# WP Pinch

**WordPress in your pocket. Your AI assistant runs it from the chat you never leave.**

One plugin. Connect OpenClaw (or any MCP client), and your site is in the same chat: publish, repurpose, moderate, audit, and maintain from WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, or Discord.

[OpenClaw](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw) is the personal AI on those channels; it *does* things. **WP Pinch is the WordPress tool:** 88 core abilities (plus 30 WooCommerce when active; plus Ghost Writer and Molt when feature flags enabled = 122 total).

**[wp-pinch.com](https://wp-pinch.com)** · [Wiki](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki) · [Releases](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/releases) · [ClawHub](https://clawhub.ai/nickhamze/pinch-to-post) · **[Install in 60 seconds →](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Configuration)**

[![WordPress 6.9+](https://img.shields.io/badge/WordPress-6.9%2B-blue.svg)](https://wordpress.org/)
[![PHP 8.1+](https://img.shields.io/badge/PHP-8.1%2B-purple.svg)](https://www.php.net/)
[![License: GPL v2+](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-GPL%20v2%2B-green.svg)](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html)
[![CI](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/actions/workflows/ci.yml)

**[Try WP Pinch in 30 seconds](https://playground.wordpress.net/?blueprint-url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/main/blueprint.json)** — No install. No signup. Click around the admin, toggle abilities, and watch your WordPress site grow claws.

---

## What ships in the box

- **88 core abilities** across content, media, users/comments, settings, extension lifecycle, revisions/history, governance audits, and system admin operations.
- **30 WooCommerce abilities** covering product/order CRUD, inventory controls, fulfillment/refunds, coupon lifecycle, customer lookups, and commerce analytics.
- **Feature tools**: PinchDrop, Ghost Writer, Molt, What do I know, Project Assembly, Spaced Resurfacing, Find Similar, Knowledge Graph.
- **Automation stack**: webhook dispatcher with retries + HMAC, governance scheduler + Tide Report, audit log, and circuit breaker.
- **Distribution channels**: OpenClaw (WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack/Discord), any MCP client, and on-site Pinch Chat block.

If you enable every optional module (WooCommerce + feature-flagged tools), you land at **122 total abilities/tools**. That is one extremely well-trained crustacean.

### Why the WooCommerce expansion matters

- **Fewer handoffs** - agents can move from "draft catalog update" to "order follow-up" without bouncing between tools.
- **Safer store ops** - high-risk flows (refunds, cancellations, sensitive customer data) include explicit guardrails and conservative defaults.
- **Faster response time** - support and operations teams can answer order, stock, and promotion questions directly from chat.
- **Better decision visibility** - built-in sales summaries and "orders needing attention" reduce blind spots during busy windows.

---

## Why teams switch to WP Pinch

**OpenClaw** = your assistant (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, and more). Memory, sessions, webhooks, and a **tools** layer — you connect MCP servers like WP Pinch.

**WP Pinch** = WordPress as tools for that assistant. Key features:

- **Molt** — Turn one post into 10 formats: social (Twitter, LinkedIn), thread, FAQ block, email snippet, meta description, pull quote, key takeaways, CTA variants. One call, many outputs.
- **PinchDrop** — Turn rough text into a draft pack (post, product_update, changelog, social). Quick Drop mode for minimal notes. Send an idea from Slack; get a draft back.
- **What do I know** — Natural-language query → search + synthesis → answer with source post IDs. *"What have I written about pricing?"* → answer + sources.
- **Ghost Writer** — Complete abandoned drafts in your writing voice. List drafts ranked by resurrection potential, then `ghostwrite` to finish in your style.
- **Tide Report** — Governance runs on a schedule (stale posts, SEO health, comments, broken links, abandoned drafts); Tide Report bundles findings into one daily webhook to your channel.
- **Web Clipper** — Token-protected bookmarklet. Hit any webpage; save snippet to WordPress as draft. No chat needed.

So: *"Publish the Q3 recap."* -> Done. *"Turn post 123 into a thread and meta description."* -> Molt. Paste an idea in Slack -> PinchDrop.

No extra logins. No "I'll do it at my desk." You talk; your assistant has the keys. Your site isn't another tab - it's in the same chat. Self-hosted. Your data. (We gave the AI the keys, then hired a bouncer lobster. More in [Security](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Security).)

### Why this is safe to run in production

- **Hard guards on risky actions** - update/delete extension lifecycle actions require explicit confirmation and action-specific capabilities.
- **Scalpel, not chainsaw** - database search/replace is scope-limited, dry-run first, and skips serialized postmeta values to avoid data corruption.
- **Operational safety rails** - maintenance mode enable requires explicit confirmation; language pack activation validates locale format and availability.
- **Audit trail for everything** - ability runs are logged so you can trace who did what, when, and why your lobster looked suspicious at 2am.

**Who it's for:** Solo creators, small teams, anyone who talks to an AI in chat and wants their WordPress site *there*. If you've ever thought "I'll publish that when I'm at my laptop," stop context-switching and start pinching. This is for you. I built this because I wanted to publish from Telegram without opening WordPress.

---

## Things to know before you install

- **You need OpenClaw (or another MCP client).** WP Pinch is the WordPress bridge; it's not a turnkey cloud service. Your assistant runs elsewhere and talks to your site via MCP.
- **Test Connection often fails** when the gateway URL has a trailing slash or the token doesn't have MCP scope. No trailing slash; use an application password or token that can access the MCP endpoint.
- **Governance (Tide Report, scheduled tasks)** requires [Action Scheduler](https://github.com/woocommerce/action-scheduler)—install it standalone or via WooCommerce.

---

## The stack in plain English

**OpenClaw** ([openclaw.ai](https://openclaw.ai), [GitHub](https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw)): open-source personal AI. You run it. It connects to WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, and more — and *does* things via MCP tools, skills, and code.

**WP Pinch** plugs WordPress in. Your site becomes an MCP server: 88 core abilities across content, media, users, comments, settings, lifecycle, menus/meta/revisions/cron, GEO/SEO, and system admin operations, plus 30 WooCommerce when active, plus PinchDrop, Molt, Ghost Writer when feature flags enabled. Bonus: **Pinch Chat** block and **webhooks** (publish/comment → OpenClaw). One plugin.

---

## What you can do (concrete)

| You want to… | How it works |
|--------------|--------------|
| Publish or update a post from chat | Your assistant calls `create-post` / `update-post`. Draft-first: posts are saved as draft with a **preview URL**; use **preview-approve** to publish after review. |
| Turn one post into social + FAQ + meta | Use Molt: one ability call or `/molt 123` in chat. Nine output formats. |
| Capture an idea from WhatsApp/Slack without opening WP | PinchDrop: send the idea to your assistant; it hits the PinchDrop capture endpoint and creates a draft pack (or Quick Drop for a minimal note). |
| Save a webpage snippet to WordPress from the browser | Web Clipper: token-protected REST endpoint. Bookmarklet or extension calls it; post is created as draft. |
| Ask "what did I write about X?" and get an answer with sources | What do I know: natural-language query → search + synthesis → answer plus post IDs. |
| Resurrect an old draft in your writing voice | Ghost Writer: list abandoned drafts, then `ghostwrite` to get completed content in your style. |
| Have your site report what needs attention (stale posts, SEO, comments) | Governance tasks run on a schedule; Tide Report bundles findings into one daily webhook to OpenClaw. You see it in your channel. |
| Let visitors chat with an AI that knows your content | Pinch Chat block on any page. Streaming, slash commands, optional public mode. |

Plus: 88 core abilities (content, media, users, comments, settings, plugins/themes lifecycle, menus/meta/revisions/cron, GEO/SEO, and system admin), 30 WooCommerce when active, and Ghost Writer (3) + Molt (1) when feature flags enabled — 122 total. [Full abilities reference →](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Abilities-Reference)

---

## Feature tour (from chat to publish)

| Category | What you get |
|----------|---------------|
| Content workflow | `duplicate-post`, `schedule-post`, guarded `find-replace-content`, `reorder-posts`, `compare-revisions` |
| Media ops | `set-featured-image`, `list-unused-media`, `regenerate-media-thumbnails` |
| Governance and health | `flush-cache`, `check-broken-links`, `get-php-error-log`, `list-posts-missing-meta`, `list-custom-post-types` |
| WooCommerce operations | product/order CRUD, stock adjustment (single/bulk), fulfillment notes/cancel/refunds, coupon lifecycle, customer list/get with redaction defaults, sales summary/top products/attention queue |
| System admin | transient CRUD, rewrite list/flush, maintenance mode, scoped DB search/replace, language pack install/activate |
| Extension lifecycle | plugin/theme install-update-delete with hard confirmations and action-specific capability checks |
| User and comment control | guarded user create/delete/reset password and full comment CRUD |

All destructive operations use explicit confirmations or dry-run defaults. We are not in the "YOLO update production at 2am" business.

---

## Give your site claws in 60 seconds

Yes, we said claws. The lobster theme is non-negotiable — and neither is the 60-second install.

```bash
wp plugin install https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/releases/latest/download/wp-pinch.zip --activate
```

> **Note:** WP Pinch is distributed via GitHub (not yet on wordpress.org). The zip above is built from source for each release.

1. Install and activate the **[MCP Adapter plugin](https://github.com/WordPress/mcp-adapter)** — this is what registers the `/wp-json/wp-pinch/mcp` endpoint.
2. Open **WP Pinch** in your admin sidebar.
3. Enter your **OpenClaw Gateway URL** and **API Token**.
4. Click **Test Connection**.
5. In OpenClaw: connect to the MCP endpoint. Command syntax may vary by version — see [OpenClaw CLI docs](https://docs.openclaw.ai/cli). Example: `npx openclaw connect --mcp-url https://your-site.com/wp-json/wp-pinch/mcp`

**Done.** Manage your site from WhatsApp, Slack, or Telegram — or add the **Pinch Chat** block so visitors can chat with an AI that knows your content. To give your agent WordPress-specific behavior, install the skill from ClawHub: `clawhub install nickhamze/pinch-to-post` — or see the [OpenClaw Skill](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/OpenClaw-Skill) guide.

**Next:** [Configuration](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Configuration) (webhooks, governance) · [Abilities Reference](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Abilities-Reference)

---

## For developers

Hooks and filters for abilities, webhooks, governance. WP-CLI: `wp pinch status`, `wp pinch audit list`, `wp pinch governance run`, `wp pinch features`, `wp pinch config`, `wp pinch molt`, `wp pinch ghostwrite`, `wp pinch cache`, `wp pinch approvals`.  
→ [Hooks & filters](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Hooks-and-Filters) · [WP-CLI](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/WP-CLI)

---

## Quality gate (no hand-waving)

Before release, we run a full gauntlet:

- `composer lint` + `composer lint:tests` + `composer phpstan`
- `npm run lint:js` + `npm run lint:css`
- `npm test` + `npm run test:e2e`
- `composer test` (PHPUnit via `wp-env`)
- `npm run test:plugin-check` (WordPress Plugin Check)

Current suite status in this branch: all of the above pass locally.

---

## Security

Capability checks, sanitization, audit logging, HMAC webhooks, rate limiting, circuit breaker.  
→ [Security model](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Security) · [Report a vulnerability](SECURITY.md)

---

## Requirements

| Requirement | Minimum |
|-------------|---------|
| WordPress | 6.9+ (Abilities API) |
| PHP | 8.1+ |
| MCP Adapter plugin | Required for MCP. Registers the `/wp-json/wp-pinch/mcp` endpoint. Without it, AI clients get a 404. Install from [GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/mcp-adapter). |
| Action Scheduler | Required for governance (scheduled tasks, webhook retries). Abilities and Chat block work without it. Install from [WooCommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/) or [standalone](https://github.com/woocommerce/action-scheduler/releases). See [FAQ](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/FAQ#why-do-i-need-action-scheduler). |
| OpenClaw | For chat/channel integration; any MCP client can use the abilities |

**Multisite:** On WordPress Multisite, network admins get **Network → Settings → WP Pinch** to set shared Gateway URL and API Token. Sites can inherit network defaults or override per site. See [Configuration](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Configuration#multisite-network).

**Quick answers:** Don't have OpenClaw yet? The abilities and MCP server work with any MCP-compatible client. Your data stays on your server; we don't send content to third parties. [FAQ](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/FAQ)

---

## What we're not building

We're not a replacement for WordPress or a hosted AI SaaS. We're the **bridge**: your site stays in WordPress; your assistant gets a full toolkit. The lobster runs the trap; you run the conversation. PKM import (Obsidian → posts) is on the roadmap. [PKM Import →](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/PKM-Import)

---

## Docs (wiki)

**AI agents and coding assistants:** See [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) for architecture, extension points, and how to improve WP Pinch.

| Start here | Full docs |
|------------|------------|
| [Configuration](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Configuration) — Connect OpenClaw, webhooks, governance | [Recipes](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Recipes) — Outcome-first workflows (publish, Molt, PinchDrop, What do I know, Tide Report, Ghost Writer) |
| [Recipes](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Recipes) — What you can do, step-by-step | [Abilities Reference](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Abilities-Reference) · [Chat Block](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Chat-Block) · [Security](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/Security) · [FAQ](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous/wp-pinch/wiki/FAQ) |

---

## License

[GPL-2.0-or-later](LICENSE). Built by [Nick Hamze](https://github.com/RegionallyFamous). Your site, your assistant, one conversation — and no lobsters were harmed. Thanks to the OpenClaw team and everyone who's reported bugs.

Spot a typo or outdated doc? A PR or issue is welcome.

**[wp-pinch.com](https://wp-pinch.com)**