How ChatGPT handles this
You are in a ChatGPT conversation with a complaint. PageSpeed says the server is slow, or every request shows a MISS. You type something like: why are my pages not cached on shop? ChatGPT calls the tools of the xspeedhub app you selected in the composer, starting with the site list and the cache status.
get_cache_status returns whether caching is on, the cached page count, the hit ratio and the last purge. get_health returns the checks behind it, and one of them is often the answer. A common one is Permalinks set to Plain: page caching keys on the request path, and Plain permalinks give it nothing to key on. ChatGPT writes that up in plain words. xSpeed cannot change permalinks from the Hub, so the fix is a wp-admin step it describes for you, and you tell it when you are done so it can check again with run_benchmark.
ChatGPT reaches xSpeed through a custom MCP app that you create in developer mode on the web, and you sign in with OAuth. ChatGPT treats a tool without a read-only annotation as a write action, and xSpeed Hub's tools carry none, so expect a confirmation for each call, reads included. You can expand a call to read what it will send. Which plans get write actions differs between OpenAI's pages, but you do not need writes to diagnose: the diagnostic tools only read. To keep the chat useful later, ask ChatGPT to end with a short list of what it checked and what it found. It is easy to lose track of which site a warning belonged to once a conversation covers more than one. Name the site in every follow-up, and say so when you switch to another.
Set up ChatGPT once
Already connected? Skip to the prompts. Alternatives and troubleshooting are on the ChatGPT guide.
1Put your sites in xSpeed Hub
Sign in at app.xspeedcache.com with Google or email; the Hub is free and has no site cap. Then connect each WordPress site from its own dashboard: click Connect Hub in the xSpeed Cache top bar, then Connect via xSpeed Hub. Each site needs the free xSpeed Cache plugin.
2Turn on developer mode
In ChatGPT on the web, open Settings, then Security and login, and turn on Developer mode. On a Business workspace only admins and owners can use it. On Enterprise and Edu an admin grants access first, and you then turn it on under Settings, Apps, Advanced settings.
Settings > Security and login > Developer mode
3Create the app from the Hub URL
Open ChatGPT Plugins, select the plus button and create a developer-mode app. Name it xspeedhub, paste the MCP server URL and choose OAuth. Click Scan Tools, approve access on the xSpeed Hub page that opens, wait for the scan to list the tools, then click Create. Workspace admins can also start from Workspace settings, Apps, Create.
https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp
4Select the app in a chat
The app appears under Drafts in your app settings with a Dev label. In a new chat, open the plus menu in the composer, choose Developer mode and select xspeedhub. In a workspace, only an admin or owner can publish the app for other members.
+ > Developer mode > xspeedhub
Full ChatGPT setup, sign-in options and FAQ
Before you send a prompt that changes something
Reads change nothing on your sites, though contact_support emails xSpeed support. Writes run once your connection allows them, so your client's approval prompt and a read-only connection (the token's Read-only everywhere switch, or a Viewer sign-in) are the gates that matter. ChatGPT asks you to confirm write actions by default. You can expand a tool call to read the JSON it will send, and you can choose to remember an approve or deny choice for a tool for the rest of that conversation. ChatGPT respects a tool's read-only annotation and treats a tool without one as a write action; xSpeed Hub's tool definitions do not declare that annotation today, so expect confirmations on reads as well. OpenAI says confirmation also depends on app permissions and context, and some especially risky actions can be blocked. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own, so once you tell ChatGPT to remember Approve for a tool, that tool runs without a prompt for the rest of the conversation, as soon as your connection allows writes.
What do I ask?
Three prompts written for ChatGPT. More for this job are below.
Using xSpeed Hub, why are my pages not cached on shop? Quote the failing health check word for word.
I changed my permalinks. Use xSpeed Hub to check shop again and tell me whether pages are cached now.
Is my hit ratio low because of a problem, or because Cloudflare answers at the edge? Run the benchmark through xSpeed Hub and explain.
What happens, step by step
When a WordPress page is not served from cache, the cause is usually one of a few things: caching is off, the cache drop-in or the WP_CACHE constant is missing, another caching plugin is in the way, or the pages carry something that makes them uncacheable. Through xSpeed Hub an agent can read the cache status, run the site's full health diagnostics, time a cached request against an uncached one, and check which Pro features would help, all without changing anything.
01
Start with the quick summary
get_cache_status returns whether page caching is on, the stats (cached pages, size, hit ratio, last purge) and the web server xSpeed detected. It is a glance. If caching is off, or the hit ratio is far below what you expect, the agent moves on to the diagnostic.
02
Run the diagnostic
get_health is the tool for troubleshooting. It returns the environment checks with pass or warn tones (the advanced-cache.php drop-in, the WP_CACHE constant, rewrite rules, PHP and WordPress versions, caching plugin conflicts), the cache stats, 24 hourly hit and miss buckets and a 30-day hit-ratio series. The Hub tells the agent to use it, not get_cache_status, when you are troubleshooting rather than glancing.
03
Time cached against uncached
run_benchmark requests the home page once with the cache bypassed and once normally, after a warm-up request, and returns the timings. If the second request still is not a cache hit, the page cache is not serving the home page, and the result says so. It measures xSpeed's own response time. It does not return a Lighthouse score.
04
Read what the checks mean
A warn is a lead, not always a fault. A static-file rewrite warning, for example, can mean the nginx snippet is not in your server config yet, or that xSpeed could not verify it, which is not evidence the config is wrong. The agent reads the detail line and tells you which one it is.
05
Fix it or hand it over
If caching is simply off, toggle_cache turns it on. If another caching plugin owns the drop-in, the site refuses to enable xSpeed and says why; removing the other plugin is yours to do. If nothing explains it, contact_support emails xSpeed support with the agent's summary, after the agent has confirmed the message with you.
Reference
| Quick check | get_cache_status (read): cache on or off, stats, detected web server |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic | get_health (read): environment checks, 24 hourly buckets, 30-day hit-ratio series, recent activity |
| One site per call | get_health does not accept site: "all"; call it for each site you care about |
| Benchmark | run_benchmark (read): home page only, cache bypassed against cache served, timings in milliseconds |
| Benchmark on every site | run_benchmark accepts site: "all" or a list of handles, one result per site |
| Benchmark history | get_benchmark_history reads past runs and the settings changes on the same timeline |
| Pro suggestions | get_pro_audit (read): which Pro features would help this site, from its settings and stats |
| Hit ratio scope | Counts requests that reach your server; pages answered by a CDN or Cloudflare edge are not counted |
| Support | contact_support emails xSpeed support with your account email and site list attached; classed read |
| Turning caching on | toggle_cache (write); refused by the site when another plugin owns the cache drop-in |
Rules worth keeping
- Diagnose with the read tools first. get_cache_status, get_health, run_benchmark and get_pro_audit change nothing on the site, so a read-only connection can run all of them. For clients that send the connection token, that means Read-only everywhere on; an OAuth sign-in gets the scopes the client asks for, unless the member is a Viewer.
- Do not answer a PageSpeed question with run_benchmark. It measures cached against uncached response time and returns no Lighthouse score; for a score, use the speed test or scan jobs.
- toggle_cache is a write. It runs as soon as your connection allows writes, and the Hub tells the agent to confirm the target site first. That is guidance to the agent, so your client's approval prompt is the gate that matters.
- contact_support sends a real email. The Hub tells the agent to confirm the message with you before sending, but the tool is classed read, so even a read-only connection can send one.
- The agent cannot edit your server configuration or another plugin's settings. When a check needs an nginx snippet or a conflicting plugin removed, it tells you what to do and you do it.
Good to know with ChatGPT
A confirmation in ChatGPT is its own layer talking, not xSpeed. Because the Hub's tools carry no read-only annotation, ChatGPT asks even for get_health, and if you tell it to remember an approval for a tool, that tool runs without a prompt for the rest of the conversation. The Hub has no confirmation step of its own, so on a connection that allows writes an approved toggle runs as soon as ChatGPT sends it. ChatGPT signs in with OAuth and gets the scopes it asks for. The Hub's Read-only everywhere switch applies only to the connection token, which ChatGPT cannot send. For read-only access, sign in as a Viewer member of the workspace, or keep ChatGPT's own confirmations on. The diagnosis works the same either way, with the same prompts. Ask ChatGPT to quote the failing check from get_health word for word, because a chat summary can smooth over a warning.
More prompts for this job
They work in any client connected to xSpeed Hub.
Using xSpeed Hub, why is the cache hit ratio so low on shop? Run the full health check and tell me the most likely cause.
Using xSpeed Hub, is page caching actually working on blog? Benchmark cached against uncached and tell me if the second request was a hit.
xSpeed Hub's get_health on docs shows a warning about the static-file rewrite. What does it mean and do I need to act?
Use xSpeed Hub to check whether another caching plugin is conflicting with xSpeed on shop.
Caching looks off on the staging site. Use xSpeed Hub to turn it on and tell me if the site refuses.
Using xSpeed Hub, which Pro features would help the shop site, based on how it is set up now?
With xSpeed Hub, compare the last few benchmark runs on blog and tell me whether my settings changes helped.
Frequently asked questions
Keep going
Find out why pages are not cached with other agents
More with ChatGPT
Documentation
- How to read your cache diagnostics
- Understanding cache hits and misses
- How to check your site health
- Common problems and troubleshooting
- How to enable Page Cache
- How to write prompts for xSpeed Hub
- ChatGPT + xSpeed
- Every AI agent that works with xSpeed
From the blog