Set up the Redis object cache with Cursor

Setting up a Redis object cache with Cursor means asking its agent, from inside your editor, to check a site's object cache, test the Redis connection and enable it through xSpeed Hub.

get_object_cache_statustest_object_cacheget_settingsupdate_settingstoggle_object_cacheflush_object_cache

Last updated: October 2026

Example session · Cursor

You: With xSpeed Hub, check Redis on blog and turn the object cache on if it is healthy.

get_object_cache_status(site: blog) read-only
→ Drop-in not installed. Backend: Redis configured.

test_object_cache(site: blog) read-only
→ Connected. Probe value written and read back.

Cursor: Redis is healthy on blog. Run toggle_object_cache with enabled: true?

You: Yes.

toggle_object_cache(site: blog, enabled: true) changes site
→ Drop-in installed. Object cache on.

Cursor: Enabled on blog. Ask me to read the status again if you want to see the backend stats.

How Cursor handles this

You are in Cursor with the agent panel open, probably after changing a theme or plugin on a site where the database is the slow part. Ask in the chat: set up Redis for shop, and test it before enabling. Cursor shows each MCP call in the chat, and you can expand it to see its arguments. The first is get_object_cache_status, which reports the drop-in state, the configured backend and its stats, but not whether Redis answers.

The second call should be test_object_cache, where the site's plugin connects to Redis and reads and writes a probe value, with the server's own error if it cannot. The third, toggle_object_cache with enabled set to true, installs the object-cache.php drop-in. Because the calls appear in order, you can read the test result in the panel before you approve the toggle. If the test fails, stop there and fix the password, the port or the key prefix on the host, then test again.

For Cursor the thing to know is the Run Mode. The Run Mode under Settings > Agents > Approvals & Execution decides when it asks. Since Cursor 3.6 the recommended default is Auto-review, which sends calls that are not on the allowlist to a classifier instead of to you. Allowlist runs the tools you listed and asks about the rest, and Run Everything asks nothing. The editor runs on your machine while Redis lives on the site's server, so the editor cannot check Redis directly; the test comes from the site. If the project holds a copy of wp-config.php, the snippet detail of the status call returns the lines you may want to compare against it.

Set up Cursor once

Already connected? Skip to the prompts. Alternatives and troubleshooting are on the Cursor 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 mcp.json

Add the server to ~/.cursor/mcp.json to have it in every project, or to .cursor/mcp.json inside a project to scope it there. The entry is just a name and a url.

~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xspeedhub": {
      "url": "https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp"
    }
  }
}

3Enable it and sign in

Open Customize in the sidebar, find xspeedhub and make sure it is switched on. When Cursor starts the OAuth sign-in, approve access on the xSpeed Hub page. There is no token to paste. If the server shows an error, open the Output panel with Cmd+Shift+U and pick MCP Logs.

Text

Customize  >  xspeedhub  (on)

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Full Cursor 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. Cursor decides how to treat an MCP tool call by its Run Mode, and you can expand a call to see its arguments. MCP follows the same Run Modes as terminal commands, set under Settings > Agents > Approvals & Execution. The recommended default, Auto-review, runs allowlisted calls at once and sends the rest to a classifier, not to you. Allowlist runs only what you listed, and with an empty list it asks you every time. Run Everything runs every tool call without asking. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own, so a tool you allowlist, or any call under Run Everything, writes as soon as your connection allows writes. Auto-review is a model, and Cursor says it is not a security boundary.

What do I ask?

Three prompts written for Cursor. More for this job are below.

Prompt for Cursor

Using xSpeed Hub, check the object cache on shop and test Redis. Show me both results before you enable anything.

Prompt for Cursor

Ask xSpeed Hub whether a drop-in is already installed on shop and which backend it is configured for.

Prompt for Cursor

Use xSpeed Hub to enable the object cache on blog after a passing Redis test, then show me the status.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Cursor

Your Run Mode decides whether toggle_object_cache waits for you. Under Run Everything it runs as soon as the agent calls it, and Auto-review sends unlisted calls to a classifier that Cursor says is not a security boundary. Switch Run Mode to Allowlist, list get_object_cache_status and test_object_cache, and leave the two writes off, so each asks. Cloud Agents never ask for approval, so give one only a connection token with Read-only everywhere on, or a Viewer sign-in.

More prompts for this job

They work in any client connected to xSpeed Hub.

Prompt

Using xSpeed Hub, is a persistent object cache running on shop, and which backend does it use?

Prompt

Use xSpeed Hub to test whether Redis is reachable from shop. Do not change anything.

Prompt

Shop is slow in wp-admin. Use xSpeed Hub to check the object cache before anything else.

Prompt

With xSpeed Hub, test Redis on shop, and if it passes, turn the object cache on.

Prompt

Ask xSpeed Hub for the wp-config.php object cache snippet for docs.

Prompt

Use xSpeed Hub to flush the object cache on blog. Old options survive a page cache purge.

Prompt

With xSpeed Hub, turn the object cache off on shop and confirm the drop-in is gone.

Frequently asked questions

Allowlist. List get_object_cache_status and test_object_cache so they run without a question, and leave toggle_object_cache and flush_object_cache off the list so each one asks. Auto-review lets a classifier decide for unlisted calls, and Cursor says it is not a security boundary. The setting lives under Settings, then Agents, then Approvals and Execution.

Yes, in Allowlist mode. Since Cursor 3.6 the recommended default is Auto-review, where unlisted calls go to a classifier, so switch Run Mode to Allowlist first. With an empty list it asks every time, so you see the status, the test and the toggle in turn and approve them one by one. The status and test are reads and change nothing; the toggle is the write.

Because a cache server that does not answer costs time on every request while the page cache still looks fine. The Hub tells the agent to run test_object_cache first, and the site also tests the connection when you enable and refuses to continue if it fails. The probe is still worth running on its own, since it returns the server's exact reason, such as a wrong password or a refused connection.

The site keeps working. The drop-in is built never to take the site down: it falls back to WordPress's own cache for the length of the request and marks itself as degraded. A request can still wait up to the connection timeout, which is 1 second by default, so the site gets slower. xSpeed reports that state as degraded, and test_object_cache names the fault.

No. These tools connect xSpeed to a Redis or Memcached server that already exists and switch the object cache on or off. Getting a server is a hosting task. xSpeed uses the phpredis extension when it is there and its own built-in client when it is not.

flush_object_cache empties the persistent object cache and nothing else. purge_cache with type object does the same job through the purge tool, and purge_cache with type all also clears the page cache and, when connected, the Cloudflare edge. Use the flush when stale options or transients survive a page cache purge.

Treat it like a secret. The snippet is built from the settings saved on the site, so it can contain the Redis password if one is saved. Paste it into wp-config.php yourself and avoid sharing it in a chat or a ticket.

Set up Redis object cache, from Cursor.

xSpeed Hub is free and has no site cap. Connect your sites once and ask from the agent you already use.

Open xSpeed Hub Cursor setup

Set up the Redis object cache with Cursor

How Cursor handles this

Set up Cursor once

What do I ask?

What happens, step by step

Reference

Rules worth keeping

More prompts for this job

Frequently asked questions

Keep going

Set up Redis object cache, from Cursor.