Getting Started

This document provides an overview of the initial steps required to install and configure the MCP Adapter on a WordPress site. It covers prerequisites, installation paths, and verification procedures to ensure the system is operational.

For detailed installation instructions, see Installation. For local development environment configuration, see Development Environment Setup. For practical code examples, see Basic Examples.

Prerequisites

Before installing MCP Adapter, ensure your environment meets these requirements:

Requirement	Version	Purpose
PHP	>= 7.4	Runtime environment
WordPress	>= 6.8	Core platform
WordPress Abilities API	Latest	Ability registration system
Composer	Latest	Dependency management (recommended)

The WordPress Abilities API must be installed and active before MCP Adapter can function, as all MCP components derive from registered abilities via the wp_register_ability() function.

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md247-257

Installation Paths

MCP Adapter supports two installation methods, each suited for different use cases:

Composer Package Installation

This method integrates MCP Adapter as a dependency in your plugin or theme:

1. Add the package via Composer
2. Optionally include Jetpack Autoloader for version conflict prevention
3. Initialize McpAdapter::instance() in your code

WordPress Plugin Installation

This method treats MCP Adapter as a standalone plugin:

1. Clone the repository to wp-content/plugins/
2. Run composer install to download dependencies
3. Activate via WordPress admin or WP-CLI

Upon activation, the plugin automatically initializes and creates a default MCP server accessible at /wp-json/mcp/mcp-adapter-default-server.

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md7-168

Key Code Entities

When working with MCP Adapter, you will interact with these primary code entities:

Core Function and Class Mapping

Code Entity	Type	Purpose	File Path
wp_register_ability()	Function	Registers a new ability	Abilities API
McpAdapter	Class	Singleton registry	src/Core/McpAdapter.php
McpAdapter::instance()	Method	Gets singleton instance	src/Core/McpAdapter.php
McpAdapter::create_server()	Method	Creates MCP server	src/Core/McpAdapter.php
HttpTransport	Class	HTTP transport layer	src/Transport/HttpTransport.php
ErrorLogMcpErrorHandler	Class	Default error handler	src/Infrastructure/ErrorHandling/ErrorLogMcpErrorHandler.php

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md26-34 docs/getting-started/installation.md84-106 docs/getting-started/installation.md113-125

Initialization Flow

MCP Adapter follows a specific WordPress hook sequence to initialize properly:

Hook Sequence

1. plugins_loaded: MCP Adapter plugin loads and initializes the McpAdapter singleton
2. wp_abilities_api_init: Developer code registers abilities using wp_register_ability()
3. mcp_adapter_init: Developer code creates custom MCP servers via McpAdapter::create_server()

The default server is automatically created by the plugin if no custom servers are defined.

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md62-81 docs/getting-started/installation.md109-125

Verification Steps

After installation, verify that MCP Adapter is operational:

Method 1: WP-CLI Verification

Method 2: REST API Test

Expected response structure:

Method 3: Code Verification

Add this temporary check to verify class availability:

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md169-203

Common Installation Issues

Issue	Cause	Resolution
Plugin not found	Installation incomplete	Verify plugin directory exists and run composer install
Abilities API unavailable	Missing dependency	Install and activate WordPress Abilities API plugin
REST API not responding	Permalink configuration	Set permalink structure to anything except "Plain"
Autoloader missing	Dependencies not installed	Run composer install in plugin directory
Class not found errors	Autoloader not loaded	Ensure vendor/autoload.php or vendor/autoload_packages.php is required

For detailed troubleshooting procedures, see Installation.

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md205-237

Development Workflow

The typical development workflow when building MCP-enabled WordPress functionality:

Each step in this workflow is documented in detail:

• Ability Registration: See Creating Abilities
• Schema Design: See Schema Transformation
• Server Configuration: See Server Creation and Configuration
• Testing Methods: See Basic Examples

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md83-107 docs/getting-started/installation.md113-125

Next Steps

Once MCP Adapter is installed and verified:

1. Installation: Detailed installation instructions and Jetpack Autoloader configuration
2. Development Environment Setup: Configure wp-env for local development
3. Basic Examples: Hands-on examples of creating tools, resources, and prompts

For architectural understanding, see Architecture. For in-depth ability creation, see Abilities System.

Sources: docs/getting-started/installation.md239-246