---
title: "Getting started with GravityKit MCP"
date: 2026-08-17
updated: 2026-10-02
author: "Block MCP (service account)"
link: "https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/getting-started/"
category: "GravityKit MCP"
---

**New to MCP?** [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) is an open standard for connecting AI applications to outside systems. An MCP server hands an AI app a set of tools it can call on your behalf. GravityKit MCP is the one that hands it Gravity Forms.

GravityKit MCP is a free, open-source MCP server that connects an AI assistant to Gravity Forms on your WordPress site. Once it is connected, you manage forms, entries, feeds, and notifications by describing what you want in plain language, and the assistant carries it out.

The server runs on your own computer and reaches your site through the Gravity Forms REST API. It signs in as a WordPress user you choose, so it can do only what that user is allowed to do.

## Requirements

- **Gravity Forms 2.5 or later** on your WordPress site.
- **An AI app that can run a local MCP server.** This guide uses [Claude Desktop](https://claude.com/download), and other MCP clients that run local servers work too.
- **Node.js 18 or later** on your computer, if you connect by editing a configuration file. The Claude Desktop extension in Step 3 runs on the Node.js built into Claude Desktop, so it needs no install.
- **A WordPress account** with the Gravity Forms capabilities you want the assistant to have.
- HTTPS on your site is recommended. Local development URLs (`localhost`, `*.test`, and `*.local`) also work over plain HTTP.
- **WordPress 6.9 or later**, only for the [GravityKit product tools](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/available-tools/#gravitykit-product-tools), such as the GravityView tools that build Views.

## Prefer to watch the video?

This walkthrough covers the same three steps written out below: enabling the Gravity Forms REST API, creating an application password, and adding the server to an AI assistant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DpclZ5AEsc 

## Step 1: Enable the Gravity Forms REST API

Gravity Forms does not register its REST routes until you turn the API on. This is required whichever credential type you use in Step 2.

- In WordPress, go to **Forms**, then **Settings**, then **REST API**.
- Check **Enable access to the API**, then save.

## Step 2: Create credentials

Choose one of the two options below.

### Application password (recommended)

An application password is a dedicated, revocable password that lets an outside app sign in as a WordPress user without that user's login password.

- Go to **Users**, then **Profile**, and scroll to **Application Passwords**.
- In **New Application Password Name**, enter a name such as `GravityKit MCP`, then click **Add Application Password**.
- Copy the generated password and keep it somewhere safe. WordPress will not show it again.

Your WordPress username plus this password are the credentials, and access follows that user's WordPress capabilities. On a site running GravityKit Foundation, the same credential also powers the GravityKit product tools.

### Gravity Forms API key

Use a key pair when you want access limited to a permission level, such as a read-only key. On the same **REST API** settings screen, click **Add Key**, choose the user and permission level, and save the Consumer Key (`ck_…`) and Consumer Secret (`cs_…`).

A key pair works for the Gravity Forms tools only, so use an application password if you also want the GravityKit product tools.

## Step 3: Add the server to your AI app

### Claude Desktop extension (easiest)

On macOS and Windows, [download the GravityKit MCP extension](https://github.com/GravityKit/MCP/releases/latest/download/gravitykit-mcp.mcpb) and open the file. Claude Desktop installs it as **GravityKit for Gravity Forms** and asks for these settings:

- **Your website address**, such as `https://yoursite.com`.
- **Your WordPress username**.
- **Application password**: the password from Step 2, with its spaces.
- **Allow Claude to delete and overwrite your data**: off by default. Turning it on lets the assistant delete forms, entries, feeds, and fields, and use the GravityKit product tools marked as destructive, such as deleting a View.
- **Allow only some destructive tools (optional)**: names the only destructive GravityKit product tools allowed to run, such as `gmig` for the GravityMigrate tools. See [Destructive product tools](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/configuration/#destructive-product-tools) for how it works with the checkbox.

To change these settings later, go to **Settings**, then **Extensions**, and click the extension. To update it, download the file again and open it: an extension installed from a file does not update by itself.

### Edit the configuration file by hand

In Claude Desktop, open **Settings**, go to **Developer**, and click **Edit Config** to find `claude_desktop_config.json`. It is in `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/` on macOS and in `%APPDATA%\Claude\` on Windows. Open the file in a text editor and add the server:

```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gravitykit-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@gravitykit/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GRAVITY_FORMS_BASE_URL": "https://yoursite.com",
        "GRAVITY_FORMS_CONSUMER_KEY": "wordpress_username",
        "GRAVITY_FORMS_CONSUMER_SECRET": "wordpress_application_password"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Fill in the three values:

- `GRAVITY_FORMS_BASE_URL` is your site's URL, with no trailing slash.
- `GRAVITY_FORMS_CONSUMER_KEY` is your WordPress username, or a Consumer Key (`ck_…`) if you created an API key.
- `GRAVITY_FORMS_CONSUMER_SECRET` is the application password from Step 2, or the matching Consumer Secret (`cs_…`).

Save the file, then quit Claude Desktop completely and open it again. `npx` fetches and runs `@gravitykit/mcp` on demand, so there is nothing to install separately. To stay on one version instead of the latest release, change `@gravitykit/mcp` in `args` to `@gravitykit/mcp@x.y.z`.

### Other MCP clients

Claude Code, Cursor, and other clients that run local MCP servers use the same server definition: the command `npx`, the arguments `-y @gravitykit/mcp`, and the same three environment variables. Add it wherever your client keeps its list of MCP servers.

## Step 4: Check the connection

Ask the assistant to list your forms, for example: “What Gravity Forms forms are on my site?” It calls the `gf_list_forms` tool and reports what it finds. If it has no Gravity Forms tools, see [Troubleshooting GravityKit MCP](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/troubleshooting/).

## Example requests

- “Create a contact form with name, email, and a message field.”
- “Show me the last 20 entries from the job application form, newest first.”
- “Which entries on the registration form have a Gmail address?”
- “Add a required phone field to form 3, right after the email field.”
- “Resend the admin notification for entry 412.”

With GravityView 3.0 or later on the site, the assistant can also build Views in the same conversation. See [Creating Views with AI using the GravityKit MCP](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravityview/advanced/build-views-with-ai/). With GravityMigrate 2.1 or later, it can move forms between form plugins or pack up a site's Gravity Forms data, and it can do a dry run first.

The assistant acts as the WordPress user whose credentials you supplied, on the site you pointed it at. Point it at a staging site while you are experimenting. Deleting forms, entries, feeds, and fields is switched off until you turn it on, and so are the GravityKit product tools marked as destructive. See [GravityKit MCP configuration settings](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/configuration/).

## Related docs

- [GravityKit MCP tools reference](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/available-tools/): every tool the server exposes.
- [GravityKit MCP configuration settings](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/configuration/): every setting, including delete protection and local development.
- [Troubleshooting GravityKit MCP](https://www.gravitykit.com/docs/gravitykit-mcp/troubleshooting/): what to check when the tools do not appear or a request is refused.
- Source code, releases, and the issue tracker are on [GitHub](https://github.com/GravityKit/MCP).