Claude AI Virtual Assistant

Before You Begin

Requirements

Make sure your environment meets these requirements before installing.

⚙

WordPress

5.8 or higher

🐘

PHP

7.4 or higher

🔑

Anthropic API Key

console.anthropic.com

👤

WordPress Role

Administrator

🌐

Outbound HTTPS

api.anthropic.com:443

💾

Disk Space

Less than 1 MB

ℹ

Outbound Requests

Your server must be able to make outbound HTTPS requests to api.anthropic.com. Some locked-down hosting environments block external API calls — check with your host if you see connection errors.

Setup

Installation

Get up and running in under two minutes.

1

Upload the Plugin

Extract the downloaded ZIP and upload the claude-assistant folder to your plugins directory.

Directory Structure
/wp-content/plugins/claude-assistant/
                    ├── claude-assistant.php
                    ├── uninstall.php
                    ├── readme.txt
                    └── assets/
                    ├── assistant.js
                    └── assistant.css

2

Activate via WordPress Admin

Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins, find Claude AI Virtual Assistant and click Activate.

✓

After activation you will see a Claude Assistant entry in your admin sidebar, just below the Dashboard menu item.

3

Add Your Anthropic API Key

Navigate to Claude Assistant → Settings and paste your Anthropic API key. Get one free at console.anthropic.com.

⚠

Keep Your Key Private

Your API key is stored server-side and never exposed to the browser or page source. Do not share it publicly.

4

Start Chatting

Go to Claude Assistant in the admin menu. The assistant is ready. Click a quick-action chip or type any instruction in plain English.

Settings

Configuration

The plugin stores a single setting in your WordPress database.

🔑

Anthropic API Key

Stored in wp_options under claude_va_api_key. Retrieved server-side only — never exposed to the browser. Used exclusively in PHP when proxying requests to Anthropic's API.

🛣

Settings Page Location

Found at Claude Assistant → Settings in the WP admin. Direct URL:

wp-admin/admin.php?page=claude-assistant-settings

ℹ

No database tables are created. The plugin uses only a single wp_options row. When the plugin is deleted, uninstall.php removes it automatically — including on multisite networks.

What It Can Do

Features

Everything the assistant can manage through plain-English conversation.

📝

Posts & Pages

List, create, update, delete, and inspect posts and pages. Set titles, content, status (draft/published), and post type.

👥

Users

List all users with their roles, or create new ones. New users receive a secure auto-generated password and a reset email.

🔌

Plugins

View all installed plugins with version and active/inactive status. Activate or deactivate any plugin by name.

⚙️

Site Settings

Read site name, description, WP version, timezone, admin email and content counts. Update allowed settings safely.

💬

Comments

List pending, approved, or spam comments. Approve individual comments or permanently delete them.

🏷

Tool Reference

Every action the assistant can trigger, with their parameters and return values.

Tool / Action	Parameters	Description
list_posts	`count?` `status?` `type?`	Returns recent posts. Defaults: 10 posts, any status, post type.
create_post	`title` `content` `status?` `type?`	Creates a new post or page. Returns the new ID and edit URL.
update_post	`id` `title?` `content?` `status?`	Updates an existing post's title, content, or status by ID.
delete_post	`id` `force?`	Moves a post to trash. If `force=true`, permanently deletes it.
get_post	`id`	Returns full details of a single post including author and stripped content.
list_pages	`count?`	Returns published pages. Defaults to 20.
list_users	`count?`	Returns users with ID, name, email, and assigned roles.
create_user	`username` `email` `role?`	Creates a new user with a generated password and sends a reset email.
list_plugins	—	Returns all installed plugins with name, version, file path, and active status.
activate_plugin	`plugin`	Activates a plugin by its file path (e.g. `akismet/akismet.php`).
deactivate_plugin	`plugin`	Deactivates a plugin by its file path.
get_site_info	—	Returns site name, URL, WP version, language, timezone, admin email, and counts.
update_option	`key` `value`	Updates an allowed site option. Keys: `blogname`, `blogdescription`, `admin_email`, `timezone_string`.
list_media	`count?`	Returns recent media attachments with title, URL, and MIME type.
list_comments	`count?` `status?`	Returns comments. Default status is `hold` (pending). Also accepts `approve`, `spam`.
approve_comment	`id`	Approves a pending comment by ID.
delete_comment	`id`	Permanently deletes a comment by ID.
list_categories	—	Returns all categories with term ID, name, slug, and post count.
create_category	`name`	Creates a new post category. Returns the new term ID.

ℹ

Parameters marked ? are optional. The assistant determines which tool to call automatically — you never write JSON directly.

User Guide

Interface Guide

A tour of every element in the assistant panel.

▒

Sidebar Navigation

The left panel groups all actions into three sections — Quick Actions, Content, and System. Clicking any item instantly fires that query. The active item is highlighted in purple.

⚡

Welcome / Empty State

When no conversation is active, the main area shows the assistant icon, a welcome message, and six quick-action chips. Clicking any chip starts a conversation immediately.

🔧

Tool Result Bubbles

When the assistant calls a WordPress action, a green-bordered WP Action bubble appears showing the action name and a formatted table — with color-coded ✓ Active / ✕ Inactive badges for plugins.

🗑

Clear Button

The trash icon in the top-right clears the conversation history and resets to the welcome state. Useful for starting a fresh session without refreshing the page.

⬤ Connected

Connection Status

The pulsing green dot shows Connected when an API key is configured. If no key is saved it shows Not connected with a direct link to Settings.

↵

Keyboard Shortcut

Press Enter to send a message. Press Shift + Enter to insert a line break without sending.

Privacy & Safety

Security

Security measures built into every layer of the plugin.

🔐

Server-Side API Proxy

All requests to Anthropic are made server-side using wp_remote_post(). Your API key is never sent to the browser. The browser only communicates with your own admin-ajax.php endpoint.

🛡

Nonce Verification

Both AJAX actions call check_ajax_referer() to verify WordPress nonces on every request, preventing CSRF attacks.

👤

Capability Checks

Both AJAX handlers verify current_user_can('manage_options') before executing. Non-administrators receive a 403 Unauthorized response.

🧹

Input Sanitization

All inputs sanitized via sanitize_text_field(), sanitize_email(), sanitize_key(), wp_kses_post(), and intval() where appropriate.

✎

Output Escaping

All PHP output escaped with esc_html(), esc_attr(), esc_url(), or wp_kses(). All JavaScript output uses the escHtml() helper before DOM insertion.

🚪

Option Allowlist

The update_option action only accepts a hardcoded allowlist of safe keys. Any other key is rejected with an error — preventing arbitrary options from being modified.

Common Questions

FAQ

Where do I get an Anthropic API key? ▼

Visit console.anthropic.com, sign up for a free account, and navigate to API Keys in the dashboard. Generate a new key and paste it into Claude Assistant → Settings. Treat it like a password and never share it publicly.

Is my API key safe? Can other users see it? ▼

Yes. The API key is stored in the WordPress database and used exclusively server-side in PHP. It is never included in page source, JavaScript files, or AJAX responses. Only authenticated administrators can access the settings page.

Why is the assistant giving wrong information about my plugins? ▼

This affects versions prior to v1.0.0. Older versions had a weaker system prompt that occasionally allowed Claude to answer from its AI training data instead of calling the list_plugins tool first. Version 1.0.3 forces a tool call before any site-specific answer. Please update to the latest version.

Who can access the assistant? ▼

Only WordPress administrators with the manage_options capability. Editor, Author, Subscriber, and Contributor roles cannot access the assistant panel or any of the AJAX actions.

How much will it cost to use the API? ▼

Costs are usage-based and depend on how many messages you send. A typical management task uses a small number of tokens. Anthropic offers a free credit tier for new accounts. Monitor usage at console.anthropic.com. The plugin uses claude-sonnet-4-20250514 with a 2048 max token response.

Does the plugin work on WordPress Multisite? ▼

Yes, when activated per-site on a multisite network. Network-wide management across all sites is not currently supported. uninstall.php handles cleanup across all sites when deleted.

I see "No API key set" even though I saved my key. What's wrong? ▼

This was a bug in v1.0.1 caused by how wp_localize_script() serializes PHP booleans. Fixed in v1.0.2 by passing explicit "yes"/"no" strings. Update to the latest version and hard-refresh with Ctrl+Shift+R (or Cmd+Shift+R on Mac).

Can I translate the plugin? ▼

Yes. All PHP strings use the claude-assistant text domain wrapped in standard i18n functions. Create a .po file in the /languages/ directory and compile it to a .mo file using Loco Translate or PoEdit.

Release History

Changelog

1.0.0

Initial Release

Initial public release with 20 WordPress management actions

Chat interface with suggestion chips, loading animation, and tool result tables

Settings page for API key storage

Get Help

Support

Need help? Here is where to find it.

💬

TemplateMonster Support

Use the Comments tab on the item page to submit support requests. Include your WordPress version, PHP version, and a description of the issue.

🌐

Author Website

Visit https://www.templatemonster.com/authors/pixelnx/ for additional resources, contact information, and other plugins from the same author.

🔑

Anthropic Support

For API key issues, billing, rate limits, or model behaviour, visit support.anthropic.com.

✓

Before Submitting a Support Request

Confirm you are on the latest version, PHP is 7.4+, your API key has available credits, and your server can reach api.anthropic.com on port 443.

WordPress, managedby conversation.

Requirements

Installation

Configuration

Features

Tool Reference

Interface Guide

Security

FAQ

Changelog

Support

WordPress, managed
by conversation.