Connect Claude Desktop

This guide walks you through connecting Axtolab AI Connector to Claude Desktop. You will download a small extension file from your WordPress site, drag it into Claude Desktop, paste a connection token, and run your first AI request against WordPress.

You need:

• Axtolab AI Connector installed and activated on your WordPress site (see Installation).
• A WordPress Application Password (you create this in WordPress admin — see Step 2 below).
• Claude Desktop installed on your computer.

If you do not yet have Claude Desktop, download it from https://claude.ai/download.

Step 1 — Open AI Connector in WordPress

In WordPress admin, click AI Connector in the sidebar. The page has several sections; the ones you need for this guide are Connections and Desktop AI clients.

Step 2 — Generate a WordPress Application Password

1. In a separate browser tab, open Users → Profile in WordPress admin.
2. Scroll to the Application Passwords section.
3. In New Application Password Name, type Claude Desktop (or any name you will recognise later).
4. Click Add New Application Password.
5. WordPress displays the generated password as groups of letters and numbers separated by spaces. Copy the full string now — WordPress does not show it again.

Keep this tab open or paste the password into a secure note. You need it in the next step.

Step 3 — Create a connection in AI Connector

1. Switch back to AI Connector → Connections.
2. Click + Add new connection.
3. Fill in:
   • Connection name: Claude Desktop (or anything you prefer).
   • Client type: Claude Desktop.
   • Authentication path: Admin for the first test. You can later create a dedicated WordPress user, but admin works for setup.
   • Application Password: paste the password from Step 2.
4. Click Verify. The wizard confirms it can authenticate to your site as that user. It also tells you which WordPress role the connection has.
5. Choose a capability preset. For your first test, pick Draft only — it lets the AI read content and create drafts, but never publish anything.
6. Click Create connection.

The wizard now shows a connection token. Leave this tab open — you paste the token into Claude Desktop in Step 6.

Step 4 — Download the Claude Desktop extension

1. In AI Connector, scroll to the Desktop AI clients section.
2. Click Download Extension (.mcpb).

Your browser downloads a small file named something like axtolab-ai-connector.mcpb. Save it where you can find it — Downloads or Desktop is fine.

Step 5 — Install the extension in Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop.
2. In Claude Desktop’s menu, open Settings → Extensions.
3. Drag the .mcpb file you downloaded into the Extensions panel.
4. Claude Desktop shows the Axtolab AI Connector extension. Click to enable it.

If your version of Claude Desktop does not support drag-and-drop, look for an Install from file or Add extension button in the Extensions panel and pick the .mcpb file there.

Step 6 — Paste the connection token into Claude Desktop

1. In Claude Desktop, open the Axtolab AI Connector extension settings (gear icon next to the extension in the Extensions panel).
2. Find the Connection token field.
3. Switch back to the WordPress admin tab from Step 3 and copy the connection token.
4. Paste it into the Claude Desktop Connection token field.
5. Save the extension settings.
6. Restart Claude Desktop. Some Claude Desktop versions only load extension settings at startup.

Step 7 — Verify the connection

In Claude Desktop, start a new conversation. Ask:

List the five most recent posts on my WordPress site, with title and status.

If Claude returns a list of posts from your site, the connection is live.

If Claude says it does not see any WordPress tools:

• Confirm you saved the extension settings, including the connection token.
• Quit and restart Claude Desktop, then try again.
• Check that the connection in AI Connector → Connections shows as Active.
• If still stuck, see Troubleshooting.

Step 8 — Create your first draft

While you are still on the Draft-only preset, ask Claude:

Create a short draft post titled “AI Connector Test Draft” with one paragraph explaining that this is a setup test. Do not publish it.

Then check WordPress admin:

1. Go to Posts → All Posts.
2. Confirm the draft exists with Draft status.
3. Open and review it.
4. Move it to trash when you are done.

That is your first end-to-end AI-to-WordPress write. The draft was created by Claude through the connector, with permissions you configured, and you stayed in control because the Draft only preset cannot publish.

What to do after the first test

You can now:

• Widen the connection’s permissions to Standard if you want Claude to publish (with a confirmation step), upload media, and update SEO. See Permissions first.
• Create additional connections with different presets — for example one for a research-only agent and one for a content workflow.
• Add a second AI client (Claude Web, ChatGPT) — see Connect Claude Web or ChatGPT.

If you ever want to disconnect Claude Desktop:

1. Open AI Connector → Connections in WordPress.
2. Find your Claude Desktop connection and click Revoke.

After revoke, the connector blocks any further requests from that connection. You can also remove the WordPress Application Password from Users → Profile → Application Passwords.

Common gotchas

• “Network error” in the wizard’s Create step. Fixed in 1.0.1. If you are on 1.0.0 and see this, update the plugin first.
• Tools list is empty in Claude Desktop after restart. The connection’s capability preset may be too narrow. Switch it to Standard temporarily to confirm the connection works, then narrow it once you trust the flow.
• Claude Desktop does not show the extension after dragging the file. Some operating systems block files downloaded from a browser. Right-click the .mcpb file → Open With → Claude Desktop, or try the Extensions panel’s manual install button.

See Troubleshooting for a longer list.

Where to go next

• Connect Claude Web or ChatGPT — OAuth flow for web AI clients
• Permissions — capability presets explained
• Troubleshooting — common setup issues