Scan a website for speed problems with Paperclip

Scanning site speed with Paperclip means turning xSpeed Scan checks into routine tasks for one of its agents, which reads the history, scans what is stale and posts the grades and report links on the ticket.

list_sitesget_speed_scanrun_speed_scan

Last updated: October 2026

Example session · Paperclip

You: Weekly routine: use xSpeed Hub to check shop and blog. Scan only if the latest report is over a week old. Post the grades here.

get_speed_scan(site: shop) read-only
→ Latest report 2 days old: desktop grade A, mobile grade B

get_speed_scan(site: blog) read-only
→ Latest report 12 days old: desktop grade B, mobile grade C

run_speed_scan(site: blog, fresh: true, strategy: both) uses quota
→ Desktop grade B, mobile grade B. Top failing check: unused JavaScript. Report link included.

Paperclip: Posted on the task. shop is current at A and B, so no scan. blog was 12 days old; the fresh scan moved mobile from C to B, and its top failing check is unused JavaScript. One scan used.

How Paperclip handles this

In Paperclip, speed tracking becomes a recurring ticket. A routine fires every Monday on a cron schedule, creates a task and wakes the agent you assigned, perhaps a Claude Code agent with xSpeed Hub added on its host. The task says to read each client site's scan history with get_speed_scan, scan only the ones whose latest report is over a week old with run_speed_scan, and post one line per site: desktop grade, mobile grade, top failing check and report link. The Hub has no scheduler for agent prompts, so the timer is Paperclip's.

Each scan grades the site out of 100 from server probes and a Lighthouse run, with desktop as the headline and mobile graded beside it, and names the xSpeed feature behind each failing check. Posting on the task keeps the evidence where the team works: whoever picks up the fix opens the report link from the ticket. For competitor tracking, add the no-account xSpeed Scan MCP to the same agent with claude mcp add; it is read-only and allows four scans per caller per ten minutes, so a routine with many competitors should pause between them.

On the Hub, run_speed_scan is a write tool because every scan spends the shared speed-test allowance. Paperclip's Claude Code adapter runs headless with dangerouslySkipPermissions on by default, so an agent wired with claude mcp add starts scans without asking, and that route does not pass through Paperclip's action permissions or review queue. On the Connectors page the Hub's tools can each be set to Allowed, Ask first or Off. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own.

Set up Paperclip once

Already connected? Skip to the prompts. Alternatives and troubleshooting are on the Paperclip 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 the agent Paperclip runs

For a Claude Code agent, run this on the machine that hosts it, as the same OS user the Paperclip heartbeat runs as. Paperclip's docs say MCP wiring lives at the adapter and runtime layer, and user scope makes the Hub available to every Claude Code agent that user runs.

Terminal

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user xspeedhub https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp

3Sign in once, or use a token

Start claude interactively as that same user, run /mcp, choose xspeedhub and approve access on the xSpeed Hub page. Claude Code keeps the credentials, so later headless runs need no browser; claude mcp get xspeedhub shows the status. On a host with no browser, add the server with the connection token from Connect AI in the Hub instead, ideally with Read-only everywhere on.

Terminal

# Interactive sign-in
claude
/mcp

# Or a token, no browser
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user xspeedhub https://app.xspeedcache.com/xspeed/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <your connection token>"

4Add the xSpeed Scan MCP for sites you do not run

Prompts that scan a public URL use the xSpeed Scan MCP, a separate server from the Hub. Add it to Paperclip the same way as the Hub above, as a second server (xspeedscan, for example) with the URL https://xspeedcache.com/scan/mcp, and leave out any sign-in setting, such as an OAuth or auth option or an Authorization header, because the Scan MCP needs no account, token or sign-in. On a plan that allows one custom connector, add whichever server the prompts you use need.

Text

https://xspeedcache.com/scan/mcp

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Full Paperclip 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. Paperclip's Claude Code adapter runs headless with dangerouslySkipPermissions on by default, which lets the agent call MCP tools without asking. Set it to false and a tool that needs approval does not run. A server added on the adapter does not pass through Paperclip's action permissions or review queue. A Paperclip connector does: each Hub tool is set to Allowed, Ask first or Off, and because the Hub publishes no annotations Paperclip classifies them by name, which can under-classify, so start every write Off. xSpeed Hub has no confirmation step of its own, so a write that gets past those settings runs as soon as your connection allows writes. For unattended routines, send a connection token with Read-only everywhere on, which makes the Hub refuse every write tool.

What do I ask?

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

Prompt for Paperclip

Weekly routine: use xSpeed Hub to read each site's scan history and rescan only those over a week old. Post one line per site on this task.

Prompt for Paperclip

Ticket: use the xSpeed Scan MCP to grade our three main competitors, pausing between scans, and attach the report links here.

Prompt for Paperclip

With xSpeed Hub, compare blog's last two scans on this ticket and say whether they graded the same device.

What happens, step by step

An xSpeed Scan grades a site from 0 to 100 using server probes (time to first byte, compression, cache evidence, redirects, platform detection) plus a Lighthouse run, and names the fix for every failing check. An agent can start one two ways. Through xSpeed Hub, run_speed_scan scans a site you have connected. Through the no-account Scan MCP at https://xspeedcache.com/scan/mcp, it scans any public URL and cannot change anything. Either way you get a report link to share.

Check what the site already scored

get_speed_scan without a scan id returns the site's scan history, newest first, plus a summary of the latest report. It starts nothing and spends nothing, so the Hub tells the agent to read it first when you ask what a site scored.

Start a scan

run_speed_scan runs the full scan on a site you connected to the Hub. strategy is both (the default), desktop or mobile; one device alone costs half the engine's quota. The scan takes 20 to 60 seconds. The Hub waits about 50 seconds and, if the scan is still running, hands back a scan id.

Poll if it is still running

Call get_speed_scan with scan_id. While the scan runs it returns the running status and a note to ask again in about 20 seconds. The report page is live from the start and refreshes itself.

Read the result

The summary carries the grade, the four dimension scores, what was measured and the top fixes ranked by points recoverable, each with the xSpeed feature that fixes it. The headline grade is the desktop run. The mobile run is graded alongside it, so the agent should mention both when they differ.

Scan a site you do not run

For any other public URL, the agent uses the Scan MCP at https://xspeedcache.com/scan/mcp. There is no account and no sign-in. It takes a url, returns the same graded report and a link at xspeedcache.com/scan/r/<id>, and is limited to 4 scans per caller per 10 minutes.

Fix, wait, re-scan

After a change, wait several minutes and scan again with fresh: true. Without it, the scan service reuses any report from the last 10 minutes and the agent will show you the old number.

Reference

Hub route	run_speed_scan, then get_speed_scan with scan_id; only for sites connected to your Hub
Scan MCP route	https://xspeedcache.com/scan/mcp, no account, 5 tools, read-only, any public URL
Scan MCP limit	4 scans per caller per 10 minutes
Why run_speed_scan is a write	It spends a shared scan allowance and stores a report; it changes nothing on the site
Read-only Hub connection	run_speed_scan is refused; get_speed_scan still works. Applies to the connection token with Read-only everywhere on and to a Viewer sign-in; an OAuth sign-in gets the scopes the client asks for
Duration	20 to 60 seconds; the Hub waits about 50 seconds, then returns a scan id
Poll argument	scan_id on the Hub tool, scanId on the Scan MCP tool
strategy	both (default), desktop or mobile; one device costs half the quota and becomes the headline
fresh	true forces a new measurement; otherwise a report from the last 10 minutes is reused
Report link	xspeedcache.com/scan/r/<id>; add .md for a Markdown twin an agent can read
Report visibility	Hub scans are filed unlisted; Scan MCP scans are public in the scan directory by default

Rules worth keeping

Read before you spend. Ask for the scan history first; start a new scan only when you want a fresh measurement or something changed.
A report link is not private. An unlisted report is kept out of the scan directory and search, but anyone with the URL can open it. A scan started through the Scan MCP is public by default.
run_speed_scan changes nothing on your site, but the Hub classes it a write, so a read-only connection (the connection token with Read-only everywhere on, or a Viewer sign-in) refuses it and your client may prompt for it. Use get_speed_scan, or the Scan MCP for a public URL, when you want a strictly read-only route.
Compare like with like. A scan that lost its Lighthouse run is marked partial and is not comparable with a full one, and the lab grade is not the same as real-visitor Core Web Vitals, which the report shows separately.
A scan cannot reach private, local or password-protected sites, and a site behind a bot challenge returns a report that says its server checks were not measured.

Good to know with Paperclip

Put the budget in the routine, not in your head. A task that says to scan only if the latest report is older than seven days, at most five scans, is the limit an unattended agent follows; nothing on the Hub caps it short of your connection's scope. If the routine should only report, give the agent a connection token with Read-only everywhere on: the Hub refuses run_speed_scan and still answers get_speed_scan, so the report uses the latest stored scans. On the Connectors route, the Hub publishes no tool annotations and Paperclip classifies tools by name, which it says can under-classify, so check how run_speed_scan was classified and set it to Ask first if you want each scan to wait for a person. A browser sign-in cannot finish headless, so complete it once in an interactive claude session as the heartbeat's OS user, or use the token. Scans through the Scan MCP are public in the scan directory by default.

More prompts for this job

Prompts about your own sites work in any client connected to xSpeed Hub. A prompt that scans a site you do not run, or names the scan server, needs the xSpeed Scan MCP from the setup above.

Prompt

Using xSpeed Hub, what did the shop site score on its last speed scan? Do not start a new one.

Prompt

Use xSpeed Hub to run a speed scan on blog and give me the three fixes that recover the most points, plus the report link.

Prompt

With xSpeed Hub, scan only the mobile view of shop and tell me the grade.

Prompt

I changed the theme this morning. Use xSpeed Hub to run a fresh scan on docs and compare it with the previous report.

Prompt

Use the xSpeed Scan MCP to grade [competitor URL] and tell me what its biggest weaknesses are.

Prompt

The speed scan on shop is still running. Ask xSpeed Hub to check it again and tell me when it finishes.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The routine fires on a cron schedule and gives the task to an agent that has xSpeed Hub. Have the task read history first and scan only stale sites, because each Hub scan spends the shared allowance and the Claude Code adapter does not stop to ask by default.

Give the agent a connection token with Read-only everywhere on. The Hub then refuses run_speed_scan and still answers get_speed_scan, so the report uses each site's latest stored scan.

run_speed_scan runs the full xSpeed Scan: server probes plus Lighthouse, a 0 to 100 grade across four dimensions, the fix for every failing check and a shareable report link. run_speed_test returns a raw PageSpeed Insights score with Core Web Vitals and no graded report.

Yes, through the xSpeed Scan MCP at https://xspeedcache.com/scan/mcp. It needs no account and no sign-in, accepts any public URL and is read-only. The Hub route only scans sites you connected to your own workspace.

The Scan MCP allows 4 scans per caller per 10 minutes. Scanning the same URL again within 10 minutes returns the existing report unless the agent passes fresh: true. A Hub scan spends a shared allowance of the scan service, which is why the Hub treats it as a write tool.

Reports started from the Hub are filed as unlisted, which keeps them out of the public scan directory and search results, but the link itself still opens for anyone who has it. Reports started through the Scan MCP are public by default.

The headline grade is the desktop run, because it is the one you can reproduce in your own browser. The mobile run is graded on the same rubric and returned alongside it. Google ranks on mobile, so when the two differ the agent should tell you both.

Keep going

Scan a site's speed with other agents

More with Paperclip

Purge the cache Find out why pages are not cached Track PageSpeed scores Raise the PageSpeed score Tune cache settings Warm the cache Set up Redis object cache Manage Cloudflare Manage every site at once

Documentation

From the blog

Scan a site's speed, from Paperclip.

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

Open xSpeed Hub Paperclip setup