local-wp-mcp

MCP server providing WP-CLI, MySQL, and filesystem access for Local by Flywheel WordPress sites.

Unlike REST API-based WordPress MCP servers, this connects directly through Local's native filesystem and process architecture — no application passwords, HTTP endpoints, or network requests needed.

Features

• WP-CLI execution via Local's bundled PHP binary with command allowlisting
• Direct MySQL queries via Unix socket connection pooling
• Filesystem operations with path validation and WordPress core protection
• Multi-site support with automatic site detection from sites.json
• Security-first: spawn() only (no exec()), symlink-safe path validation, tiered command permissions

Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | wp_cli_run | Execute any WP-CLI command | | wp_site_info | Get WordPress version, URL, themes, plugins | | wp_list_sites | List all Local by Flywheel sites | | mysql_query | Run SQL queries (read-only by default) | | mysql_schema | Inspect database tables and columns | | wp_active_plugins | Get active plugins via direct DB query | | read_site_file | Read files from the site directory | | write_site_file | Write files (wp-content only, core protected) | | list_site_directory | List directory contents | | search_site_files | Search for files by name pattern |

Setup

There are two ways to run this MCP server: from npm (recommended for general use) or from a local clone (for development or customization).

Important: All env values must be strings (e.g., "true" not true).

Option A: Install from npm (recommended)

This is the simplest approach. npm downloads and caches the package automatically — no cloning or building required.

Automatic setup (Claude Code)

From your Local site's project directory:

cd ~/Local\ Sites/mysite/app/public
npx -y @chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp --setup

This will auto-detect the Local site, create a .mcp.json (or merge into an existing one), and pre-fill SITE_NAME with write permissions set to false. Restart Claude Code to connect.

Manual setup

Choose your agent below. Each example uses npx to run the server — replace "My Site Name" with the name shown in Local.

Add a .mcp.json to your project root (e.g., ~/Local Sites/mysite/app/public/.mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-wp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SITE_NAME": "My Site Name",
        "WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "MYSQL_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "FS_ALLOW_WRITES": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or add via the CLI:

claude mcp add -s project local-wp -- npx -y @chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp

Then set environment variables with claude mcp add-json or by editing .mcp.json directly.

Edit the config file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-wp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SITE_NAME": "My Site Name",
        "WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "MYSQL_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "FS_ALLOW_WRITES": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop to connect.

Add a .cursor/mcp.json to your project root, or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json for global config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-wp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SITE_NAME": "My Site Name",
        "WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "MYSQL_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "FS_ALLOW_WRITES": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or add from Cursor Settings > Tools & MCP > New MCP Server.

Add a .vscode/mcp.json to your workspace root:

{
  "servers": {
    "local-wp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SITE_NAME": "My Site Name",
        "WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "MYSQL_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "FS_ALLOW_WRITES": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: VS Code uses "servers" (not "mcpServers") and requires "type": "stdio".

Or use the Command Palette: MCP: Add Server.

Edit the config file:

• macOS: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-wp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SITE_NAME": "My Site Name",
        "WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "MYSQL_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "FS_ALLOW_WRITES": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or use the Command Palette: MCP: Add Server.

Option B: Install from source (development)

Use this if you want to modify the server, run tests, or contribute changes. You clone the repo, build it once, and point .mcp.json at your local build output.

1. Clone and build

git clone https://github.com/chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp.git
cd local-wp-mcp
npm install
npm run build

2. Configure your agent

Point your agent's config at the local dist/index.js instead of using npx. Use the same config format shown in the manual setup section for your agent, but replace command and args:

"command": "node",
"args": ["/absolute/path/to/local-wp-mcp/dist/index.js"]

Note: The path must be absolute (e.g., /Users/you/Projects/local-wp-mcp/dist/index.js). Relative paths won't resolve correctly when the agent spawns the process.

3. Rebuild after changes

After editing source files, rebuild before restarting your agent:

npm run build

You can also use npm run dev to watch for changes and rebuild automatically during development.

Development commands

npm run lint            # ESLint
npm run build           # TypeScript compile
npm test                # unit tests (single run)
npm run test:watch      # unit tests (watch mode)
npm run test:coverage   # unit tests with coverage report

Switching between npm and local

To switch from npm to local (or vice versa), update command and args in your agent's config:

| Method | command | args | |--------|-----------|--------| | npm (npx) | "npx" | ["-y", "@chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp"] | | Local clone | "node" | ["/absolute/path/to/dist/index.js"] |

Everything else (env, server name) stays the same. Restart your agent after switching.

Environment variables

| Variable | Description | Default | |----------|-------------|---------| | SITE_NAME | Site name as shown in Local (e.g., "My Site") | Auto-detected if only one site exists | | SITE_ID | Site ID from Local (takes precedence over SITE_NAME) | — | | WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES | Enable write WP-CLI commands (plugin install, post create, etc.) | "false" | | MYSQL_ALLOW_WRITES | Enable INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE/ALTER queries | "false" | | FS_ALLOW_WRITES | Enable writing files via write_site_file (WordPress core dirs are always read-only) | "false" | | WPCLI_SAFE_COMMANDS | Comma-separated list of additional read-only commands (see Plugin CLI commands) | — |

If only one site exists in Local, SITE_NAME and SITE_ID can both be omitted — the server will connect to it automatically.

Plugin CLI commands

This MCP server isn't limited to core WP-CLI commands — it automatically supports commands registered by plugins (WooCommerce, ACF, Yoast, Elementor, etc.).

How it works

WP-CLI commands are classified using a three-tier system:

| Tier | Behavior | Examples | |------|----------|----------| | Blocked | Always rejected (arbitrary code execution) | eval, eval-file, shell | | Read-only | Always allowed | Core safe commands + any command with a read-only action verb | | Write | Requires WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES=true | Everything else |

Read-only action verbs — any command whose subcommand is one of these is automatically allowed, regardless of whether it's a core or plugin command:

list, get, search, check, status, path, info, version, is-installed, check-update, pluck, has

This means commands like wc product list, acf field get my-group, or yoast index status work out of the box — no configuration needed.

Commands with write-action verbs like wc product create, acf field delete, or yoast index run are blocked unless WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES=true is set.

Custom safe commands

If a plugin has read-only commands that don't match the built-in verb patterns (e.g., wc report sales), you can whitelist them with the WPCLI_SAFE_COMMANDS environment variable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "local-wp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@chrisfromthelc/local-wp-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SITE_NAME": "My Site Name",
        "WPCLI_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "MYSQL_ALLOW_WRITES": "false",
        "WPCLI_SAFE_COMMANDS": "wc report sales,wc report customers,my-plugin dump-config"
      }
    }
  }
}

Commands in WPCLI_SAFE_COMMANDS are always allowed without writes enabled. Use comma-separated values, matching the first 2–3 words of the command.

Security

• All commands use spawn() with argument arrays — no shell interpretation
• Shell metacharacters rejected in both commands and arguments as defense-in-depth
• WP-CLI eval, eval-file, and shell are always blocked
• Dangerous flags (--exec, --require, --ssh, etc.) are blocked in all commands
• Write operations require explicit opt-in via env vars
• Plugin commands with read-only verbs are auto-detected and allowed
• File paths are validated with realpath() to prevent symlink traversal
• File reads and writes use open handles to mitigate TOCTOU race conditions
• WordPress core directories (wp-admin/, wp-includes/) are read-only
• Child processes inherit only necessary environment variables
• Directory searches are capped at 10,000 files to prevent resource exhaustion
• Output is truncated at 25,000 characters to preserve context windows

Requirements

• Local by Flywheel installed
• Node.js 18+
• Site must be running in Local (services started)

License

MIT