How do I connect Gemini CLI to xSpeed?
Put your sites in xSpeed Hub once, then add one URL to Gemini CLI.
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 Gemini CLI
Run this once. --scope user writes the server to ~/.gemini/settings.json so it works in every project; without it Gemini CLI saves to the project's .gemini/settings.json, which is the default.
gemini mcp add --scope user --transport http xspeedhub https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp
3Authenticate with /mcp auth
Start gemini and run /mcp auth xspeedhub. A browser page opens where you sign in to xSpeed Hub and approve access, and Gemini CLI receives the redirect on a local port. There is no token to paste, and the client keeps the credentials it receives. Run /mcp afterwards to check that xspeedhub shows as connected and lists its tools.
/mcp auth xspeedhub
4Or use a connection token alternative
If you cannot open a browser, for example over SSH, edit the settings file and send the connection token as a header. Copy it from Connect AI in the Hub; only the workspace owner sees it. The httpUrl field is the one Gemini CLI documents for streamable HTTP servers, and the same entry can be created with the --header flag on gemini mcp add.
{
"mcpServers": {
"xspeedhub": {
"httpUrl": "https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer <your connection token>"
}
}
}
} Use xSpeed Hub to list my sites and tell me which of them have the preloader stopped.
You: Use xSpeed Hub to warm the cache on all my sites after tonight's plugin update.
list_sites read-only
→ 4 sites: shop, blog, docs, landing
Gemini CLI: Starting the preloader writes to all 4 sites, one after another. Start it on every site in this workspace?
You: Yes, all four.
start_preloader(site: all) changes site
→ 4 of 4 started: shop, blog, docs, landing
Gemini CLI: The preloader is running on all four sites. Ask me for status later and I will read each one.
Using it
Prompts to try in Gemini CLI
Paste one as it is, or change the site name.
With xSpeed Hub, show the page cache hit ratio for every site and flag any below 70%.
Use xSpeed Hub to purge the docs site, start the preloader and tell me how many URLs it queued.
Use xSpeed Hub to run a desktop PageSpeed test on landing and compare it with the stored history.
Ask xSpeed Hub to preview what a safe optimize_site pass would change on shop. Do not apply it.
Using xSpeed Hub, check whether Cloudflare is connected on blog before purging anything there.
What can Gemini CLI do with xSpeed?
A guide for each job, written for Gemini CLI.
Purge the WordPress cache with Gemini CLI
Clear stale pages after a deploy, an edit or a plugin update, on one site or all of them.
Find out why WordPress pages are not cached with Gemini CLI
Work out why a site misses the cache, serves slow pages or shows a low hit ratio, using read-only checks first.
Scan a website for speed problems with Gemini CLI
Get a graded speed report with the fix for every failing check and a link you can share, for your own site or any public URL.
Run and track PageSpeed tests with Gemini CLI
Read the PageSpeed scores a site already has, run a new test when something changed, and tell a Lighthouse score from a cache benchmark.
Raise a WordPress site's PageSpeed score with Gemini CLI
Preview and apply xSpeed's recommended settings to a site, check the pages still work, and be told plainly what caching cannot fix.
Tune WordPress cache settings with Gemini CLI
See which modules a site has, read their current settings, change them, and turn page caching on or off.
Warm the WordPress cache with Gemini CLI
Fill the page cache before visitors arrive, for example right after a purge or a deploy.
Set up the Redis object cache with Gemini CLI
Connect a site to Redis or Memcached so database results survive between requests.
Manage Cloudflare caching with Gemini CLI
Check the Cloudflare connection, clear the edge cache and switch development mode on or off for a site.
Manage every WordPress site at once with Gemini CLI
Run one action across all of your sites, or a chosen few, and read the result site by site.
Trust and safety
Does Gemini CLI ask before it changes my site?
Gemini CLI shows a confirmation for an MCP tool call unless the server entry sets trust to true or you start Gemini CLI with --approval-mode=yolo (or --yolo), which approves every tool call. You can proceed once, always allow that tool, always allow the whole xspeedhub server, or cancel; the last two choices stop later prompts for those tools. Policy rules in ~/.gemini/policies can allow, deny or ask for a named tool by server and tool name. The Hub has no confirmation step of its own, so a trusted server, YOLO mode or an allow rule lets a write run as soon as your connection allows writes.
xSpeed Hub
xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own. Read tools change nothing on your sites, with one exception to know about: contact_support sends an email to xSpeed support, and a read-only connection can still call it. A write tool (a purge, a settings change, a cache toggle, or a speed test that spends the shared allowance) runs as soon as your connection allows writes. Three things stand between a prompt and a change: your connection's scope, because a read-only connection refuses every write tool (the connection token has a Read-only everywhere switch, and a Viewer member only ever gets read access); your AI client's own tool-approval prompt; and the Hub's instructions to the agent, which tell it to confirm the target site and to ask once before a write that touches every site.
Good to know
- OAuth needs a browser on the same machine and a localhost redirect. In a headless shell, an SSH session or a container without a browser, use the connection token header instead.
- The default scope of gemini mcp add is project. Add --scope user, or the server will look missing when you start Gemini CLI in another folder.
- Keep underscores out of the server name. Gemini CLI documents that its policy parser splits tool names at the first underscore, so a name like xspeed_hub could make allow and deny rules fail silently. The name xspeedhub is safe.
- Do not add --trust to this server, and do not start Gemini CLI with --approval-mode=yolo (or --yolo) while the Hub is connected. Each bypasses tool confirmations, including the ones for purges and settings changes.
Reference
What is Gemini CLI?
Gemini CLI is an AI agent from Google that runs in your terminal. It reads and edits files, runs commands, and calls tools on MCP servers that you register in its settings.
MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is how Gemini CLI reaches services outside your machine. Registering xSpeed Hub as a remote HTTP server gives it the Hub's caching tools: status, purge, settings, preloader, object cache, Cloudflare and speed tests, for every site in your workspace.
At a glance
- Made by
- Type
- Terminal
- Connects with
- gemini mcp add, then /mcp auth xspeedhub
- Sign-in
- OAuth sign-in or connection token
- Last checked
- October 2026
Why use Gemini CLI with xSpeed?
Scriptable setup
gemini mcp add, list, remove, enable and disable cover the whole lifecycle from the shell, so the setup fits a dotfiles repo or a team onboarding script.
Rules by server and tool
Because tools carry the xspeedhub server name, a policy rule can allow the reads and leave every write on a prompt, or deny a tool outright.
One server for the whole fleet
The Hub fronts every site you connected. "Purge all my sites" is one tool call that returns a result per site.
How does Gemini CLI compare with other AI clients?
Every client below reaches the same 29 Hub tools once connected. What differs is where it runs, how you add the server and how it signs in.
| Client | Made by | Type | How you connect it | Sign-in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini CLI | Terminal | gemini mcp add, then /mcp auth xspeedhub | OAuth sign-in or connection token | |
| Antigravity | Editor | mcp_config.json with serverUrl, then Authenticate in settings | OAuth sign-in or connection token | |
| Claude | Anthropic | Chat app | Customize, Connectors, Add custom connector | OAuth sign-in or connection token |
| ChatGPT | OpenAI | Chat app | Developer mode, then a custom MCP app | OAuth sign-in |
| Claude Code | Anthropic | Terminal | claude mcp add, then /mcp to sign in | OAuth sign-in or connection token |
Which way should I connect?
Gemini CLI can use the Hub, one site's own MCP server, or the no-account Scan MCP. The Hub is the one most people want.
xSpeed Hub MCPMost people
https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp - Best for
- Most people. One URL in your AI client, every site behind it.
- Reaches
- Every site in your workspace, one connection
- Sign-in
- OAuth sign-in in the browser, or a connection token in an Authorization header
- Tools
- 29 tools (16 read, 13 write), seven of them can act on every site at once
xSpeed Cache Site MCP
https://your-site.com/xspeed/mcp - Best for
- A single site, or work the Hub does not expose, such as database cleanup.
- Reaches
- One WordPress site
- Sign-in
- OAuth sign-in by a site admin, or the site's own token in an Authorization header
- Tools
- The full per-site tool set plus run_command for the WP-CLI surface
xSpeed Scan MCP
https://xspeedcache.com/scan/mcp - Best for
- Grading a site you do not run, or trying xSpeed before you install anything.
- Reaches
- Any public URL, read-only
- Sign-in
- None. No account.
- Tools
- 5 tools: run_speed_scan, get_speed_scan and three product-info tools
WP-CLI
wp xspeed … - Best for
- Agents that already run commands on the server, such as Claude Code or Codex over SSH.
- Reaches
- The site whose server the agent has a shell on
- Sign-in
- Your server login
- Tools
- Every xSpeed command: cache, purge, preloader, objcache, cf, score, settings and more
Frequently asked questions
Also works with
Documentation
From the blog
- How to Let Claude or ChatGPT Manage Your WordPress Site Speed (via MCP)
- Connecting Claude to a WordPress Fleet in 2026: One of These Five Routes You May Already Be Paying For
- xSpeed Cache MCP vs WP Rocket MCP in 2026: One Connects Once, the Other Once Per Site
- 10 Best WordPress MCP Servers in 2026: 486 in the Directory, Four With More Than Ten Reviews