Tutorial

AI Engine brings AI into your WordPress: a chatbot that knows your site, helpers in the editor, smart forms, and an MCP server so Claude or ChatGPT can work on your site for you. Here is how to get each part running in a few minutes. Every section links to the full docs when you want to go further.

In 30 seconds

  1. Add an API key in Meow Apps β†’ AI Engine β†’ Settings β†’ AI.
  2. Open the Chatbots tab, tune the Default chatbot, and pick it as the Site-Wide Chatbot.
  3. Turn on what you need in Modules: Knowledge, MCP, Forms, Insights.
  4. Get the free Workspace app to use your AI from your phone.

1. Connect your AI

AI Engine talks to the AI providers directly with your own key, so there is no middleman and no extra fee. You can use OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), OpenRouter and more, even several at once.

  1. In WordPress, open Meow Apps β†’ AI Engine β†’ Settings β†’ AI.
  2. In Environments for AI, paste your API key in the OpenAI environment, or add another provider.
  3. Below, check the default models for each task (Default, Fast, Vision, Images, Embeddings, Audio, JSON). The defaults are good to start with.
AI Engine Settings, AI tab: environments for OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, and the default model for each task

The Dashboard tab then shows your AI at a glance, and its Explore AI Engine button starts a short guided tour. More in the docs: What is AI Engine β†— and adding other providers β†—.

The AI Engine Dashboard: your AI models, this week's queries and cost, and suggestions for what to try next

2. Your first chatbot

A chatbot called Default is ready from the start. Nothing appears on your site until you decide where it goes.

  1. Open the Chatbots tab and adjust the Default chatbot: its instructions, first message, model and theme. The preview updates as you go.
  2. To show it on every page, pick it in Site-Wide Chatbot at the top. To show it in one place only, use the AI Chatbot block or the shortcode [mwai_chatbot id="default"].
  3. Want to read the conversations? Turn on Discussions in Settings β†’ Chatbot, and they appear in the Discussions tab.
The AI Engine chatbot builder with its settings on the left and a live preview on the right
An AI Engine chatbot on a travel blog post, answering a visitor's question from the site's own content

More in the docs: your first chatbot β†— and customization β†—.

3. Teach it your content (Pro)

Out of the box, the chatbot only knows what the AI model knows. With Knowledge, it answers from your own posts, pages and documents, so it can talk about your products, your prices or your opening hours.

Your contentPosts, pages, or text you add
KnowledgeTurned into embeddings, stored in your WordPress database
Visitor asks
The answerBuilt from the passages that match the question
  1. In Modules, turn on Knowledge.
  2. In the Knowledge tab, add or sync your content. The default storage, Internal (WordPress DB), needs no extra account.
  3. In the Chatbots tab, open your chatbot’s Knowledge & Context section and pick that environment. From then on, it answers from your content.
The AI Engine Knowledge tab with eight posts synced to the Internal (WordPress DB) environment

More in the docs: teach the chatbot your business β†— and embeddings in depth β†—.

4. Let Claude or ChatGPT work on your site (MCP)

MCP lets an AI assistant you already use read and edit your WordPress: write a draft, fix titles, organize categories, all by asking. The WordPress tools are free; Pro adds tool sets for plugins, themes, the database, WooCommerce, Polylang and WPML. No account, no daily cap, and no API key for Claude or ChatGPT (how it compares with WPVibe).

Video Connect Claude to WordPress directly (no connector, AI Engine) Watch on YouTube
  1. MCP is on from the start (on an older install, turn it on in Modules).
  2. Open the MCP tab and click Connect.
  3. Pick your assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code or another one) and follow the steps on the card. Claude and ChatGPT both list AI Engine in their own directories, so connecting takes just a few clicks.
AI Engine Settings, MCP tab: the Connect an AI assistant card with Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code and Other
AI Engine Insights, MCP Logs: Claude reading posts, creating a draft and setting its featured image

Turn on Editor Access in MCP β†’ Access β†’ Settings and Editors can connect too, with access to content only. More in the docs: MCP β†—, with a page for Claude β†—, ChatGPT β†— and Claude Code β†—.

5. Workspace: your AI, on your desk and your phone

Workspace is a full AI chat built on your own site: every model you set up, your conversations, folders and saved prompts. It runs full screen inside wp-admin, and in a free app for iPhone, iPad and Android, with the same history everywhere because it all lives on your WordPress. Ask it to work on the site too: anything that writes shows you the tool and asks first.

  1. Click Workspace at the top of AI Engine to open it full screen.
  2. Install the free app on your phone or tablet (links below).
  3. Pair it with your site by scanning the QR code once. That’s it: your models and chats are there.
AI Engine Workspace full screen in wp-admin, with the same conversation open in the Workspace iPhone app
Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play

The app never holds an API key: your site makes the calls on the keys you already own, so there is no seat and no subscription, only your provider’s bill. More on workspace.press β†—.

6. Smart forms (Pro)

Forms turn a few questions into a personal answer: a trip plan, a product recommendation, a quote. You build them with blocks, like any page.

  1. In Modules, turn on Forms, and check Forms Editor in Settings β†’ Others.
  2. In a page, add an AI Form Container block, then the fields you need with AI Form Field.
  3. Write the prompt that uses those fields, then add AI Form Submit and AI Form Output.
An AI Engine form on the front end: a short trip planner and its generated answer

More in the docs: Forms β†—.

7. Keep an eye on usage and costs (Pro)

Insights shows what your AI is used for and what it costs, and lets you set limits so a busy chatbot never surprises you.

  1. In Modules, turn on Insights.
  2. The Insights tab shows queries, tokens and costs over time.
  3. In its Limits block, set how much guests, users and the whole site can use. Sensible limits are already filled in.
AI Engine Insights: query logs with tokens and costs, the activity chart and the Limits settings

More in the docs: Insights and limits β†—.

Also in the box

  • AI CopilotThe Magic Wand in the editor: rewrite, suggest titles and excerpts, or translate a post.
  • Content and Image StudioGenerate drafts in Posts β†’ Generate New, and images in Tools β†’ Generate Images.
  • PlaygroundTry and compare models side by side, in Tools β†’ Playground.

Stuck somewhere? The docs β†— cover every setting and the common issues β†—, and our support is here for the rest.