Building calendars with AI using the GravityKit MCP
GravityCalendar can be set up by an AI assistant, such as Claude. You connect the assistant to your site with the GravityKit MCP, then describe the calendar you want in plain words, for example:
Create a calendar of the Events form, using Event Name as the title and Start Date as the date, and give me the shortcode.MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, the standard that lets an AI assistant use tools on your site.
This article covers what the assistant can do, what you need before you start, how to build a calendar with it, and how its permissions work. Everything the assistant does can also be done by hand on the calendar’s settings screen, as described in Creating a calendar, or on the calendar itself.
Things you can ask for #
Once the connection is in place, you can ask the assistant to:
- Create a calendar on a Gravity Forms form, with the title, dates, times, location, layout, and colors you describe.
- Change a calendar’s settings later, such as its layout, its buttons, or who can move events, or switch it off.
- List the calendars on the site, and read one calendar’s settings.
- List the events a calendar shows between two dates.
- Move or resize an event, the same as dragging it on the calendar.
- Delete a calendar, once you allow the delete tool.
The assistant can also create the form the calendar is built on, and add entries to it, with the GravityKit MCP’s Gravity Forms tools. Each entry with a start date is one event.
Before you start #
Make sure you have the following in place:
- The latest version of GravityCalendar, with Gravity Forms active.
- WordPress 6.9 or later. GravityCalendar’s AI tools use the WordPress Abilities API, which arrived in WordPress 6.9. On an older version, GravityCalendar works as before and the assistant gets no GravityCalendar tools.
- The GravityKit MCP connected to your site with an application password, a separate password WordPress creates for one app so you never share your login. Getting started with GravityKit MCP covers the setup, including the Claude Desktop extension.
- An account with the right access for the work you want done. What the assistant is allowed to do explains which permissions each task needs.
Check that the tools are there #
Ask the assistant “Which GravityCalendar tools do you have?” Their names start with gc_, such as gc_calendars_list and gc_calendar_create. The GravityKit MCP tools reference explains how the tool list is built.
If no GravityCalendar tools appear, check the versions above, then ask the assistant to reload abilities. That makes it read your site’s tools again without restarting the app.
Build a calendar with the assistant #
The steps below build a community events calendar. Change the names and fields to fit your own form.
Step 1: Pick or create the form
Tell the assistant which form to use. If you don’t have one yet, ask it to create one, for example:
Create a form called Community events with an Event Name field, Start Date and End Date fields, Start Time and End Time fields, a Location field, and a Details paragraph field.A calendar needs a Date field for each event’s start date. A Time field for the start time is optional: without one, events show as all-day events. An End Date field lets an event run over several days.
Step 2: Describe the calendar
Describe what each event should show, for example:
Create a calendar for the Community events form. Use Event Name as the title, the start and end dates and times, and Location. Give me the shortcode.Before it creates the calendar, the assistant reads the form and the full list of calendar settings, so it only picks fields that can hold each value. Settings you don’t mention get the same defaults as a new calendar on the settings screen.
Step 3: Put the calendar on a page
The assistant’s answer includes the calendar’s shortcode, such as [gravitycalendar id="26" secret="0843c786b7a7"]. Add it to a page, and the calendar appears there.
New calendars are secured by default, the same as on the settings screen, so the shortcode includes a secret. Copy the whole shortcode: without its secret, the calendar doesn’t show.
Step 4: Check the events
Ask the assistant which events the calendar shows, for example “List the events on the Community events calendar for October.” It lists the same events, titles, and times as the calendar on the page, because it applies the calendar’s own conditions and date fields. One request covers up to 366 days, and the assistant splits a longer range into several requests.
Moving events #
The assistant can move or resize an event, for example:
Move the Book Club Meetup to October 15, 7 to 8:30 pm.The new dates and times are written into the entry’s date and time fields, the same as dragging the event on the calendar. Moving a timed event to whole days makes it an all-day event and clears its time fields.
Moving events needs Allow Event Editing turned on in the calendar’s settings, and the connected user must have one of the Roles chosen under it. This article calls those the calendar’s edit roles. If editing is off, the assistant says so. An account that manages calendars can ask the assistant to turn it on.
What the assistant is allowed to do #
The assistant works as the WordPress user whose application password you used, and it gets that user’s access:
| Task | Permission it needs |
|---|---|
| Create, change, or delete calendars, read a calendar’s settings, and list or move any calendar’s events | Access to the calendar settings screen: the Gravity Forms Edit Forms capability |
| List and move events only | One of the calendar’s edit roles, on a calendar with Allow Event Editing turned on |
A user with only an edit role also needs to show that a page shows them the calendar:
- For a calendar shown in a GravityView View, the assistant names that View, and it sees and moves only the entries the View shows the user.
- For a secured calendar that isn’t in a View, the assistant uses the
secretfrom the calendar’s shortcode.
A calendar that isn’t in a View and isn’t secured is refused to edit-role users. To allow it, turn on Enable security for this calendar in its settings.
Allow HTML Content can only be turned on by a user who may post unfiltered HTML, the same rule as on the settings screen. When something isn’t allowed, the assistant’s answer says what’s missing.
Allowing the delete tool #
The GravityKit MCP keeps destructive tools off until you allow them. GravityCalendar has one: gc_calendar_delete. Until you allow it, it appears in the assistant’s tool list marked as disabled.
To allow it, add gc (or the tool name, gc_calendar_delete) to the GRAVITYKIT_MCP_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE setting in the env block of your configuration file:
"GRAVITYKIT_MCP_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE": "gc"In the Claude Desktop extension, enter the same value in Allow only some destructive tools (optional). Destructive product tools describes both settings in full.
Deleting a calendar can’t be undone. It removes the calendar only: the form and its entries stay in Gravity Forms. Pages with the calendar’s shortcode then show no calendar, and its subscription link stops working.
What the assistant doesn’t do #
- Add or edit events. An event is a Gravity Forms entry, so the assistant adds entries with the Gravity Forms tools (
gf_), and they appear on the calendar. - List events from other calendar feeds. Events a calendar shows from another feed (the Display Events from Another Calendar Feed setting) aren’t included when the assistant lists events.
Troubleshooting #
- The assistant has no GravityCalendar tools. Confirm the latest version of GravityCalendar and WordPress 6.9 or later, then ask the assistant to reload abilities.
- The calendar doesn’t show on the page. Check that the shortcode includes its
secret, and that the calendar is switched on. My calendar isn’t displaying covers other causes. - The assistant says editing isn’t enabled. Turn on Allow Event Editing in the calendar’s settings, or ask an account that manages calendars to have the assistant turn it on.
- The assistant says the account isn’t allowed to do something. The answer names what’s missing. Add the user to the calendar’s edit roles, or connect with a different account.
- The delete tool is disabled. See Allowing the delete tool.
