MCP protocol — any AI client that supports MCP can use them. The 40 WordPress native tools work immediately after activation — including widget-grained Elementor editing with optimistic concurrency, idempotency, and bulk operations. The 12 IATO bridge tools read crawl data and control crawls, and require an IATO API key.
Site name, URL, WordPress version, and active theme
Site title, tagline, admin email, and timezone
List posts and pages with status and type filters
Full post content, meta, and terms by ID or slug
Create draft or published posts and pages
Edit title, content, excerpt, or publication status
Full-text search across all posts and pages
SEO title and description via Yoast, RankMath, or SEOPress
Write SEO title and meta description through your SEO plugin
List media items with optional missing-alt-text filter
Update image alt text for accessibility and SEO
List comments filtered by status or post
List all registered WordPress navigation menus
Get items in a specific navigation menu
Add pages to menus with dry-run preview support
Add a URL or page item to a menu with position and parent support
Remove an item from a navigation menu
Edit an existing menu item's title, URL, position, or parent
List categories and tags with term IDs
Assign categories or tags to any post
Create a new category or tag in WordPress
Update an existing category or tag name, slug, or description
Delete a category or tag from WordPress
Replace all terms on a post for a given taxonomy
Set canonical URL for a post. Auto-detects Yoast, RankMath, SEOPress
Add JSON-LD structured data to a post
Create or update redirect rules. Auto-detects redirect plugins
Detects Elementor, WPBakery, Divi, Gutenberg, or Classic editor
Returns Elementor data with format: raw, compact, or summary. Includes canonical revision hash for if_revision
Updates Elementor JSON, clears CSS cache, regenerates post_content. Supports dry_run
Lists every widget on a post with id, type, and breadcrumb path
Returns a single widget's raw settings by widget id
Find widgets across many posts by type and optional setting filters
Flip an Elementor heading widget's level (h1–h6) in one call
Set a single setting on a single widget — the most common write
Patch one widget's settings with if_revision + idempotency_key support
Update many widgets across many posts in one HTTP call
Apply RFC 6902 JSON Patch operations for surgical array edits
Walk the WordPress rewrite cascade and detect Theme Builder template shadowing
Reverse any AI-made write using its change_receipt ID. Validates before_value to prevent stale rollbacks
Full URL hierarchy with WordPress post IDs per node
Menu structure plus orphan pages with WordPress slugs
Pages not linked from any navigation menu
IATO categories mapped to WordPress term IDs
SEO issues with fix type (auto or manual) and WP slugs
Thin content pages with word count, flags, and WP slugs
Broken links mapped to source WordPress post IDs
AI-prioritized fixes across SEO, content, links, and performance
Slow or heavy pages with contributing causes
Start a new crawl of the site (admin only; consumes IATO platform quota)
Check status and progress of a specific crawl job
List recent crawl jobs to find the most recent completed crawl_id
IATO MCP reads and writes the correct post meta keys for whichever SEO plugin is active. No configuration needed.
| Plugin | Title Key | Description Key |
|---|---|---|
| Yoast SEO | _yoast_wpseo_title | _yoast_wpseo_metadesc |
| RankMath | rank_math_title | rank_math_description |
| SEOPress | _seopress_titles_title | _seopress_titles_desc |
| Fallback | Native WordPress post title (no SEO plugin detected) | |
Every write tool returns a change_receipt with a unique wr_ ID, before/after values, and timestamp. Claude can call the rollback endpoint to reverse any AI-made change.
Every write tool returns a change_receipt with a unique wr_ ID, before/after values, and timestamp. Full audit trail for AI-made changes.
POST /wp-json/iato-mcp/v1/rollback endpoint restores any change using its receipt ID. Validates before_value to prevent stale rollbacks.
One-screen guided setup: generate an Application Password, paste into your MCP client config, optionally add an IATO API key. Done.
Install the plugin and connect your AI client in under 5 minutes. The 40 WordPress native tools work immediately — no IATO account needed.
Install directly from the WordPress.org plugin directory (search "IATO MCP" in WP Admin → Plugins → Add New). Free and open source under GPL v2.
In WP Admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin. Select the ZIP and click Install Now.
Click Activate. An MCP API key is generated automatically. Your site is now an MCP server.
In Claude Desktop → Settings → Connectors → Add, enter your site's MCP endpoint URL (shown in Settings → IATO MCP). Authorize via OAuth.
For the 12 bridge tools, enter your IATO API key in Settings → IATO MCP. WordPress native tools work without an IATO account.
With IATO MCP installed, ask your AI agent to do any of these in a single conversation.
Agent calls get_iato_seo_fixes to find issues, then update_seo_data on each post to write the fixes directly into your SEO plugin.
Agent calls get_iato_content_gaps to identify pages under 300 words with WordPress slugs, then get_post and update_post to rewrite in place.
Agent calls get_iato_nav_audit to find orphans, previews changes with update_menu_item (dry_run), then applies them.
Agent calls get_media with a missing-alt filter, generates descriptive alt text for each image, and writes back via update_alt_text — every change receipted for rollback.
v1.0.0 ships as a pure MCP server. Here's what's coming next.
Async review queue in wp-admin where editors approve, reject, or mark-fixed AI-proposed changes from IATO. Correct approve→apply→receipt wiring with resilience when the platform is slow. Deferred from v1.0.0 to ship it properly.
SEO score, issue counts, recent auto-fixes, pending reviews, and crawl freshness — all on the WordPress dashboard home screen.
Push live WordPress pages, menus, taxonomy, and SEO meta into IATO without waiting for a crawl. Returning in a future release once sync is re-designed to be async by default.
Yes. IATO MCP is free and open source under GPL v2. The 40 WordPress native tools work without any account. The 12 bridge tools require an IATO free trial or subscription for API access.
Any self-hosted WordPress site. Shared hosting (Bluehost, SiteGround), VPS (DigitalOcean, Linode), managed WordPress (WP Engine, Flywheel, Cloudways), or local development environments. If you can install a plugin, you can run IATO MCP.
Any AI client that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This includes Claude Desktop, Gemini, ChatGPT, and other MCP-compatible tools. The plugin exposes a standard MCP endpoint via HTTP.
Not for the 40 WordPress native tools — they work immediately after activation. For the 12 IATO bridge tools, you need an IATO free trial or subscription and API key, which you enter in Settings → IATO MCP.
WordPress.com's MCP only works on paid WordPress.com plans. IATO MCP works on any self-hosted WordPress site, supports multiple AI clients (not just Claude), includes SEO read/write tools, and integrates with IATO's crawler for SEO auditing and content analysis.
Yoast SEO, RankMath, and SEOPress. The plugin auto-detects which is active and reads/writes the correct meta keys. If no SEO plugin is installed, it falls back to the native WordPress post title.
Yes. The source code is on GitHub under GPL v2. Contributions are welcome. The plugin is pending approval in the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Every write tool (update_seo_data, update_alt_text, update_canonical, etc.) returns a change_receipt with a unique wr_ ID, before/after values, and timestamp. You can rollback any change by POSTing its receipt ID to /wp-json/iato-mcp/v1/rollback. The endpoint validates that before_value still matches to prevent stale rollbacks.
No. Autopilot and the Review Queue are deferred from v1.0.0 and returning in a future release — see the Roadmap. v1.0.0 ships as a pure MCP server: your AI client reads IATO crawl data, makes WordPress changes directly, and every write returns a rollback receipt.
Turn your self-hosted WordPress site into an MCP server. Free, open source, works with any AI client.
Get it on WordPress.org