Add MCP (Model Context Protocol) experiment

[Jameswlepage]

Summary

Adds MCP server integration for WordPress, enabling AI assistants like Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code to interact with WordPress capabilities via the Model Context Protocol.

Addresses #37

Features

• MCP Server Management: Configure multiple MCP servers with customizable routes and transport options
• Tool Discovery: Automatically expose WordPress abilities as MCP tools
• Admin Dashboard: Full React-based admin UI for server configuration and monitoring
• Client Configuration: Auto-generate config snippets for Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, and JetBrains IDEs
• Connection Testing: Built-in endpoint testing to verify server connectivity

Related

See also #63 (Abilities Explorer) - the MCP admin UI and Abilities Explorer share similar concepts around displaying and managing WordPress abilities. Future work could explore sharing components or patterns between them.

Changes

• includes/Experiments/MCP/ - PHP backend (Manager, Admin_Page, REST controller)
• src/admin/mcp-server/ - React admin UI with DataViews
• docs/experiments/mcp.md - Documentation

Test plan

• Enable the MCP experiment in AI settings
• Navigate to the MCP admin page
• Verify server status shows as "Running"
• Enable/disable specific tools via the tools table
• Copy a client configuration and test in Claude Desktop or Cursor
• Use the "Test connection" feature to verify endpoint

[codecov]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 0.90498% with 657 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 31.12%. Comparing base (7dbbc44) to head (04c167c).
⚠️ Report is 20 commits behind head on develop.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
includes/Experiments/MCP/Manager.php	0.00%	463 Missing ⚠️
includes/Experiments/MCP/REST/MCP_Controller.php	0.00%	126 Missing ⚠️
includes/Experiments/MCP/Admin_Page.php	0.00%	54 Missing ⚠️
includes/Experiments/MCP/MCP.php	26.31%	14 Missing ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@              Coverage Diff               @@
##             develop     #152       +/-   ##
==============================================
- Coverage      46.89%   31.12%   -15.77%     
- Complexity       208      346      +138     
==============================================
  Files             19       23        +4     
  Lines           1271     1934      +663     
==============================================
+ Hits             596      602        +6     
- Misses           675     1332      +657     

Flag	Coverage Δ
unit	31.12% <0.90%> (-15.77%)	⬇️

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR adds a comprehensive MCP (Model Context Protocol) experiment that enables AI assistants like Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code to interact with WordPress capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. The implementation includes a full-stack solution with PHP backend management, React-based admin UI, REST API endpoints, and extensive configuration options.

Key Changes:

• Full MCP server management system with multi-server support and configurable routes
• React-based admin dashboard with DataViews for managing exposed abilities and server configuration
• REST API controller for server CRUD operations, tool management, and connection testing
• Auto-generated client configuration templates for popular MCP clients

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 36 out of 36 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
webpack.config.js	Adds entry point for admin/mcp-server bundle
src/admin/mcp-server/types.ts	TypeScript type definitions for MCP UI state
src/admin/mcp-server/index.tsx	Main React app component with state management
src/admin/mcp-server/components/*.tsx	React components for UI features (tools table, config generator, status cards)
src/admin/mcp-server/style.scss	Component styles and layout definitions
src/admin/hooks/usePersistedView.ts	Hook for persisting DataViews state
src/admin/components/icons/*.tsx	Provider icon components (AI, Anthropic, Google, etc.)
src/admin/components/provider-icons.tsx	Icon lookup utility
src/admin/_dataviews.scss	DataViews styling overrides
src/admin/_common.scss	Common admin page styles
includes/Experiments/MCP/Manager.php	Core PHP manager for MCP configuration and server lifecycle
includes/Experiments/MCP/REST/MCP_Controller.php	REST API endpoints for MCP operations
includes/Experiments/MCP/Admin_Page.php	Admin page registration and asset enqueuing
includes/Experiments/MCP/MCP.php	Experiment entry point and registration
includes/Experiment_Loader.php	Registers MCP experiment in loader
docs/experiments/mcp.md	Comprehensive documentation for the MCP experiment

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[jeffpaul]

@Jameswlepage can you add tests here like was done in https://github.com/WordPress/ai/pull/147/changes#diff-0cf348eda48cae411ad9d44a2e5b449603a971f2313b0a849893ff4cf8280c46?

[jeffpaul]

• Reminder for us to add a screenshot gif and entry in the readme.txt for this feature before merging/releasing.