Create and review a post

Creating a post through MCP is the gentlest write available: it adds a record rather than modifying one, and a draft affects nothing public until you publish it.

Before you start

• Allow content writes must be open.
• The acting user needs edit_posts, and publish_posts if you intend to publish.
• The token needs mcp:read, mcp:write, wp:content:read and wp:content:write.

Create it as a draft

Create a draft post titled "Spring maintenance checklist" with this content: … Leave it as a draft.

The tool is wp_create_post. Ask explicitly for a draft — being explicit is what stops an assistant publishing because the instruction did not say otherwise.

The response includes the new post ID. Keep it; every later step refers to it.

Then read it back

Read post N and show me the title, status, slug and excerpt.

wp_get_post returns the stored record. This catches the differences between what you asked for and what WordPress stored — a slug derived differently than expected, content altered by a filter, a status that is not what you wanted.

Add the metadata

Categories and tags come next, as their own step:

Add it to the "Maintenance" category and tag it "seasonal" and "checklist".

wp_add_post_terms attaches terms. If a term does not exist, the assistant will need wp_create_term first — decide deliberately whether you want new terms created, because an assistant left to itself will happily invent them. See Organize taxonomies.

Then the featured image:

Set the featured image to media item 1180.

wp_set_featured_image takes an existing attachment. To create one first, see Upload and assign an image.

SEO fields are separate

wp_get_seo_meta and wp_update_seo_meta handle the SEO title and description. They are not part of the post record, so a post created and reviewed still has empty SEO fields unless you set them.

Show me the SEO meta for post N.

Review before publishing

Read the post in WordPress, not only through the assistant. Check:

• The content is accurate. If the assistant generated it, everything in Review generated copy before publishing applies — facts, claims, links, invented specifics.
• The formatting survived. Headings, lists and any shortcodes.
• The terms are right, and no new ones were invented.
• The slug is what you want; it is derived from the title.
• The excerpt exists if your theme uses one.
• The featured image is set and appropriate.

Publish deliberately

Set post N to published.

wp_update_post changes the status. Making this a separate, explicit step is the point: it means nothing reaches the public site as a side effect of a creation instruction.

After publishing, purge the cache if the site uses one. See Clear the POM Cache.

Creating several posts

Count first, pilot, then continue:

Create the first two as drafts and show me the IDs, then stop.

Writes are capped at 20 per minute, so a large batch is paced regardless. Use that pacing to check rather than waiting for the end.

Keep the batch bounded explicitly:

Create exactly these three posts. Do not create categories or tags that do not already exist.

Common problems

Related

• Update a page safely for modifying existing content
• Build POM builder content for structured layouts
• Content tools for the tools themselves