Connect Squirrly to AI Assistants

Let Claude read and update your SEO directly from your site. One switch, one address, and approval on your WordPress login screen. It takes about two minutes, and you never type a password into Claude.

What’s new in this version

• Squirrly’s SEO tools are now visible to AI assistants. They were registered correctly but marked so MCP clients could not read them, so assistants found nothing. Fixed.
• You can add Squirrly directly to Claude—no separate MCP client on your computer, and no Application Password to create by hand.

Before you start

Five steps

1. Turn on the sign-in step.

In WordPress, go to Squirrly SEO > Technical SEO > AI Tools, turn on Allow AI assistants to connect with a sign-in, and save.

Three things appear. Your connector address, so copy it; you need it next. Two server checks confirm your site is publishing the sign-in details. The switch only enables sign-in; no assistant has access until you approve one in step 4.

Both checks green means your server is reachable. If either is red, fix it before continuing. See Troubleshooting.

2. Paste the address into Claude.

On claude.ai, open Customize > Connectors, then Add > Add custom connector. Name it so you recognize it, and paste your connector address into Remote MCP server URL. It looks like https://yoursite.com/wp-json/mcp/mcp-oauth-server.

Click Continue. Claude checks your site and fills in the rest automatically. You should see Authentication: Always required marked as Detected. Leave the settings and click Add.

3. Click Connect

The connector is now in your list but not connected. Clicking Connect sends you to your site to sign in.

Claude picks up your site’s icon, so you can tell several sites apart at a glance.

4. Approve it on your own site.

Your site asks whether to allow the connection. This screen comes from your site, not Claude. Check two things before approving:

CHECK: It says Verified publisher: claude. Your site checked Claude’s published identity and confirmed it. If that green label is missing, stop and do not approve.

CHECK: It explains that an Application Password named Claude will be created for your user. That is how access is granted, and revoking it later cuts access off cleanly.

Click Allow, and you return to Claude, connected.

5

Check what Claude can do.

The connector lists tools it may use, split into read-only and write. You will see three general-purpose tools rather than a long list of named Squirrly ones, which is normal. Claude accesses all of Squirrly’s abilities through these three and asks your permission the first time it uses each.

Read-only tools discover what is available; the write tool is what actually changes your SEO.

Try something simple: “What is the SEO title and meta description of my home page?” If Claude answers with your actual title and description, you are done.

What Claude can do once connected

Claude can do exactly what the WordPress user who approved the connection can do, but no more. If an Editor approved it, Claude can edit SEO across the site but cannot change site-wide settings. If a Contributor approved it, Claude can read your Briefcase but cannot edit SEO of articles the user does not own.

If you want an assistant who edits article SEO but must never change site-wide settings, create a separate Editor user and approve the connection while signed in as that user.

How to disconnect

Either end works and is enough. On claude.ai, open the connector and click Disconnect. In WordPress, go to Users > Profile, find the Application Password named Claude, and revoke it. Turning the AI Tools switch off will stop everything for all assistants at once.

Troubleshooting

“Authorization with the MCP server failed”

Claude could not read the two sign-in documents from your site. Open the AI Tools screen and check Can your server be reached? It shows the status of each and what to do.

A server check is red, status 403

Your web server refuses addresses that begin with a dot before WordPress sees them. On Nginx, this is a rule written as location ~ /\ { deny all; }. It needs an exception for /.well-known/.

A server check is red, status 404

Something captures /.well-known/ before WordPress. Usually, a certificate rule is written as location ^~ /.well-known/—narrowing it to location ^~ /.well-known/acme-challenge/ leaves the sign-in documents alone. Also check that Settings > Permalinks is not set to Plain.

The screen says to install the MCP Adapter plugin.

Squirrly registers the SEO tools, and the MCP Adapter carries them. Install it from Plugins > Add New to remove the message.

Claude connects but finds no Squirrly tools.

Check that Squirrly SEO is 14.2.5 or newer. Earlier versions registered the tools so no MCP client could see them—that is the bug this version fixes.

I don’t use an AI assistant. Do I need to do anything?

No. The switch is off by default, and while off, nothing about your site changes.