What emcp-tools MCP can actually do

Live capability reference for the emcp-tools plugin’s MCP server (emcp-psychedelicsinrecovery-org / emcp-service-psychedelicsinrecovery-org). Written after direct use, not from the plugin’s own marketing copy — every category below has been exercised against real PIR data at least once. ~126 of 266 total tools are enabled on both sites (the rest are toggled off per-site in the plugin’s Tools tab). For how to connect, see HOW-TO-RECONNECT-MCP.md.

Content — the everyday layer

Full CRUD on pages, posts, and custom post types: create-page, create-post, update-post, delete-post, list-pages, list-posts, get-post, get-post-blocks, set-post-terms (taxonomies/categories/tags), search-content. This is how the convention schedule page got built and published in the original session — real, not theoretical.

Elementor — the deep layer, and the reason this plugin exists

Most of PIR’s site is Elementor-built, which nothing else here reaches. Two modes:

• Legacy/free-widget mode: add-free-widget, add-container, add-div-block, add-flexbox.
• Atomic mode (Elementor 4.0+, what this site runs): add-atomic-heading, -paragraph, -button, -image, -video, -youtube, -svg, -divider, -widget, update-atomic-widget. detect-elementor-version tells you which mode to use before touching a page.

Structural tools work on both modes: get-page-structure (full element tree, containers/widgets/ nesting), get-page-snapshot, get-page-html, find-element, get-element-settings, update-element, move-element, duplicate-element, remove-element, set-element-label, reorder-elements, get-widget-schema/get-container-schema (what settings a given widget/container actually accepts, before trying to set them).

Global design tokens (site-wide, not per-page): list-global-classes, get-global-settings, update-global-colors, update-global-typography.

Patterns and templates: list-patterns, insert-pattern, save-as-template, apply-template, import-template, create-theme-template, update-theme-template, delete-theme-template, resolve-template, set-template-conditions, list-condition-targets (theme-builder conditional display — which template shows on which pages).

Media

list-media, get-media, upload-media, update-media, sideload-image (pull an image from a URL directly into the media library), search-images/add-stock-image (built-in stock photo search), upload-svg-icon.

Plugins, themes, and site config

list-plugins (status, version, update-available, whether it’s protected from being disabled — emcp-tools and Elementor themselves can never be turned off via MCP), search-plugins, list-themes, search-themes, theme-read (a thinner Astra/theme settings reader — see CAPABILITIES-ASTRA.md for the real, deep version), astra-read (same caveat), get-settings/ update-settings (WordPress core settings: general, reading, writing, discussion, media, permalinks), menu-read/menu-write (nav menus), list-redirects.

Database — read-only, but real SQL

query: runs arbitrary SELECT/SHOW/DESCRIBE/EXPLAIN against the live database. Writes and DDL are rejected server-side, not just discouraged. describe-table/list-tables for schema discovery first. This is genuinely powerful — it’s how the Jetpack active-plan and active-modules data got pulled for the JetPack-vs-emcp comparison in this project’s history. Also flagged by Claude Code’s own auto-mode classifier as “Production Reads” on the main site specifically — expect a permission prompt there.

Auditing, safety, and diagnostics

Every change an AI makes through this plugin is recorded and reversible: list-changes, get-change, rollback-change. scan-security and analyze-performance are built-in, no separate plugin needed — this is the direct answer to “what does emcp give you that Jetpack AI doesn’t.” find-broken-links, reindex-search (Relevanssi), read-file/search-files/list-directory (server filesystem, scoped to the WordPress install).

Backup & export

export-page, export-content, list-content-exports, restore-content, export-sandbox-artifact/ import-sandbox-artifact (portable bundles for moving work between sites or environments).

Identity

core-get-site-info, core-get-user-info, get-user, list-users (admin-only — real emails, roles, post counts; used to confirm both sites’ real user lists, not a stub response).

What this doesn’t reach

Anything Astra-theme-specific in real depth (fonts, header/footer design not just layout, global color palette editing, sidebar styling) — astra-read/theme-read here are thin readers; the real surface is Astra’s own native MCP server. See CAPABILITIES-ASTRA.md.