Connect an AI assistant

Wake has a built-in MCP server. Once an assistant is connected, you can ask it things like "How was last week?" or "Write a draft about our summer party", and it works with your site directly.

You need the right assistants.use (everyone has it by default, see roles) and, for the HTTP connection, a site that is reachable over HTTPS.

1. Create a token

1. In the panel, open Assistants.
2. Give the token a name that tells you later where it is used, for example "Claude Code on my laptop".
3. Choose what it may do:
   • Read statistics (stats:read): enough for questions about visitors, posts and consent.
   • Read content (content:read): to look at posts and pages.
   • Write drafts (content:write): to create and change drafts and add images.
   • Publish (content:publish): to publish and unpublish. Only offered if your role may publish.
4. Choose how long it is valid: 30 days, 90 days (the default), a year or without end. After that the assistant has to get a new token.
5. Click Create token and copy the token. It starts with wake_ and is shown only once. Keep it like a password.

Use one token per assistant and device, so you can revoke one without touching the others.

2. Connect the assistant

Every assistant needs the same two things:

• the address https://your-site/wake/mcp
• the header Authorization: Bearer wake_…

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http wake https://your-site/wake/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer wake_…"

Add --scope user to use it in every project. claude mcp list shows whether the connection works.

Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop starts local MCP servers from its configuration file (Settings → Developer → Edit Config). Use the small bridge mcp-remote, which needs Node.js, to pass the token:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wake": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote", "https://your-site/wake/mcp",
        "--header", "Authorization:Bearer ${WAKE_TOKEN}"
      ],
      "env": { "WAKE_TOKEN": "wake_…" }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop; Wake's tools appear in the tools menu.

claude.ai and other web connectors

Custom connectors in claude.ai sign in with OAuth, so you need no token:

1. In claude.ai, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector.
2. Enter a name and the address https://your-site/wake/mcp. The site must be reachable from the internet over HTTPS.
3. Click Connect. claude.ai sends you to your site's panel. Sign in if needed, choose what the assistant may do and click Connect.

The connection appears under Assistants as Claude (OAuth). Revoke it there to disconnect.

Wake on the same computer (stdio)

If the site runs on the same machine as the assistant, for example while you develop a theme, the assistant can start Wake's stdio server itself. No web server and no HTTPS are needed:

claude mcp add wake -- php /path/to/site/wake/artisan wake:mcp --token=wake_…

Instead of --token, you can set the environment variable WAKE_TOKEN. See wake:mcp.

Any other MCP client

Choose the transport Streamable HTTP (sometimes called just HTTP), enter the address and add the header. Wake answers each request with one JSON response and does not stream, so clients that insist on Server-Sent Events for every call may need their HTTP mode switched on.

3. Check the connection

Ask the assistant: "Call site_info on Wake." It should answer with your site's title, its languages and the scopes of the token. If it does, the connection works.

4. Ask

Statistics (stats:read):

• "How was last week on my site compared with the week before?"
• "Where do the readers of my latest post come from, and how far do they read?"
• "Which pages did AI crawlers visit this month?"
• "How many visitors agreed to statistics cookies in the last 30 days?"
• "Write my weekly review." (uses the weekly_review prompt)

Content (content:read, content:write):

• "List my drafts."
• "Write a draft post about the summer party on 12 July, with the photo I attached, tagged club life."
• "Create an event in the category Termine: Christmas market, 13 December 2026, 14:00 to 19:00, at the church square."
• "Translate the post about the summer party into English."

Publishing (content:publish):

• "Publish the summer party post."
• "Publish it on Friday at 18:00."

Assistants always create drafts. They publish only when you ask, and never delete anything. Every entry they create is marked with an MCP badge in the panel, and the history shows which token changed what.

Working with approval mode

If you want a person to check everything before it goes online, tick Assistants may only ask for publishing; a person approves under Settings (the setting mcp.approval). Then:

1. The assistant writes and asks to publish as usual.
2. Wake marks the entry Waiting for approval instead of publishing it, and tells the assistant so.
3. You open the entry in the panel, read it, and click Publish.

Revoke a token

Open Assistants in the panel and click Revoke next to the token. It stops working immediately. The list shows when each token was last used, which helps to find tokens nobody needs any more.

If a token may have leaked, revoke it and create a new one.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause and fix
401 "A valid token is required"	The header is missing, misspelled or the token was revoked. Check Authorization: Bearer wake_… (with a space after Bearer) and create a new token if needed.
"This token may not use … It needs the scope …"	The token lacks that scope. Create a new token with it; scopes cannot be added to an existing token.
"Your role may not …"	The token acts as you, and your role does not allow it, e.g. publishing other people's entries. Ask an owner or administrator.
429 Too Many Requests	More than 60 requests per minute. Wait a minute; ask the assistant to fetch less at once.
Connection fails or certificate errors	The address must be reachable from the assistant's computer, normally over HTTPS with a valid certificate. http://localhost only works for an assistant on the same machine; use the stdio server there.
Redirect to the sign-in page	The address is wrong (for example missing /wake/mcp), or a proxy strips the Authorization header. On Apache, Wake's .htaccess passes it on; check custom server configurations.
Works in Claude Code but not in a browser tool	Clients that run in the browser itself need CORS, which Wake does not send. claude.ai connectors work, because claude.ai connects from its servers.
claude.ai says it cannot connect	The site must be public and use HTTPS, and /.well-known/ must reach Wake (Wake's .htaccess allows it). Check https://your-site/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server in a browser.
The site is closed	The closed site setting does not affect MCP; tokens keep working.

All tools, parameters and limits are listed in the MCP reference. How Wake keeps assistants safe is explained in Assistants and safety.