How Claude Code handles this
You are in a Claude Code session, usually in the repository of a site you just built or migrated, and the slow part is the database: a shop catalog, a members area, a dashboard that runs the same queries on every request. Type the site and the goal, for example: set up Redis for shop. Claude Code matches the name to a site handle, then calls get_object_cache_status through the xspeedhub server. That reports whether the object-cache.php drop-in is installed, which backend is configured and its stats. It does not prove that the Redis server answers.
So the next call is test_object_cache, and Claude Code should make it before anything else. The plugin on the site opens a live connection to the configured Redis server and reads and writes a probe value. A failure comes back in the server's own words: wrong password, connection refused or permission denied. Only when the test passes should Claude Code call toggle_object_cache with enabled set to true, which installs the drop-in. The site also tests the connection when you enable, and stops with Could not enable, writing nothing, if Redis is unreachable, so the order protects you twice. Enabling then writes the connection constants into wp-config.php. If you would rather place the connection constants yourself, ask for the status with the snippet detail and it returns the wp-config.php snippet.
What is particular to Claude Code is the shell. If the session runs on the web server, or over SSH to it, it can also run redis-cli ping and compare the answer with the test result. A shell on your laptop says nothing about the site's Redis, so treat test_object_cache as the deciding check, because it runs from the site's own server. Each MCP call appears in the session with its tool name, so you can follow the order of calls as they happen.
Set up Claude Code once
Already connected? Skip to the prompts. Alternatives and troubleshooting are on the Claude Code 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.
2Add xSpeed Hub to Claude Code
Run this once. --scope user makes the server available in every project; leave it off and it applies to the current project only, which is Claude Code's default.
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user xspeedhub https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp
3Sign in with /mcp
Start Claude Code, run /mcp, pick xspeedhub and finish the sign-in in your browser. You approve access on an xSpeed Hub page; there is no token to paste, and Claude Code keeps the credentials it receives and refreshes them.
/mcp
Full Claude Code 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. Claude Code asks before it runs an MCP tool unless a permission rule already allows it, or you work in auto mode, where a classifier reviews actions instead of you, or in bypassPermissions mode, which skips prompts. A rule such as mcp__xspeedhub__get_cache_status allows one tool, and mcp__xspeedhub__get_* allows every read whose name starts with get_. Keep purge_cache, update_settings, toggle_cache and the other write tools on the prompt, because the Hub itself runs a write as soon as your connection allows it.
What do I ask?
Three prompts written for Claude Code. More for this job are below.
Use xSpeed Hub to check the object cache on shop, test the Redis connection, and tell me whether it is safe to enable.
Redis runs on this server. Run redis-cli ping, then use xSpeed Hub to run test_object_cache for blog, and enable the object cache if both pass.
Ask xSpeed Hub for the wp-config snippet for the shop object cache, but do not enable anything yet.
What happens, step by step
A persistent object cache keeps database query results in Redis or Memcached instead of rebuilding them on every request. Through xSpeed Hub an agent can read the state of the cache, probe the cache server, switch the cache on or off, and flush it. The Hub tells the agent to run the probe first, because the status call alone does not prove the server is reachable.
01
Read the current state
get_object_cache_status reports whether the object-cache.php drop-in is installed, which backend is configured, Redis or Memcached, and its stats. It does not prove the server answers, so a clean status is not a green light.
02
Test the connection first
test_object_cache opens a live connection to the configured server and does a read and write probe with the settings saved on the site. A failure comes back with the server's own reason, such as a wrong password, a refused connection or a permission error. The Hub tells the agent to run this before toggle_object_cache.
03
Fix the connection if the test fails
get_settings reads the object-cache module, with secrets masked. update_settings changes it, for example the host or port. On a managed host that defines these values in wp-config.php, the fields are read-only and a write that tries to change one is refused with the name of the constant. For a host that wants the constants pasted, get_object_cache_status with detail set to snippet returns the wp-config.php block.
04
Turn it on
toggle_object_cache with enabled true makes the site test the connection again, write the connection constants into wp-config.php and install the object-cache.php drop-in. If the test fails, it stops with "Could not enable" and writes nothing. If wp-config.php is not writable, the drop-in goes in and the reply tells you to add the snippet by hand. The Hub tells the agent to briefly confirm intent first.
05
Check it took
The drop-in loads on the next request, so the agent reads get_object_cache_status again after a page load and runs test_object_cache once more. The status also warns when the cache connects but refuses writes, so a connected cache that stores nothing does not pass as healthy.
06
Flush when stale data survives
flush_object_cache empties the persistent object cache. Use it when old options, transients or query results outlive a page cache purge. It does not touch the page cache; purge_cache does that.
Reference
| Read tools | get_object_cache_status and test_object_cache, both work on a read-only connection |
|---|---|
| Write tools | toggle_object_cache (enabled true or false) and flush_object_cache |
| Backends | Redis or Memcached |
| Status detail | status (default) or snippet, the wp-config.php constants block |
| What status proves | Drop-in installed, backend configured, stats. Not that the server is reachable |
| What the test proves | A live connect and a read and write probe on the saved settings, with the server's own error on failure |
| Enable does | Tests the connection, writes connection constants to wp-config.php, installs the object-cache.php drop-in |
| Disable does | Removes xSpeed's drop-in and its wp-config.php block; a drop-in owned by another plugin is left alone |
| Connection timeout | 1 second by default, set in the object-cache module |
| Settings module | object-cache, for get_settings and update_settings |
| Every site at once | None of these tools accept site: "all"; one site per call |
| Confirmation | None on the Hub; your client's prompt is the gate |
Rules worth keeping
- Test before you toggle. The Hub tells the agent to run test_object_cache first, because a cache server that does not answer slows every request while the page cache still looks healthy.
- Keep the Redis password out of the chat. get_settings masks it, but the wp-config.php snippet is built from the saved settings and can include a saved password. Set secrets in wp-config.php or in the xSpeed panel.
- toggle_object_cache and flush_object_cache are write tools. The Hub tells the agent to briefly confirm intent for the object-cache toggles, but that is guidance, not a lock. Your client's approval prompt and a read-only grant are the gates that matter. A read-only grant means the connection token with Read-only everywhere on, or a Viewer member's sign-in; an OAuth sign-in gets the scopes the client asks for, which are read and write by default.
- If another plugin owns the object-cache.php drop-in, turn its object cache off in that plugin. xSpeed leaves a drop-in it did not install in place when you disable.
- A flush clears cached data, so the next requests rebuild it from the database and the site is briefly slower. Flush one site, then check it, before you repeat it.
Good to know with Claude Code
If you allowed mcp__xspeedhub__* in your Claude Code permissions, toggle_object_cache and flush_object_cache stop prompting, and the Hub runs them as soon as the connection allows writes. Allow the two reads by name instead, mcp__xspeedhub__get_object_cache_status and mcp__xspeedhub__test_object_cache, and keep the prompt on the two writes. Auto mode and bypassPermissions mode skip the prompt too. The pattern mcp__xspeedhub__get_* covers the status call but not the test, because test_object_cache does not start with get_.
More prompts for this job
They work in any client connected to xSpeed Hub.
Using xSpeed Hub, is a persistent object cache running on shop, and which backend does it use?
Use xSpeed Hub to test whether Redis is reachable from shop. Do not change anything.
Shop is slow in wp-admin. Use xSpeed Hub to check the object cache before anything else.
With xSpeed Hub, test Redis on shop, and if it passes, turn the object cache on.
Ask xSpeed Hub for the wp-config.php object cache snippet for docs.
Use xSpeed Hub to flush the object cache on blog. Old options survive a page cache purge.
With xSpeed Hub, turn the object cache off on shop and confirm the drop-in is gone.
Frequently asked questions
Keep going
Set up Redis object cache with other agents
More with Claude Code
Documentation
- How to enable Redis or Memcached
- How to enable Page Cache
- Common problems and troubleshooting
- How to write prompts for xSpeed Hub
- Claude Code + xSpeed
- Every AI agent that works with xSpeed
From the blog