Cowboy MCP 1.7.7: sign-in on subfolder sites and strict hosts, Drafts only access, and API keys that get past stripped headers

Claude, ChatGPT and the other apps can now sign in to sites they could not reach before: WordPress in a subfolder, multisite subsites, and hosts or Cloudflare rules that block /.well-known/. A new Drafts only access level lets an AI write without publishing. API keys get through on hosts that strip the Authorization header, and when a first sign-in fails, the Connections tab says so and shows how to retry. Updating is recommended, and nothing needs doing afterwards.

Sign-in where it used to fail

Browser sign-in starts with the app reading a few small documents at the root of your domain, under /.well-known/. Three kinds of site could not serve them:

• WordPress in a subfolder (example.com/blog), where the domain root belongs to another site.
• Multisite subsites, for the same reason.
• Hosts and Cloudflare rules that block /.well-known/.

Cowboy MCP 1.7.7 adds a second sign-in address under /wp-json/ and works out by itself which one your host allows. There is nothing to configure, and apps that are already connected are never moved.

Two apps need a different step on a subfolder site:

• Claude Code: the Connections tab shows only the claude mcp add line. Run it, then start claude, run /mcp, choose your site and pick Authenticate. The Claude Code guide has the details.
• Grok reads sign-in details only at the domain root, so on a subfolder site or behind a /.well-known/ block it asks for a Client ID instead. The Grok panel now warns you when that applies; the Grok guide explains the options.

Server names in the setup commands now include the folder (example-com-blog), so two sites on one domain do not collide.

Drafts only access

The consent screen and the API-key form gain a fourth access level next to Full access, Read-only and Custom. A Drafts only connection can create and edit drafts, but it never publishes anything or changes the live site:

• An edit to a live post goes to a linked draft copy, which you review and publish yourself. With Yoast Duplicate Post active, one click on Republish puts the changes live.
• The AI can still read the whole site and upload images.
• Undo on a drafts-only connection reaches only its own changes to posts that are still drafts, never back to a live status. The undo guide has the rules, and the security page explains how the access levels work.

When a first sign-in fails

If an app could not finish signing in, the Connections tab now tells you, and gives the one step to retry in that app, for example "in Claude, open Customize → Connectors, choose your site and click Connect".

The Connection Doctor names the host problem and its fix too. That includes a blocked /.well-known/ (with Cloudflare steps when Cloudflare fronts the site) and a stripped Authorization header. It also offers a one-click switch to the other sign-in address. The Cloudflare guide is updated to match.

API keys on hosts that strip the Authorization header

Some hosts remove the Authorization header before WordPress sees it, and some staging sites sit behind an HTTP password that takes the header for itself. A connection that uses an API key can now send it in an X-Cowboy-MCP-Key header instead:

--header "X-Cowboy-MCP-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

An Authorization header still wins when both are sent. Apps that sign in through the browser always need the Authorization header to arrive, so on those hosts the Doctor's fix still applies.

Separately, some Apache hosts hid a valid key from WordPress, and connections failed with "Missing Authorization header". Those connections now work.

Setup steps that match the apps today

• ChatGPT: a personal Plus account can add and use a custom MCP server. In a Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace you need the Create plugins with MCPs permission. If the Add menu offers only Create plugin and Upload plugin archive, that permission is missing. See the ChatGPT guide.
• Claude: if Claude shows a Connect button before the sign-in page, click it.
• Gemini: no + Custom button under Customize → Connectors means Google has not turned on custom connectors for your account yet.

Changed

• API keys act as the administrator who created them. If that person is deleted or stops being an administrator, the key stops working, so a former admin's key no longer keeps access. Keys created before 1.7.5 are not affected.
• Refused tool calls are readable errors. Newer AI apps (MCP 2025-11-25) see a refused call as an error they can read and correct, so they fix their own mistakes instead of stopping. Older apps keep working on 2025-06-18.
• No caching of the endpoint. Page caches and CDNs no longer store Cowboy MCP's responses, so an outdated "not signed in" answer cannot get stuck in a cache.

Update

Update from your WordPress dashboard like any other plugin, or install it from WordPress.org. The full changelog is there too.