# Warm the WordPress cache with GitHub Copilot in VS Code

> Warming the WordPress cache with GitHub Copilot in VS Code means asking its chat to start the xSpeed preloader on a site through xSpeed Hub, then asking it how far the crawl has got.

Page: https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/preload-cache/
Last updated: October 2026

You are in VS Code with a WordPress project open, and the change you were working on has just gone live. In Copilot's chat, in agent mode, you write which site to warm. Copilot reads the xSpeed tools it has been given, calls list_sites to find the handle, and then calls start_preloader. The plugin on the site starts requesting the sitemap's pages in the background, a few at a time.

VS Code starts in Manual permissions, which puts a confirmation in front of any tool call that is not auto-approved, so you see start_preloader before it runs. Afterwards you ask for progress and Copilot calls get_preloader_status, a read that reports whether a run is active and how many URLs are done. To end a crawl early, ask for stop_preloader. Pages already warmed stay cached.

A chat request can enable at most 128 tools, and the 29 xSpeed tools count toward that, next to any other servers you have enabled. If start_preloader is not offered, open the Configure Tools button in the chat input and check that the xSpeed tools are switched on. The Hub itself has no confirmation step. Chat: Manage Tool Approval lists tools grouped by MCP server, so you can trust get_preloader_status while the two preloader writes stay on a prompt. Allow all, Autopilot and global auto-approval skip the prompts, and then a start runs as soon as your connection allows writes. A good habit is to ask for the status before the start, so Copilot tells you whether a crawl is already running on that site and you do not begin a second one on top of it.

## Set up GitHub Copilot in VS Code once

### 1. Put 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.

### 2. Add xSpeed Hub to your user mcp.json

Open the Command Palette and run MCP: Open User Configuration, then add this entry. Servers in your user profile are available in every workspace. MCP: Add Server walks you through the same thing, and the project-level .mcp.json file works too if you want the entry shared with your team; that file uses a top-level mcpServers object instead of servers.

File: `mcp.json (MCP: Open User Configuration)`

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "xspeedhub": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### 3. Start the server and sign in

Run MCP: List Servers, pick xspeedhub and choose Start. VS Code asks whether you trust the server, then opens a browser page where you sign in to xSpeed Hub and approve access. There is no token to paste, and VS Code keeps the credentials it receives. Open the Chat view and use the Configure Tools button to see the xSpeed tools.

```
MCP: List Servers
```

Full setup: https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/

### 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. In VS Code the default permission level is Manual permissions: a tool call that is not auto-approved shows a confirmation, and you can allow it once or for the session, the workspace or all future calls. Chat: Manage Tool Approval lists tools grouped by MCP server, so you can trust get_cache_status and the other reads while purge_cache and update_settings stay on a prompt. Allow all, Autopilot and global auto-approval skip those prompts, including for external tool calls, and then a write runs as soon as your connection allows writes. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own.

## Prompts

- The deploy is done. Use xSpeed Hub to warm the shop site, then show me the preloader status.
- Ask xSpeed Hub whether the preloader is running on blog and tell me how many URLs are left.
- With xSpeed Hub, stop the preloader on docs, the server is busy with an import.

## Example session

```
You: Use xSpeed Hub to warm the cache on blog now that the deploy is finished.
  → list_sites [read-only]: 4 sites; blog is blog.example.com
  → start_preloader(site: blog) [changes site]: Queued 90 URLs from the sitemap; pages are fetched in the background
Agent: Started on blog. The crawl runs in small batches in the background.
You: How far along?
  → get_preloader_status(site: blog) [read-only]: Running, 30 of 90 URLs warmed
```

## How it works

1. **Check the cache and the preloader**: get_cache_status tells the agent whether page caching is on, because there is nothing to fill when it is off. get_preloader_status shows whether a crawl is already running, so the agent does not start a second one.
2. **Make sure the preloader is switched on**: The preloader module is off on a fresh install, and the site refuses start_preloader until it is on. The agent can read the module with get_settings and, if you agree, switch it on with update_settings on the preloader module. The Hub tells the agent to briefly confirm intent before an update_settings call, but that is guidance to the agent, not a lock.
3. **Start the crawl**: start_preloader makes the site read its sitemap, follow any nested sitemap indexes, drop URLs that your cache exclusion rules skip, and queue the rest. The call returns once the queue is built; the pages are then fetched in the background, a few per run. For every site at once the agent passes site: "all", and the Hub starts the sites one after another with a one-second pause.
4. **Watch the progress**: get_preloader_status reports whether a crawl is running, how many URLs it has processed out of the total, the last URL it visited and the most recent errors. It works on one site at a time, so for several sites the agent calls it once per site.
5. **Read what failed**: A page that answers 403 or 406 usually means a server firewall is blocking the warmer by its user-agent, not that the page is broken. The status message names the user-agent to allow. A crawl that queues no URLs is reported as an error with the reason, not as a success.
6. **Stop it if the server struggles**: stop_preloader ends a running crawl. It is safe mid-run: pages already warmed stay cached. The agent can stop one site or every site in the workspace.

## Reference

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Start and stop | start_preloader and stop_preloader (write) |
| Progress | get_preloader_status (read): running or not, processed out of total, last URL, recent errors |
| What gets crawled | The sitemap (the WordPress one at /wp-sitemap.xml unless you set another), nested indexes followed, excluded URLs skipped |
| Needs | The preloader module switched on (it is off by default) and page caching on |
| Pages per run | 5 by default, 1 to 50, set in the preloader module |
| Schedule setting | manual, hourly, daily or weekly, set in the preloader module |
| Every site at once | start_preloader and stop_preloader accept site: "all"; get_preloader_status does not |
| Fan-out pacing | Sites start one after another with a 1 second pause, one result per site |
| Warmer user-agent | xSpeed-Warmer/1.0, the string a firewall rule would need to allow |
| Stopping | Safe mid-run; warmed pages stay cached |
| Read-only access | A Viewer member's sign-in, or the connection token with Read-only everywhere on: start_preloader and stop_preloader are refused; get_preloader_status works. An OAuth sign-in by anyone else gets the scopes the client asks for. |
| Confirmation | None on the Hub; your client's prompt is the gate |

## Rules

- Warm after a purge, not instead of one. The Hub tells the agent that starting the preloader after a purge saves the next visitor from paying for the rebuild.
- A crawl requests every page in the sitemap, so it adds load to the origin. Start with one site, and on a small host keep Pages per run low or stop the crawl if the site slows.
- start_preloader and stop_preloader are write tools. The Hub calls the preloader low-risk and only asks the agent to confirm when the target site is unclear or the call covers every site, so your client's approval prompt and read-only access (a Viewer sign-in, or the connection token with Read-only everywhere on) are the gates that matter.
- A fan-out only starts the crawls. Check each site with get_preloader_status afterwards, and treat some sites failing to start as a partial result, not a failure of the whole call.

## Good to know with GitHub Copilot in VS Code

The confirmation lets you allow a tool once, or for the session, the workspace or all future calls. If you pick a wider scope for start_preloader, later requests start crawls without a dialog, which suits status checks and not writes. Trust get_preloader_status that way in Chat: Manage Tool Approval, and accept start_preloader and stop_preloader one at a time. Allow all and Autopilot skip the prompts for the preloader writes too.

## More prompts for this job

They work in any client connected to xSpeed Hub.

- Use xSpeed Hub to start the preloader on shop and tell me how many URLs it queued.
- Using xSpeed Hub, how far through its crawl is blog? Show processed against total and any errors.
- With xSpeed Hub, purge the cache on docs, then warm it again.
- Use xSpeed Hub to start the preloader on every site in my workspace and tell me which ones refused.
- Use xSpeed Hub to stop the preloader on shop. It is slowing the server down.
- The preloader on shop says it is disabled. Use xSpeed Hub to turn the module on, then start the crawl.
- Using xSpeed Hub, which of my sites has no running crawl and a low hit ratio?

## Frequently asked questions

### Why does Copilot not list the preloader tools?

Check that the xSpeed server is running in MCP: List Servers and that its tools are switched on under Configure Tools in the chat input. A chat request can enable at most 128 tools, so a long list of other servers can crowd them out. xSpeed Hub accounts for 29.

### Does the VS Code dialog replace a read-only connection?

No, they are separate gates. The dialog shows you each call and lets you refuse it, while a read-only Hub connection (the connection token with Read-only everywhere on, or a Viewer sign-in) makes the Hub refuse every write tool whatever the client says. Use both if the project matters.

### Why does start_preloader say the preloader is disabled?

The preloader module is off by default on a new install, and the site refuses to start a crawl until it is on. The agent can switch it on with update_settings on the preloader module, or you can turn it on in the xSpeed Cache panel in wp-admin. Page caching also has to be on, because the crawl exists to fill that cache.

### What does the preloader actually warm?

It reads the site's sitemap, which is the WordPress one at /wp-sitemap.xml unless you set a different sitemap URL, follows nested sitemap indexes and skips any URL your cache exclusion rules leave out. If the sitemap cannot be read, the site falls back to a list built from its own content and says so. If nothing at all is queued, the call reports an error with the reason.

### Can I warm every site with one prompt?

Yes. The agent passes site: "all" to start_preloader and the Hub starts the crawl on every site in the workspace one after another, returning a result per site. The Hub tells the agent to confirm that with you once first. The call only starts the crawls, so progress is read afterwards with get_preloader_status, one site at a time.

### Will warming slow my site down?

A crawl fetches your own pages, a few per run, so it adds load while it runs. The Pages per run setting controls how many, from 1 to 50 with a default of 5. If a site struggles, stop_preloader ends the crawl and the pages already warmed stay cached.

### Why do some pages fail with HTTP 403 or 406?

Those codes are what bad-bot firewall rules usually answer with, and they mean the warmer was judged by its user-agent, not that the page is missing. The warmer identifies itself as xSpeed-Warmer/1.0. Allow that user-agent in the server rule, or change it with the xspeed_preloader_user_agent filter, and run the crawl again.

### Can the agent keep my cache warm on a schedule?

The preloader has its own Schedule setting in WordPress: manual, hourly, daily or weekly. An agent can change it with update_settings. The Hub itself has no scheduler for agent prompts, so a prompt only runs when you send it or when your AI client runs it on a timer.

## Warm the cache with other agents

[Claude Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/claude-code/preload-cache/) · [Claude](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/claude/preload-cache/) · [Claude Cowork](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/claude-cowork/preload-cache/) · [ChatGPT](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/chatgpt/preload-cache/) · [Codex](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/codex/preload-cache/) · [Cursor](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/cursor/preload-cache/) · [Windsurf](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/windsurf/preload-cache/) · [Gemini CLI](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/gemini-cli/preload-cache/) · [Antigravity](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/antigravity/preload-cache/) · [Zed](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/zed/preload-cache/) · [Kiro](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/kiro/preload-cache/) · [OpenCode](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/opencode/preload-cache/) · [OpenClaw](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/openclaw/preload-cache/) · [Hermes Agent](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/hermes-agent/preload-cache/) · [Grok Build](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/grok-build/preload-cache/) · [ChatGPT dots](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/chatgpt-dots/preload-cache/) · [Grok](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/grok/preload-cache/) · [Grok Bot](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/grok-bot/preload-cache/) · [Muse](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/muse/preload-cache/) · [Manus](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/manus/preload-cache/) · [Kimi Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/kimi/preload-cache/) · [Paperclip](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/paperclip/preload-cache/) · [NanoClaw](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/nanoclaw/preload-cache/)

## More with GitHub Copilot in VS Code

- [Purge the WordPress cache with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/purge-cache/)
- [Find out why WordPress pages are not cached with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/troubleshoot-cache/)
- [Scan a website for speed problems with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/speed-scan/)
- [Run and track PageSpeed tests with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/pagespeed-tests/)
- [Raise a WordPress site's PageSpeed score with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/optimize-site/)
- [Tune WordPress cache settings with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/cache-settings/)
- [Set up the Redis object cache with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/object-cache/)
- [Manage Cloudflare caching with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/cloudflare/)
- [Manage every WordPress site at once with GitHub Copilot in VS Code](https://xspeedcache.com/agent/github-copilot/fleet/)

## Documentation

- How to warm your cache ahead of visitors: https://xspeedcache.com/docs/preloader/
- How to crawl your sitemap: https://xspeedcache.com/docs/crawl-now/
- How to enable Page Cache: https://xspeedcache.com/docs/page-cache/
- Managing your fleet with xSpeed Hub: https://xspeedcache.com/docs/managing-your-fleet-with-xspeed-hub/