README

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for SilverStripe CMS 6. Lets AI assistants like Claude read and manage pages, query the ORM, inspect the database schema and run dev/build — all gated by SilverStripe's normal permission system.

The server implements the MCP Streamable HTTP transport: clients POST JSON-RPC messages to /mcp and receive JSON responses. The server is stateless, which fits PHP's request/response model. (The older, deprecated HTTP+SSE transport requires a persistent server-push channel and is not supported under PHP-FPM.)

Installation

composer require nobrainer/silverstripe-mcp
vendor/bin/sake db:build --flush

dev/build creates an MCP Access group holding the MCP_ACCESS permission, and the three OAuth database tables (MCPOAuthClient, MCPOAuthCode, MCPOAuthToken).

Configuration

Create (or pick) a member that the AI should act as, add it to the MCP Access group, and give it whatever CMS permissions it should have (e.g. content author). Every operation respects that member's canView() / canEdit() / canPublish() / canDelete().

Connecting a client

Claude Desktop (OAuth — recommended)

Claude Desktop supports OAuth autodiscovery. Add the server URL in the Claude Desktop settings and it will handle authentication automatically:

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → MCP Servers → Add Server
Enter the URL: https://your-site.com/mcp
Claude Desktop discovers OAuth endpoints via /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server
Your browser opens and you log in with your SilverStripe credentials
Claude Desktop receives a Bearer token (valid 90 days) and connects

The member you log in as must be in the MCP Access group.

OAuth token lifetime is configurable (default 90 days):

Nobrainer\MCP\OAuth\OAuthController:
  token_lifetime: 7776000  # seconds

Claude Code (API key)

claude mcp add --transport http silverstripe https://your-site.com/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer your-api-key"

API key via environment

Set in .env on the server:

MCP_API_KEY="some-long-random-string"
MCP_MEMBER_EMAIL="mcp@example.com"

API key via YAML (multiple keys / members)

Nobrainer\MCP\Auth\MCPAuthenticator:
  api_keys:
    'some-long-random-string': 'mcp@example.com'
    'another-key': 'editor@example.com'

HTTP Basic auth

Pass a member's email and password as HTTP Basic credentials. Disable if not needed:

Nobrainer\MCP\Auth\MCPAuthenticator:
  allow_basic_auth: false

OAuth endpoints

URL	Purpose
`/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server`	Autodiscovery metadata (RFC 8414)
`POST /mcp/oauth/register`	Dynamic client registration (RFC 7591)
`GET /mcp/oauth/authorize`	Authorization endpoint — redirects to SS login
`POST /mcp/oauth/token`	Token endpoint — authorization code → Bearer token

These are consumed by MCP clients automatically; you do not call them directly.

Tools

Tool	Description
`page_list`	List pages (draft or live) with publication status
`page_get`	All fields of a page, including Content
`page_create`	Create a page as draft
`page_update`	Update draft fields
`page_publish` / `page_unpublish`	Publication workflow
`page_delete`	Archive a page (draft + live)
`dataobject_classes`	List available DataObject classes
`dataobject_query`	Filter/sort/paginate any DataObject list
`dataobject_get` / `dataobject_create` / `dataobject_update` / `dataobject_delete`	Generic ORM CRUD
`dataobject_publish`	Publish/unpublish versioned DataObjects
`dev_build`	Run dev/build (requires ADMIN or CAN_DEV_BUILD)
`flush`	Flush manifests and caches (requires ADMIN)

Resources

URI	Content
`silverstripe://schema`	Overview of all DataObject classes
`silverstripe://schema/{class}`	Fields and relations for one class (use `.` instead of `\` in the FQCN)

Security notes

Every request must authenticate and the member must hold the MCP_ACCESS permission.
All reads and writes go through the ORM and respect record-level can*() checks; drafts and live stages are handled explicitly (writes always target draft).
Sensitive member fields (password hashes, login tokens, …) are stripped from output and rejected on write — see RecordSerializer.blocked_fields.
Password/session storage classes are hidden entirely — see DataObjectTool.excluded_classes.
OAuth authorization codes are single-use and expire after 5 minutes.
OAuth Bearer tokens are stored as SHA-256 hashes in the database.
Browser-origin requests are rejected unless the origin is whitelisted in MCPController.allowed_origins (DNS-rebinding protection).
Always serve the endpoint over HTTPS.

License

BSD-3-Clause

nobrainer / silverstripe-mcp

Package info

Security

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