Install the POM Site Authoring skill

Use this guide if you want Claude Code or Codex to build or refine a POM website. The skill supplies design guidance and instructions for using the tools that your site exposes. POM AI provides the authenticated connection and performs the WordPress operations.

For a practical overview with example requests, read What POM Site Authoring can do and how to ask.

Before you start

• Activate POM Theme and a POM AI version that includes the site authoring tools.
• Enable POM AI MCP under Settings → POM AI → AI Tools. Connect your agent using the client connection guide.
• Use an account with the WordPress capabilities needed for the work, and enable the relevant write controls.
• Have Claude Code or Codex installed. The computer running the agent does not need WordPress, PHP or a copy of the theme. The agent must be able to reach the site's MCP; visual verification also needs browser access.

The skill does not grant access, install WordPress products or configure a license. Product licensing and MCP authorization are separate.

Install with one prompt

The skill is already included in POM AI. You do not need to download a second package.

1. Connect Claude Code or Codex to your site's MCP, or to your eligible account MCP.

2. Send this prompt in the intended project:

   Install the POM Site Authoring skill included in this MCP for this project. Use pom_get_authoring_skill to retrieve its instructions and complete files.

3. The agent retrieves the skill manifest and files, checks their integrity and installs the complete folder in the project's skill directory. It uses its own file access; follow any permissions required by your agent. Existing local edits must be preserved before an update.

4. Confirm the reported version and location. In Codex, select the skill through /skills or mention $pom-site-authoring. In Claude Code, use /pom-site-authoring. Restart or reopen the session if the client has not detected the folder.

5. Ask the agent to identify the intended site's URL and inspect its authoring capabilities before your first website change.

For a personal installation across projects, change the prompt to say “for all my projects.” These locations follow the Codex skill guide and Claude Code skill guide:

Expected result: the agent reports the installed version and recognizes the skill. Connecting MCP does not install files automatically, and installing the skill does not create a connection or grant website permissions.

Use it without installing files

Clients without persistent skill storage can use the same instructions through MCP. Ask:

Read the POM Site Authoring skill included in this MCP and use it for this website during our conversation.

The agent reads the entrypoint and relevant references on demand. There is no manual download and no local WordPress requirement. The guidance applies to that conversation; it is not an installed skill for later sessions. Available website tools and browser access still depend on the client and connection.

Optional manual download

If you prefer to manage files yourself, open Settings → POM AI → MCP server and choose Download POM site skill. Extract the ZIP and copy the entire pom-site-authoring folder into one location above. SKILL.md must sit directly inside it, alongside INSTALL.md, references, assets and agents. Avoid duplicate installations across scopes.

MCP delivery reference

pom_get_authoring_skill is a read-only tool available in both MCP modes and on the account connection. It requires an authenticated connection with mcp:read when using OAuth. It reads only the skill packaged with that server; it does not install anything on the agent or website.

For a persistent installation, the agent retrieves and verifies every file before placing the complete folder in the selected directory. For session use, it reads SKILL.md and only the relevant linked references. A file response that is truncated must be fetched again. The account MCP serves its bundled skill directly; selecting a destination is needed for website operations, not for obtaining the skill.

Give the agent a useful brief

Provide the domain, business purpose, intended audience, existing brand material and pages or features you need. State whether the work should remain in draft or be published. For example:

Use POM Site Authoring on my connected studio website. Preserve its existing identity and prepare a draft Projects page with a filterable project catalogue, project categories, area fields and individual project templates. Inspect what already exists before creating anything. Verify the affected layouts in the browser.

For a new website, include navigation, footer, contact methods and any cookie preferences you want configured. Supply the owner's real details for legal drafts. The agent should identify missing facts instead of presenting placeholders as finished legal content.

The included JSON files are editable recipes, not settings imports. The agent adapts them to the site's live schemas and applies them through resumable site plans. A saved plan records progress; it is not a site backup or automatic undo.

Ask for a focused design improvement

The skill supports design requests in ordinary language. You do not need to install separate commands for typography, mobile layouts or visual reviews. For example:

Review the design of the connected Services page without editing it. Assess the reading order, typography, imagery and contact action on desktop and mobile. Show the most useful improvements with evidence from the page.

Polish this Projects page while preserving its identity, URLs and content. Improve the filter layout, result hierarchy and mobile spacing. Keep the native search, selections, counts, reset and pagination working.

Design a new Services page using the supplied brand assets. Explain the visual direction briefly, implement it with editable POM modules, and inspect the complete page and contact path at desktop and mobile sizes. Keep it in draft.

For a new design, the agent connects the visitor's task to the composition, text styles, color roles, imagery and responsive behavior. Shared styles use the site's settings where appropriate; page-specific refinements use module controls or scoped styles. A request to review a page does not authorize changes. Missing photographs, business facts or browser access should appear as specific limitations in the result.

The skill builds with the installed POM Page Builder and native archive, feed and single templates. It chooses from the theme's header structures and normally composes a new footer as one enabled row containing one reusable block, whose internal layout remains editable in the builder. Existing footers are preserved unless a replacement is requested.

For styling, it uses native controls and concise CSS edits. Settings → POM Theme → Advanced → Custom CSS exposes component and separate-asset editors as well as global CSS and named stylesheets. Named stylesheets can be linked to the relevant templates. Component editors replace their complete source fragment; the skill preserves existing rules and reviews source changes instead of accumulating overrides. Where the connected MCP lacks a component editor or widget operation, the agent needs authorized browser administration for that step.

The skill can assign scripts already present in the theme catalog to pages, posts and templates. It does not create or modify JavaScript, add new script libraries or build custom filtering code. HTML follows the installation’s KSES policy, and user administration is excluded. Menus, sticky headers, forms, galleries and facets use the theme's existing interactions. Design requests that require new scripts are reported as outside this workflow.

Verify and maintain

Check the resulting page source remains editable, links and templates resolve correctly, and the relevant desktop/mobile visitor paths work. For listings, include filters, reset and empty results; for forms, include required-field feedback. Review the whole page as well as its opening: the header, footer, detail pages and interaction states should use consistent visual rules. The agent should report actual pages, capture sizes, observed checks, unverified behavior and which work remains in draft. Browser viewport emulation is distinct from checking a real phone.

To update, ask the agent to update the POM Site Authoring skill from the connected MCP. It checks the served version and file hashes, preserves any local modifications and replaces the complete folder. Refresh the session if the client has not detected the update. To remove it, delete only that installed folder. Removing the skill does not revoke its MCP connection or remove website content; revoke access separately when needed.

Troubleshooting

• Skill tool missing: update POM AI on the connected server and refresh MCP discovery. For an account MCP, its server must include the updated POM AI package.
• Client cannot install files: use the conversation-only prompt above. The MCP cannot grant filesystem access or persistent skill support to a client.
• Transfer changed or incomplete: ask the agent to fetch a fresh manifest and retry the complete transfer. Do not install a mixture of versions.
• No download button: manual download is optional; check that the installed POM AI package is complete if you need the ZIP.
• Skill not listed: the agent's skill directory must contain pom-site-authoring/SKILL.md, without an extra nested extraction folder. Restart the session and check for duplicate installations.
• No site tools: connect the site's MCP independently. Do not paste the product license into MCP authentication fields.
• A write is refused: inspect the reported WordPress capability, OAuth scope or write control. Installing the skill does not change those controls.
• Missing forms or facet options: ask the agent to inspect the relevant optional POM feature and refresh discovery after authorized activation.
• Several domains: name the intended site explicitly. The skill supports direct site connections and the single account MCP available to eligible POM AI Unlimited accounts. Enroll each website in My Account → POM AI Management → AI site connections, authorize the agent against the displayed Account MCP URL, and ask it to list enrolled sites before selecting one. The account connection requires native MCP and OAuth on every destination.

Continue with building filterable sites, typed settings or forms and navigation.