AlternativesWordPress MCP Adapter
The WordPress MCP Adapter and Membership MCP.
WordPress's own kit for developers who want AI to use their plugin. The Abilities API and the MCP Adapter are its building blocks for letting an AI use a site. Membership MCP is a finished connection for one job, your memberships on MemberPress. Here's where each fits.
What the Abilities API and the Adapter are
- The Abilities API is one list where WordPress, plugins and themes declare what they can do, in a form software can read. Each thing on that list is an ability. It's built into WordPress 6.9 and newer (WordPress 6.9 release).
- Each ability is written by a developer in PHP, with a name, a description, the shape of its answer, the code that runs and a check on who may run it (developer.wordpress.org).
- The MCP Adapter is the official WordPress package that turns those abilities into tools an AI app can use over MCP. It lives in the WordPress organization on GitHub and is also a plugin on WordPress.org (MCP Adapter on GitHub).
- Abilities stay private unless the developer marks them public. Out of the box, the Adapter offers three general tools: find abilities, read about one, and run one (MCP Adapter on GitHub).
Side by side
The Adapter's column is from WordPress's own pages, read on November 2, 2026.
| Membership MCP | Abilities API and MCP Adapter | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A hosted MCP server, meaning a connection your AI app reaches over the web with nothing to install on your computer, and a free WordPress plugin. Built only for MemberPress: 60+ tools | Building blocks: plugins register what they can do as abilities, and the Adapter turns those abilities into tools an AI app can call (Abilities API introduction, MCP Adapter on GitHub) |
| Membership work | Members, plans, subscriptions, payments, coupons and access rules, plus the MemberPress add-ons when they're active, and posts and pages, ready when you connect | Whatever abilities the plugins on your site register and mark as public (MCP Adapter on GitHub) |
| Who sets it up | You: upload the plugin, approve the connection on your site, and paste your site's MCP URL into your AI | A developer registers each ability in PHP, with its description, the code it runs and a permission check (Abilities API introduction) |
| Signing in and permissions | You approve the connection on your own site, and your WordPress password never leaves it. Only requests from Membership MCP can reach your site's tools. You choose Read only, Content or Full access when you connect. Nothing is picked for you. | Each server checks sign-in, and each ability runs its own permission check (MCP Adapter on GitHub) |
| WordPress version | WordPress 6.5 or newer | The Abilities API is built into WordPress 6.9 and newer (WordPress 6.9 release) |
| License and status | A free plugin, with plans for more daily actions | Open source under GPL-2.0-or-later, and still before version 1.0 as of November 2, 2026 (MCP Adapter on GitHub) |
Where each fits
- Making your own plugin's features available to AI? The Abilities API and the Adapter are WordPress's official way to make them available to AI apps.
- Running a membership site on MemberPress? Membership MCP gives the AI you already use 60+ tools for MemberPress, with riskier changes previewed and a log on your site, without writing code.
Where these facts come from
- Introducing the WordPress Abilities API (developer.wordpress.org, November 2025): what abilities are and how they are registered. Read November 2, 2026.
- WordPress 6.9 (wordpress.org release page): the Abilities API is part of WordPress 6.9. Read November 2, 2026.
- WordPress/mcp-adapter (GitHub): what the Adapter does, public and private abilities, the three general tools, sign-in and permissions, license and version. Read November 2, 2026.
- Membership MCP: Safety and approvals, Connect your site and Security.
Membership work, without the setup.
Free with MemberPress. Upload the plugin, connect your AI, and ask.
Connect once, on your own site. Then just ask.