How to connect your WordPress site to Meta Muse
Want Muse to run your WordPress site, not just talk about it? Install one free plugin on your self-hosted site, paste one message into a Muse chat, and approve the sign-in on your own site. No code, no terminal, and no API key to copy — a few minutes. Muse Code, Meta's terminal agent, connects the same way and reaches local sites too. New to MCP? Start with the WordPress MCP server guide.
What can Muse do on your WordPress site once it's connected?
Once connected, Muse acts on your live WordPress site with real tools — it does the work itself instead of handing back text you paste in. Ask in plain English and it can draft and schedule posts, put a WooCommerce collection on sale, keep plugins updated, or read the error log to explain what broke. Cowboy MCP exposes 203 WordPress tools that Muse calls directly over HTTPS, asking you before each request.
How do you connect Muse to WordPress in three steps?
Connecting takes three steps and no code. Install the free Cowboy MCP plugin, copy the message from the Muse panel on the Connections tab under Settings → Cowboy MCP, and paste it into a Muse chat. Muse creates the connector and signs in with one-click sign-in. There's no key to copy or keep safe, and nothing is allowed until you click Approve on your own site.
- 1
Install the free plugin
In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New, search for Cowboy MCP, and click Install then Activate.
- 2
Copy the message
Open Settings → Cowboy MCP, pick Muse on the Connections tab, and click Copy message. The message names your site, its /wp-json/cowboy-mcp/v1/endpoint URL and the sign-in method; copying it turns on browser sign-in and opens a 30-minute window for new connections. Then click Open Muse or open the Muse app.
- 3
Paste it and approve
Paste the message into a new Muse chat and send it. If Muse asks to contact your site, allow it. Click Connect on the connector card, then Connect again in the dialog: Muse opens a sign-in page on your site in a new tab — pick full access, read-only, or a custom list of tools, and click Approve.
The Connections tab confirms the moment Muse signs in. Muse then asks before each request it sends to your site — Allow once or Always allow this site. Site behind Cloudflare? Its Browser Integrity Check refuses Muse's MCP client with error 1010 even after the sign-in succeeds; the panel shows the one Skip rule to add, and the Cloudflare guide walks through it.
How do you connect Muse Code, the terminal agent?
Muse Code runs on your computer, so it reaches a local development site as easily as a live one. Pick Muse Code on the Connections tab, click Copy message, start muse and paste it: Muse adds your site to its settings and asks you to approve the change. Quit Muse and run the one muse mcp login command the panel shows — it opens your browser to the same sign-in page. Start muse again and run /mcp: your site, named after its hostname, is listed with its tools.
Prefer a file? The same panel shows the ~/.config/muse/settings.json entry — one server under mcpServers with type streamable-http, your endpoint URL and mode optional — and an API-key setup for headless machines. The pasted-message path needs Muse Code 1.4.8 or newer.
Why does Muse need a public HTTPS site?
Muse connects from Meta's servers, not from your computer, so it has to be able to reach your site over the internet. Cowboy MCP publishes a Streamable HTTP endpoint as an ordinary WordPress REST route at /wp-json/cowboy-mcp/v1/endpoint, so Muse reaches your site directly over HTTPS — no proxy, no relay, and no third-party service in between. The plugin is itself the MCP server.
Working on a local development site? Use Muse Code, or another tool that runs on your own computer — Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor all sign in through your browser with no public address. One endpoint serves every client, so only the setup step changes.
Is it safe to let Muse work on your live WordPress site?
Yes, with the same guardrails the plugin applies to every client, plus Muse's own confirmation before each request. Safe mode is on by default, so destructive tools ask before they run. Any write can be previewed as a dry run, every change lands in an undo journal you can roll back, and requests are rate-limited to 120 per minute. Muse gets only the access you approve, and you can revoke it any time — it all runs on your own server. More on security →
Questions, answered.
Who can use Muse, and which plan do I need?
Meta offers Muse to adults in the United States, and there is no paid plan to buy for custom connectors. Meta does not review custom connectors, so add only sites you manage. Your site must be on public HTTPS, because Muse connects from Meta's servers.
Why do I paste a message instead of a link?
Muse has no settings form for custom connectors — you ask for one in a chat, and Muse creates it. The Muse panel on the Connections tab gives you the exact message that works: the connector name, the transport, your site's endpoint URL and the sign-in method. Paste it, send it, and Muse does the rest.
Does my content get sent to Meta?
Only what Muse needs to read to do the task you asked, and Muse asks you before each request it sends to your site. Cowboy MCP adds no cloud, proxy, or tracking of its own — your site talks directly to Muse, and everything runs on your own server.
Muse signed in, but every request fails — why?
Almost always Cloudflare. Muse's sign-in passes, but its MCP client is refused by Cloudflare's Browser Integrity Check with error 1010 before WordPress sees the request. Add one Skip rule in Cloudflare for requests whose path starts with /wp-json/cowboy-mcp/ covering Browser Integrity Check; the Muse panel shows the rule when your site is behind Cloudflare, and the Connection Doctor's Cloudflare check confirms the fix. The Cloudflare guide has the step-by-step.
What is Muse Code, and does it work with a local site?
Muse Code is Meta's terminal agent. It runs on your computer, so it reaches a site on Local, Studio, MAMP or Docker with no public address. Start muse, paste the message from the Muse Code panel so it adds your site to its settings, quit, and run the one muse mcp login command the panel shows — it opens your browser to the same sign-in page. Run /mcp inside muse to see your site listed.
The connector says no tools are available — why?
A short list is normal: Cowboy MCP exposes two gateway tools, cowboy_discover and cowboy_run, instead of loading every schema into Muse's context — ask it to “discover tools for WooCommerce”. If even those two are missing, the connection's scope is probably empty: check it under Connected apps on the Connections tab. Still nothing? Ask in the support forum (opens in new tab).
I get a 401 or 403 when connecting — what's wrong?
Run the Connection Doctor on the Connections tab. A 401 with a Basic Auth prompt means server-level password protection answers before WordPress — exclude /wp-json/cowboy-mcp/ and /.well-known/ from it. A 403 or 503 from Cloudflare is a bot challenge or Browser Integrity Check; a 403 or 406 mentioning ModSecurity is a firewall blocking JSON POSTs. Still stuck? Paste the report into the support forum (opens in new tab).
Ready to connect Muse to your WordPress site?
Install the free plugin, copy the message, paste it into Muse, and approve the sign-in — Muse is working on your site minutes later. It works on any self-hosted WordPress site running version 6.2 or newer on PHP 8.0+. The same site also connects to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.