SureDash Abilities – Connect AI Clients to Your Dashboard

What is this feature?

SureDash Abilities is a new option, rolling out from version 2.0.0 and later, that lets AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and Windsurf plug directly into your SureDash community portal.

Once connected, you can chat with your AI client and ask it to manage your portal, spaces, courses, events, and members without clicking around the WordPress dashboard yourself. For example, you can say:

• Create a new discussion space for our product team.
• List all my spaces grouped by category.
• Add a new lesson to my onboarding course.
• Show me member engagement stats for last month.
• Create an event for next week’s community meetup.
• Add a resource to our docs library.

The feature is built on two open standards: the WordPress Abilities API and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). You do not need any custom coding for each AI tool. If your AI tool speaks MCP, SureDash will work with it.

Why you might like it

• You save time by skipping repetitive clicks inside the portal admin.
• You can spin up new spaces, groups, and courses just by asking.
• You can pull member and content insights in seconds.
• Teammates who are less comfortable with WordPress can still help run the portal.

What you need before starting

Make sure your setup matches this checklist:

• WordPress version 6.9 or later.
• SureDash version 2.0.0 or later.
• The MCP Adapter plugin, installed and active. Grab it here: MCP Adapter on GitHub.
• An Administrator user account (needs the manage_options permission).
• Node.js version 18 or higher installed on your computer.
• An MCP-ready AI client, such as:
  • Claude Desktop
  • Claude Code
  • Cursor
  • Windsurf
  • ChatGPT (with MCP support)

Turning on Abilities in SureDash

Head to SureDash > Settings > MCP inside your WordPress dashboard. You will land on the Abilities settings page.

Step 1: Flip the main switch

Abilities are OFF by default. Turn ON the toggle labelled Enable Abilities. This registers SureDash’s abilities so the AI knows what it is allowed to do.

Once ON, three more options appear:

• Enable Edit Abilities
• Enable Delete Abilities
• Enable MCP Server

Step 2: Pick your permission level

SureDash uses a layered permission system so you can decide how much power your AI gets. Start small and add more only when you trust the workflow.

Toggle	What It Allows	Risk Level
Enable Abilities	Read-only access (viewing spaces, members, posts, analytics)	Low
Enable Edit Abilities	Creating and editing spaces, groups, posts, courses, and members	Medium
Enable Delete Abilities	Permanently removing spaces, groups, or posts	High

Step 3: Turn on the MCP Server

Flip ON Enable MCP Server. SureDash will now expose this endpoint for your AI client:

/wp-json/suredash/v1/mcp

This is the address your AI client will use to reach your site.

Connecting your AI client

Step 1: Create an Application Password

Go to Users > Profile > Application Passwords in WordPress.

1. Type a name, for example, Claude SureDash.
2. Click Add New Application Password.
3. Copy the password that appears.

Important: WordPress only shows this password once. Save it somewhere safe before you close the page.

Step 2: Copy the JSON config

On the SureDash MCP settings page, copy the ready-made JSON snippet. Paste it into your AI client’s config file:

• Claude Code: .mcp.json
• Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json
• Cursor, Windsurf, and others: check their own docs for the right file.

Step 3: Swap in your password

Update the password placeholder in the config with the one you just copied. Here is what a finished config looks like:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sureforms": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@automattic/mcp-wordpress-remote@latest"],
      "env": {
        "WP_API_URL": "https://your-site.com/wp-json/sureforms/v1/mcp",
        "WP_API_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "WP_API_PASSWORD": "xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save the file and restart your AI client so the new config loads.

What your AI can do: core abilities

SureDash ships with 28 core abilities grouped into six modules. Each ability is tied to a permission level so you always know what level of access is needed.

Spaces (8 abilities)

Spaces are the heart of your portal. They can be discussion spaces, courses, resource libraries, or collections.

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash/create-space	Create a new portal space (discussion, course, resource library, or collection).	Edit
suredash/delete-space	Permanently delete a space along with all its posts, lessons, and comments.	Delete
suredash/update-space-settings	Update a space’s title, status, privacy, layout, and permissions.	Edit
suredash/get-space-meta	Fetch metadata of a space, including type, status, permissions, and display settings.	Read
suredash/list-spaces	List spaces with search, group filter, type filter, and pagination.	Read
suredash/create-post-for-space	Create a sub-content item (lesson, file, or collection item) inside a space.	Edit
suredash/update-content-settings	Update title, status, and metadata of a sub-content item.	Edit
suredash/list-wp-posts	List WordPress posts and pages assignable to a single_post space.	Read

Groups (6 abilities)

Groups are the sidebar categories that hold your spaces.

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash/list-groups	List all space groups with their spaces, ordering, and counts.	Read
suredash/create-group	Create a new space group (sidebar category).	Edit
suredash/update-group	Rename a group or update its settings.	Edit
suredash/delete-group	Delete a group (spaces become uncategorized, not deleted).	Delete
suredash/reorder-groups	Change the display order of groups in the sidebar.	Edit
suredash/reorder-spaces-in-group	Change the display order of spaces within a group.	Edit

Community Content (7 abilities)

Work with discussion posts, comments, and reactions inside your community.

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash/create-post	Create a new discussion post in a discussion space.	Edit
suredash/edit-post	Update the title and/or content of a discussion post.	Edit
suredash/delete-post	Permanently delete a discussion post and its comments.	Delete
suredash/content-action	Perform actions like publish, draft, delete, or duplicate on a post.	Edit
suredash/list-community-posts	List discussion posts with filters (space, author, status, etc.).	Read
suredash/create-comment	Add a comment or reply to a discussion post.	Edit
suredash/react-to-entity	Toggle a like reaction on a post or comment.	Edit

Users (2 abilities)

View your portal members and their engagement.

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash/list-users	List portal users with pagination, search, sorting, and role filters.	Read
suredash/get-user	Fetch a user’s profile, activity, badges, and engagement data.	Read

Settings (2 abilities)

Read or update the global portal settings like branding, layout, and access rules.

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash/get-settings	Retrieve global portal settings (branding, layout, features, access control).	Read
suredash/save-settings	Update global portal settings (only provided keys are updated).	Edit

Analytics (3 abilities)

Pull growth, engagement, and usage insights from the portal.

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash/get-dashboard-stats	Fetch dashboard overview including member growth, activity, and engagement.	Read
suredash/get-member-stats	Retrieve member engagement analytics for a given date range.	Read
suredash/community-insights	Access flexible analytics across content, courses, events, resources, and gamification.	Read

SureDash Pro abilities

SureDash Pro unlocks 9 extra abilities across five modules: Courses, Events, Resources, Collections, and Space Content. These become available automatically when SureDash Pro is active and the matching toggles are enabled.

Courses (5 abilities)

Manage course structure, sections, and lessons.

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash-pro/list-course-content	Fetch full course structure, including sections and lessons.	Read
suredash-pro/add-course-section	Add a new section to a course.	Edit
suredash-pro/update-course-section	Rename, remove, or reorder course sections.	Edit
suredash-pro/add-lesson-to-course	Create and attach a lesson to a course section.	Edit
suredash-pro/remove-lesson-from-course	Remove or unlink a lesson from a course section.	Delete

Events (1 ability)

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash-pro/create-event	Create an event with date, time, duration, RSVP, and joining links.	Edit

Resources (1 ability)

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash-pro/create-resource	Create a resource (file upload or external URL) in a library.	Edit

Collections (1 ability)

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash-pro/add-spaces-to-collection	Add existing spaces to a collection space.	Edit

Space Content (1 ability)

Ability ID	What It Does	Permission
suredash-pro/list-space-content	List items (events, resources, collections) within a space.	Read

Setups we recommend

Read-only mode (safest)

Turn ON:

• Enable Abilities
• Enable MCP Server

Best for: viewing spaces, members, analytics, and community content without any risk of changes.

Safe editing mode (recommended for most people)

Turn ON:

• Enable Abilities
• Enable Edit Abilities
• Enable MCP Server

Best for: daily use where you want the AI to create and update spaces, groups, courses, and posts but not delete anything.

Full access mode

Turn ON all four toggles.

Heads up: Use this mode only if you trust the AI and the person driving it. Delete actions (like removing spaces or posts) are permanent and cannot be undone.

Security and privacy

• Only Administrator accounts can trigger SureDash abilities.
• Each AI client connects through a unique Application Password, which you can revoke any time from the WordPress profile page.
• The MCP endpoint is not public. It always needs a password to open.
• Delete actions cannot be undone, so use the Delete toggle with care.
• Works on multisite setups too, one site at a time.

Things you can ask your AI

Try prompts like these once your client is connected:

• Create a new discussion space called Product Feedback under the Customers group.
• List all my course spaces and show how many lessons each one has.
• Add a new section called Week 1 to the Onboarding course.
• Create an event for Friday at 5 PM titled Community AMA with a Zoom joining link.
• Add this PDF as a resource inside the Product Docs library.
• Show me top 10 most active members this month.
• Delete the old 2024 announcements space.

Troubleshooting tips

The AI cannot connect

• Double-check that Enable MCP Server is ON.
• Make sure the site URL in the config matches your real site.
• Confirm the Application Password was copied correctly (no extra spaces).
• Verify Node.js version 18 or higher is installed on your machine.

Abilities are missing

• Check your WordPress version (must be 6.9 or later).
• Make sure Enable Abilities is ON.
• For creating or deleting actions, also turn on the matching toggle.
• For Pro abilities, make sure SureDash Pro is active and licensed.

Permission errors

• Only Administrator users can use abilities.
• Check that the user tied to the Application Password has the right role.

Wrapping up

SureDash Abilities turns your community portal into an AI-friendly workspace. You get automation, quicker answers, and fewer clicks, all while keeping your WordPress data safe.

If you hit a wall at any step, please reach out to our support team and we will help you fix it quickly.