How Claude handles this
You are in a Claude chat on claude.ai or Claude Desktop, not on the server, and you want WordPress to stop re-running the same database queries on every request. Type something like: turn on Redis for my shop site, but test it first. Claude calls get_object_cache_status through the xSpeed Hub connector, which you switch on from + > Connectors in the message box, and reads back whether the object-cache.php drop-in is installed, which backend is configured and its stats. That one call does not prove that Redis is reachable.
The second call is test_object_cache. The plugin on the site connects to the Redis server, reads and writes a probe value, and Claude relays the result in plain words, including the server's own error when it fails. A passing test is the cue to call toggle_object_cache, and Claude can ask for your approval before it runs that tool. Set the tool to Needs approval under Customize > Connectors so it does. When a test fails nothing has changed yet, so fix the host side first: a wrong password, a closed port, a key prefix your host did not grant. Then ask for the test again.
A chat app has no shell, and that is the difference from a terminal agent. Claude cannot check Redis from the server and cannot edit wp-config.php itself. When the toggle runs, the site writes the connection constants into wp-config.php on its own. If your host expects you to place them by hand, ask for the status with the snippet detail, but know that the snippet is built from saved settings and can contain the Redis password in clear text. It then sits in your chat history, so set the password in wp-config.php or the xSpeed panel instead of pasting it around. Once it is in place, ask Claude to run the test once more.
Set up Claude once
Already connected? Skip to the prompts. Alternatives and troubleshooting are on the Claude 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 as a custom connector
Go to Customize > Connectors and click Add custom connector. Name it xspeedhub and paste the URL. Under Authentication choose Sign in now, and if Claude asks how it identifies itself, choose Register automatically, which uses dynamic client registration. Click Add. On a Team or Enterprise plan an Owner does this under Organization settings > Connectors, with Add, then Custom, then Web.
https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp
3Connect and turn it on in a chat
Click Connect on the xspeedhub connector and approve access on the xSpeed Hub page that opens. Then, in a conversation, click + in the message box, choose Connectors and switch xspeedhub on. Claude can use the connector only in conversations where that toggle is on.
+ > Connectors > xspeedhub (on)
Full Claude 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 can ask for your approval before it uses a connector tool. Allow once runs that call, and Always allow skips the prompt for that tool from then on. Under Customize > Connectors you can set each tool, or a group of tools, to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own, so a write tool you set to Always allow runs as soon as your connection allows writes. Keep purge_cache, update_settings, toggle_cache and the other write tools on Needs approval, block the ones you never want. For read-only access, sign in as a Viewer member of the workspace, or use the connection token with Read-only everywhere on, which needs the Request headers beta. The switch does not apply to a normal OAuth sign-in.
What do I ask?
Three prompts written for Claude. More for this job are below.
Using xSpeed Hub, check the object cache on shop and tell me whether a drop-in is installed and which backend is configured.
Use xSpeed Hub to test the Redis connection on blog and explain any error in plain words before changing anything.
With xSpeed Hub, enable the object cache on shop once the Redis test passes, then check the status again.
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
Claude's approval prompt offers Allow once and Always allow. For toggle_object_cache and flush_object_cache, choose Allow once, or set them to Needs approval under Customize > Connectors. Always allow turns the prompt off for that tool in later chats, and the Hub runs a write as soon as your connection permits it. Anthropic notes that Research can call connector tools without further approval, so block the two writes before you use Research with this connector. Also keep the Redis password out of the conversation: the snippet detail of the status call can include it in clear text, so do not ask for it in chat unless you accept that.
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
Documentation
- How to enable Redis or Memcached
- How to enable Page Cache
- Common problems and troubleshooting
- How to write prompts for xSpeed Hub
- Claude + xSpeed
- Every AI agent that works with xSpeed
From the blog