Claude CMS Help Centre

Installing Claude CMS

Upload the files, set up a database, and grab the connection details. The whole process takes just a few minutes.

1. Upload the files

Upload the directory sent to you by email to your web server root, into a folder called /claude.

2. Set up a database

You'll need a MySQL database — or we can create one for you. Have your database name, user, and password ready for the next step.

3. Grab the output

When the installer finishes it shows you the connection details. Copy these — you'll need them to connect Claude in the next topic.

Connecting to Claude

Once the files are live, link your site to Claude and confirm everything's running.

1. Add the connector to Claude

In Claude, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. Enter the connector URL https://claudecms.com/mcp, then sign in with the details provided in your welcome email.

2. Enable permissions

Click Configure and enable all permissions so Claude can fully manage your site.

3. Check it's working

Open a new chat, enable the connector, and prompt "list sites" to check everything is running smoothly.

Connecting to ChatGPT

Prefer ChatGPT? You can manage your site from there too. ChatGPT Plus or higher is required, and the whole setup takes about a minute.

1. Turn on Developer mode

In ChatGPT, open Settings → Apps → Advanced settings and switch on Developer mode. This is what lets ChatGPT add a custom connector. ChatGPT shows a risk note — that is expected, because you are connecting your own site.

2. Add the connector

On the Apps screen, click Create app. Give it a name, paste the connection URL https://claudecms.com/mcp, set Authentication to OAuth, tick the confirmation box, and click Create.

3. Sign in

Click Sign in, log in with the username and password from your welcome email, and approve access. Your site is now connected.

4. Check it is working

Open a new chat, use the + menu to enable your app, then prompt "list sites" to confirm everything is running.

Connecting a custom domain

Point any domain you already own at your Claude CMS site by updating two records at your registrar — no code, no file changes.

1. Find your target

If you're on managed hosting, your welcome email includes the IP address (or hostname) to point your domain at. Self-hosting? Use the IP address already shown in your own host's control panel.

2. Update your DNS records

Log in to your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, 123-Reg, IONOS, etc.) and open DNS management. Add an A record for the root domain (host @) pointing at your server's IP, and a CNAME for www pointing at the root domain.

3. Wait for propagation

Changes usually take effect within the hour, though DNS can take up to 48 hours to fully propagate worldwide. Avoid making further DNS changes while you wait.

4. Switch the site over

Once the domain resolves, get in touch and we'll issue the SSL certificate and switch the site's base URL — this touches protected server files Claude can't edit itself. Everything content-side (canonical tags, sitemap, internal links) Claude updates for you by prompt.

Full walkthrough

See the complete guide, including registrar-specific steps and a pre-switch checklist: Connect a custom domain →

Google email connection

Connect a Gmail or Google Workspace address so your site can send email, using a Google app password.

Google Search Console & Analytics

Verify your site with Google, submit your sitemap, and see the traffic Claude's SEO work is bringing in.

1. Verify ownership

In Google Search Console, add your domain as a property and choose the HTML tag verification method. Copy the meta tag it gives you, then ask Claude to add it:

2. Submit your sitemap

Every Claude CMS site publishes a sitemap automatically at /sitemap.php. In Search Console, open Sitemaps in the left menu and submit sitemap.php so Google can find every page as soon as it's published.

3. Connect Google Analytics

Grab your GA4 Measurement ID (starts with G-) and ask Claude to wire it in:

Claude sets the analytics_id site setting and inserts the tracking snippet — no plugin, no separate tag manager account needed.

Shopify store

Connect Claude to a Shopify store - products, inventory, locations and the full Admin API. If you have a Claude CMS account, just log in and open Connections - enter your store in the Shopify section, approve on Shopify, and it links to your account automatically. The steps below are the do-it-yourself route (around 15 minutes, once per store).

1. Create a custom app

Sign in at dev.shopify.com and use Create app (the "Get API credentials" quick path). Name it, paste in the Admin API scopes you want Claude to have, tick Use legacy install flow, add a redirect URL (any URL works - it just has to match the one used later to mint the token), and release the version.

2. Lock it to your store and install

Under Distribution, choose Custom distribution, enter your xxxx.myshopify.com domain and generate the install link. Open it while logged in to the store admin and click Install.

3. Mint the token and connect

Visit the OAuth authorize URL for your store, copy the code from the redirect, and exchange it for a permanent shpca_ token. Add a new connection in your MCP admin with the Shopify adapter URL for your store and the token as the API key, refresh the connector, and the store appears as tools in Claude.

Full walkthrough

Every step in detail, with copy-paste scope lists, the exact authorize URL and token command, plus FAQ: Connect your Shopify store →

Zoho CRM, Books & Inventory

Connect Claude CMS to Zoho and your assistant can work with your CRM contacts, leads and deals alongside your Books customers and invoices, and your Inventory items and sales orders. There is nothing to install and no API key to copy — just log in and open Connections, find the Zoho section, and click Connect Zoho.

1. Open the Connections tab

Sign in to your Claude CMS account and choose Connections in the sidebar. Each service has its own panel showing whether it is connected. Open the Zoho panel and click Connect Zoho.

2. Approve it on Zoho's screen

You are handed over to Zoho to sign in and approve. Zoho lists exactly what is being asked for across CRM, Books and Inventory, and you can withdraw it at any time from your Zoho account under Connected Apps. Your Zoho password is never seen by Claude CMS — approval happens entirely on Zoho's own site and only an access token comes back.

Zoho sends you to your own region automatically, so it makes no difference whether your account is hosted in Europe, the US, India, Australia, Japan or elsewhere.

3. Check what was granted

Back on the Connections tab, the Zoho panel shows a permissions checklist — a tick for everything Zoho granted and a cross for anything it refused, grouped by CRM, Books and Inventory. When everything is granted the panel reads Connected and shows the Zoho organisation it is linked to.

If Zoho refuses part of it

Zoho only grants permissions for products your account actually has. If your Zoho user has no CRM licence, the CRM permissions are refused and the panel reads Limited access instead — the connection still works for Books and Inventory, but anything needing CRM will not. The checklist tells you exactly which parts are missing rather than leaving you to guess.

If you are a user inside someone else's Zoho organisation, ask their administrator to grant your user access to the products you need, then disconnect and reconnect. Permissions are fixed at the moment you approve, so an existing connection will not pick up newly granted access on its own.

Adding an API key

Some of the things your site does — taking payments, sending email, using AI — need a key from another company. Add it once and your site can use it, without the key ever being stored on your website.

1. Open the Keys tab

In your admin panel, open the Claude panel and choose Keys. If you cannot see it, get in touch and we will switch it on for your site.

2. Add the key

Click Add a key and fill in four things:

• Service — pick it from the list. Choosing the service sets all the technical settings for you, and tells you where to find the key in that company’s dashboard.
• Name it — something short, such as stripe. This is what you type when you want it used.
• What is it for — a note to your future self, such as “payments on the booking form”.
• The key — paste it in, and save.

If your service is not in the list, choose Something else and the technical fields appear. The only one you really need is the web address the key is allowed to be sent to.

3. Use it

Refer to the key by name, in curly braces, in any request:

That tells us which key to use. It does not reveal the key itself — not in the chat, and not to the assistant doing the work. Nobody has to handle it.

Never paste an API key into a chat. Add it in the Keys tab and refer to it by name instead. Anything typed into a chat is kept in that conversation, so a key pasted there should be replaced with a fresh one.

Replacing, pausing and deleting

Each key has three buttons. Replace key is for when you change it at the provider — paste the new one and everything carries on working. Turn off pauses it without losing the settings. Delete removes it, and anything using it stops working straight away.

You cannot read a key back after saving it — nobody can, which is rather the point. To check a replacement landed, open Technical detail on the row: the fingerprint changes when the key changes.

If something is not working

• No key named ... — the name in your request does not match a key. Check the spelling against the Keys tab.
• Method not allowed, or path must start with ... — the key is allowed to do less than the request needs. Use Replace key, expand Advanced, and widen it.
• Key is turned off — switch it back on with Turn on.

Uploading images

Claude can't read images off your computer directly, so it gives you a secure upload link instead.

Ask Claude for an upload link

When you want to add images to your site, copy this prompt into Claude:

Claude returns a link. Open it, upload your images, and they'll be available for Claude to place on your pages.

Add a blog

Spin up a full news/blog section from two ready-made blocks — a category hub with shareable, deep-linkable category URLs, plus a matching article template. You build it by prompting Claude for the right block.

Step 1 — scaffold the blog

Do this once. It creates the blog landing page at /news/ from the blog-listing block, branded to your site.

Step 2 — add an article

Repeat for each post. The category you give must match one you set in step 1.

Full walkthrough

See the complete guide, including prompting tips and how to add a new category: Add a blog to your site →

Add an admin panel

Add a proper login to your site from the ready-made admin-login block — two access levels (admin and customer), a forgot-password flow, and Google Authenticator two-factor built in. You build it by prompting Claude for the block.

Step 1 — deploy the login system

Do this once. Claude installs the login at /login, creates the user storage (or reuses your existing customer table), and makes you the admin.

Step 2 — protect your pages

Tell Claude which areas need a login. Admin-only pages are for you; customer pages are for anyone with an account.

Your first sign-in

Claude never sets a password for you. You'll receive a reset link by email — choose your own password, then scan the QR code with Google Authenticator (or Authy, 1Password and similar apps). From then on, signing in takes your password plus the 6-digit code from your phone. Keep the one-time backup codes it shows you somewhere safe. New to two-factor? See What is 2FA?

Adding more users

Ask Claude any time — for example: “Add jane@example.com as a customer account.” Each new user sets their own password and enrols in two-factor on first login, the same way you did.

Save your own blocks

The block library gives you ready-made pieces like the blog and admin login — but you can also save your own. When Claude builds something you'll want again — a section design, your brand rules, how you like articles written — save it as a block and it's there in every future conversation on your site.

Start here — see what you already have

Before saving anything, see what's already there. Claude will list the ready-made library blocks available to your site alongside any you've saved, with what each one is for.

Save something Claude just built

Finished a section you like? Save it before you move on.

Save your standing instructions

Blocks don't have to be designs. Save the rules you'd otherwise repeat at the start of every conversation — brand colours, tone of voice, article structure — and Claude follows them automatically from then on.

Use them again

Your saved blocks work just like the library ones.

Good to know

Blocks belong to the site, not the person — everyone who works on your site shares the same set, so a colleague can use (or update) a block you saved. Saving to an existing name updates it, and you can ask Claude to delete one at any time. Each site holds up to 50 blocks. One caveat worth knowing: saved blocks act as standing instructions in every future conversation — so if Claude starts doing something odd every time, check your blocks first: “List my blocks and show me what brand-rules says.”

Headless eCommerce

Sell from your own site — product pages, stock, a hosted checkout and an order admin, all deployed by Claude. Payments land in your own payment account, not ours. No Shopify, no WooCommerce, no platform between you and your customers.

What you get

A product catalogue you edit by talking to Claude, a secure card checkout, automatic stock tracking, and an orders dashboard on your own domain where you can see and fulfil what's been bought. Shipping integrations (Royal Mail, DPD and similar) can be wired in on request.

Getting it enabled

Once it's on

From there it's conversation, like everything else:

Read more

How the whole thing works, including where the money goes and what the order admin looks like: Claude CMS now has headless ecommerce →

SSL & HTTPS

An SSL certificate encrypts traffic between your visitors and your site, and turns on the padlock in the address bar. It's also a Google ranking signal.

Do you already have one?

Most hosts, including our managed plans, issue a free certificate automatically via Let's Encrypt — check your host's control panel under "SSL" or "Security" first. If you're self-hosting and don't see one, ask your host to enable it; almost every modern host supports one-click Let's Encrypt certificates.

Force every visitor onto HTTPS

Once a certificate is active, ask Claude to make sure nothing is served over an insecure connection:

Claude audits page content, sitemap entries and settings for stray http:// links. The redirect rule itself lives in .htaccess, a protected file — if it isn't already forcing HTTPS, get in touch and we'll add it.

Just switched domains?

A certificate is issued per-domain, so if you've just connected a custom domain, the new domain needs its own certificate before HTTPS will work on it.

What is two-factor authentication?

Also called two-tier or two-step login. The quick version — what it is, why it matters, and how to add it to your Claude CMS site.

A second key, not just a password

2FA adds a second check on top of the password — usually a one-time code from the user's phone or email. Even with the right password, no code means no entry.

Passwords leak — second factors don't

Passwords get phished, reused, and exposed in data breaches. A second factor means a stolen password alone is useless to an attacker. It's the highest-impact step you can take to protect an admin area or member login.

Just ask Claude to build it in

Because your site is built through conversation, you don't code it yourself — you ask Claude to add 2FA to your login. Pick one of the two approaches in the topics on the left.

Option A — Email code Simplest

After the password is accepted, the site emails a 6-digit code that must be entered to finish signing in. Nothing for the user to install.

Copy this prompt into Claude

Option B — Authenticator app Strongest

The user scans a QR code once into an app like Google Authenticator or Authy, then enters the rotating 6-digit code (TOTP) each time they log in. No reliance on email delivery.

Copy this prompt into Claude

Automatic remote backups

Every site hosted by us is backed up automatically to secure off-site storage — no setup, and nothing for you to manage.

Your whole site

Every backup captures the full site — all pages, files, database content, settings, and navigation.

Every night, automatically

Backups run overnight, every day. Multiple recent restore points are kept so your site can be rolled back if anything goes wrong.

Secure off-site storage

Each backup is written to a separate remote location, so your data stays safe even if the main server has a problem.

Need to restore?

Just get in touch and we can roll your site back to an earlier restore point. If we host your site, backups are automatic and there is nothing for you to switch on. Not hosted with us? Speak to us to discuss setting this up.

Good security habits

Pair these with 2FA to keep your site — and your visitors' data — safe.

• Always serve logins over HTTPS so codes and passwords can't be intercepted.
• Offer the user backup recovery codes in case they lose their phone or email access.
• Add rate limiting on the login form to slow down guessing — ask Claude to "limit login attempts to 5 per 15 minutes per IP".
• Store passwords hashed (Claude does this by default with PHP's password_hash) — never in plain text.