@acrossai/mcp-manager

A CLI tool that automatically configures MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers for your AI coding tools — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, and JetBrains IDEs — using your WordPress site powered by the AcrossAI MCP Manager plugin.

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or higher
• A WordPress site with the AcrossAI MCP Manager plugin installed and active
• A WordPress user account on that site

Quick start

npx -y @acrossai/mcp-manager

The CLI will guide you through everything interactively — just enter your site URL when prompted, approve in the browser, and pick which tools to configure.

Installation

Run without installing (recommended)

npx -y @acrossai/mcp-manager

Pass flags directly (skip interactive prompts)

npx -y @acrossai/mcp-manager --siteurl="https://your-site.com" --server="your-server-id"

Install globally

npm install -g @acrossai/mcp-manager
mcp-manager

Options

All flags are optional. If omitted, the CLI will prompt you interactively.

| Flag | Description | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | --siteurl | The base URL of your WordPress site | | --server | The MCP server ID/slug to configure | | --help | Show usage information | | --version | Show the installed version |

Examples

# Fully interactive (recommended)
npx -y @acrossai/mcp-manager

# Provide site URL upfront, pick server interactively
npx -y @acrossai/mcp-manager --siteurl="https://example.com"

# Fully automated (no prompts)
npx -y @acrossai/mcp-manager --siteurl="https://example.com" --server="default-mcp-server"

# Local development site
npx -y @acrossai/mcp-manager --siteurl="http://mysite.local"

What happens when you run it

The CLI walks through a guided setup flow:

Step 1   Prompt for your WordPress site URL (if not passed as a flag)
Step 2   Verify your WordPress site is reachable
Step 3   Confirm the AcrossAI MCP Manager plugin is active
Step 4   Start a browser-based authorization session
Step 5   Open your browser for you to log in and approve
Step 6   Wait for your browser approval (up to 5 minutes)
Step 7   Fetch the list of MCP servers available to your account
Step 8   Let you pick a server interactively (or use --server flag)
Step 9   Detect which AI tools are installed on your machine
Step 10  Generate a WordPress Application Password
Step 11  Ask which tools you want to configure (interactive prompt)
Step 12  Write the MCP config into each selected tool's config file
Step 13  Show the manual config JSON as a fallback
Step 14  Display a success summary with next steps

Interactive prompts

Site URL prompt (shown when --siteurl is not provided):

AcrossAI MCP Manager Setup

WordPress site URL: █

Server selection (shown when multiple servers are available):

Select a server (enter to confirm):
  > ● My MCP Server (my-mcp-server)
    ○ Dev Server (dev-server)

Client selection:

Configure for (space to toggle, enter to confirm):
  > ● Claude Code (detected)
    ● Claude Desktop (detected)
    ○ Cursor
    ○ VS Code
    ○ JetBrains IDEs

| Key | Action | |------------|-------------------------| | ↑ / ↓ | Move the cursor | | Space | Toggle selection on/off | | Enter | Confirm and continue | | Ctrl+C | Exit |

Detected tools are pre-selected. You can deselect any you don't want to configure.

Supported AI tools

The CLI automatically detects and configures the following MCP clients:

| Tool | Config file location (macOS) | |----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Claude Code | ~/.claude.json | | Claude Desktop | ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json | | Cursor | ~/.cursor/mcp.json | | VS Code | ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json | | JetBrains IDEs | ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/mcp.json |

Windows and Linux config paths are also supported automatically.

What gets written to your config files

The CLI injects the following entry into each selected tool's config file under the key "wordpress-{server-id}":

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wordpress-your-server-id": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@automattic/mcp-wordpress-remote@latest"],
      "env": {
        "WP_API_URL": "https://your-site.com",
        "WP_API_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "WP_API_PASSWORD": "xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code uses a slightly different structure: { "mcp": { "servers": { ... } } }.

A timestamped backup of your existing config file is created before any changes are made (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json.bak.1713456789012).

Manual configuration

If you skip auto-configuration or need to set up a tool manually, the CLI prints the full config JSON and tells you exactly where to paste it:

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
📋 Manual Configuration (if needed):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wordpress-your-server-id": { ... }
  }
}

Where to paste:

  Claude Desktop:
    Settings → Developer → Edit Config
    File: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

  VS Code:
    Settings → search "mcp" → edit settings.json
    File: ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json
         (use key "mcp" > "servers" instead of "mcpServers")

  JetBrains:
    Settings → Tools → MCP
    File: ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/mcp.json
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

After setup

Once the CLI finishes, restart each configured application to load the new MCP server:

1. Claude Desktop — Quit and reopen the app
2. Claude Code — Restart the CLI session
3. Cursor — Reload the window (Cmd+Shift+P → "Reload Window")
4. VS Code — Reload the window (Cmd+Shift+P → "Reload Window")
5. JetBrains IDEs — Restart the IDE

Your MCP server will then be available inside your AI tool under the name wordpress-{server-id}.

WordPress plugin requirement

This CLI requires the AcrossAI MCP Manager WordPress plugin on your site.

The plugin provides the REST API endpoints the CLI uses for authorization and config:

| Endpoint | Purpose | |-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------| | GET /wp-json/acrossai-mcp-manager/v1/health | Verify plugin is active | | POST /wp-json/acrossai-mcp-manager/v1/auth/start | Start auth session | | GET /wp-json/acrossai-mcp-manager/v1/auth/status | Poll for approval | | POST /wp-json/acrossai-mcp-manager/v1/auth/exchange | Get app password | | GET /wp-json/acrossai-mcp-manager/v1/servers | List available servers |

Troubleshooting

❌ Cannot reach site

• Double-check the URL is correct and publicly accessible.
• Ensure your site's REST API is not blocked by a firewall or security plugin.

❌ AcrossAI MCP Manager plugin is not installed

• Install the plugin from your WordPress admin: Plugins → Add New → search "AcrossAI MCP Manager".
• Activate it, then re-run the CLI.

❌ Auth code expired

• You have 5 minutes to approve in the browser. Re-run the command and approve promptly.

❌ Server 'x' not in your available servers

• The --server value must exactly match a server ID available to your WordPress user account.
• The CLI lists all available server IDs when this error occurs.
• Omit --server to pick interactively from the list.

Tool not detected

• The CLI detects tools by checking for their config directory. If a tool was just installed, its config directory may not exist yet — open the tool once first, then re-run the CLI.

Security

• The CLI generates a WordPress Application Password scoped to your user account. It is written only to your local config files.
• A backup of each config file is saved before modification.
• No credentials are sent anywhere other than your own WordPress site.
• To revoke access, delete the Application Password from your WordPress profile: Users → Profile → Application Passwords.

License

GPL-2.0-or-later