Requirements

Required

Dependency	Minimum version	Notes
WordPress	6.9	Ships the Abilities API in core.
PHP	8.0	8.2+ recommended.
Elementor	3.20	Container element support is required.

The WordPress MCP Adapter is bundled with the plugin: you do not need to install or activate it separately. It ships as a committed Composer dependency loaded via the Jetpack Autoloader, which also arbitrates the highest version process-wide when another active plugin (WooCommerce, Automattic MCP, …) bundles its own copy, so there’s never a “class already declared” clash.

If you’re on WordPress 6.8 or older, the Abilities API isn’t in core. You’d need to install it as a separate plugin (or via Composer). Easier path is to update WordPress.

Optional (unlocks more tools)

Dependency	What it adds
Elementor Pro	`add-pro-widget` (reaches every Pro widget via the catalog), theme builder tools (8), Pro template/popup/dynamic-tag tools, Widget Builder (8), SEO & Accessibility (7), Pro custom code.
Elementor 4.0+	14 atomic-element tools (flexbox, div-block, atomic widgets, global classes).
WooCommerce	Adds no new tools. WC widgets are reached through `add-pro-widget` (catalog tier `woo`). Requires Elementor Pro.
Elementor Pro custom code module	`add-custom-css`, `add-code-snippet`, `list-code-snippets`.

Tool counts by environment

EMCP Tools ships 267 tools in total, 209 of them on the free tier and 58 requiring Pro.

	Count
Total tools	267
Free tier	209
Pro only	58
Enabled by default	136
Off until you opt in	131

How many register on your site depends on what you run. The Elementor tools need Elementor, the atomic-element tools need Elementor 4.0+, and every plugin integration (ACF, WooCommerce, the 8 form builders, the 7 SEO plugins, the 3 Elementor addon packs) registers only when that plugin is active. A site running Elementor Pro and two of those plugins sees far fewer tools than the total, which is the intended behaviour: you get tools for what you actually use and nothing else.

The 131 disabled-by-default tools are the ones that write, delete, or render site-wide. Opt in from EMCP Tools → Tools.

Each total includes the 3 surfaced read-only core/* context abilities. Compact tool mode collapses the whole surface to 3 dispatcher tools for clients with strict tool caps. See Compact tool mode. The EMCP Themer tools require the Themer module (on by default); turning it off removes those 9.

Sanity check

After activation:

Visit EMCP Tools in the WordPress admin. The Dashboard should show a non-zero “Active” stat card. If it shows zero, check the troubleshooting guide.

Test the REST endpoint with curl:

curl -X POST https://your-site.test/wp-json/mcp/emcp-tools-server \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -u "username:application-password" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0"}}}'

You should get back an initialize response with a session ID. If you get a 404, the plugin isn’t active (or its REST route didn’t register). If you get a 401, the application password is wrong.