# Getting Started with Royal MCP Pro
> Install Royal MCP Pro, activate your license, and run your first Pro tool call in under 10 minutes. Step-by-step walkthrough from download to verification.
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Install Royal MCP Pro, activate your license, and run your first Pro tool call. End-to-end walkthrough — about 10 minutes if this is a fresh install, less if the free plugin is already connected to your AI client.
Before you start
You'll need: a WordPress admin account on the site you want to license, your Pro license key from [my.royalplugins.com/my-account/licenses/](https://my.royalplugins.com/my-account/licenses/), and any MCP-compliant client (Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.).
**Already running free Royal MCP?** You don't need to remove or deactivate it — Pro auto-deactivates the free plugin on activation. All your existing settings, OAuth clients, and API keys are preserved.
## Prerequisites
- **WordPress:** 5.8 or higher
- **PHP:** 7.4 or higher
- **HTTPS:** required for Claude Desktop and Claude.ai native OAuth connectors (any URL that starts with `https://` works)
- **Admin capability:** the WordPress user activating Pro needs `manage_options`; on multisite, network-admin activation works too
Royal MCP Pro runs on the same site infrastructure as the free plugin. If free is already working from an MCP client, Pro will connect the same way — no OAuth re-authorization, no new URL to configure.
## Installation and Activation
#### Download Royal MCP Pro
Log in to [my.royalplugins.com/my-account/downloads/](https://my.royalplugins.com/my-account/downloads/) and download the latest `royal-mcp-pro.zip`. Your license key is in [my-account/licenses/](https://my.royalplugins.com/my-account/licenses/) — copy it now, you'll paste it in Step 3.
#### Upload and activate the plugin
In your WordPress admin, go to **Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin**. Choose the `royal-mcp-pro.zip` file, click **Install Now**, then **Activate Plugin**.
Free auto-deactivation
If you had free Royal MCP installed, you'll see an admin notice: *"Royal MCP Pro deactivated the free Royal MCP plugin. Pro bundles all free-tier tools plus the paid feature set — run one, not both."*
Your existing settings, OAuth clients, API keys, and Activity Log rows are preserved automatically. You can safely delete the free plugin later from **Plugins → Installed Plugins**, or leave it deactivated.
#### Activate your license
A new top-level menu appears in wp-admin: **Royal MCP Pro** (with a cloud icon). Go to **Royal MCP Pro → License**.
Fill both fields on the activation form:
- **Purchase Email** — the email you used at checkout on my.royalplugins.com
- **License Key** — from step 1
Click **Activate License**. A success confirmation should appear within a few seconds.
If activation fails
Check that your server can reach `my.royalplugins.com` on port 443 — some managed hosts block outbound HTTPS to unknown domains by default. Full diagnostic tree: [License Activation Issues](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/license-activation-issues/).
#### Verify Pro is active
Open your MCP client (Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, etc.). If you were already connected to your site with the free plugin, no reconnection is needed — Pro uses the same MCP endpoint.
Ask your AI to call the `royal_mcp_connection_health` tool. Something like:
```
Call royal_mcp_connection_health on my WordPress site.
```
The response includes free-tier fields plus Pro-only additions. A licensed Pro install returns something like:
```
{
"route": "https://yoursite.com/wp-json/royal-mcp/v1/mcp",
"auth_method": "oauth",
"session_id": "s_abc123...",
"active_scopes": ["tools"],
"server_version": "1.4.39",
"wp_version": "6.8.3",
"php_version": "8.2.29",
"builders": {
"divi_version": "4.27.7",
"elementor_version": "3.24.0",
"gutenberg_version": "6.8.3"
},
"pro_version": "1.0.1",
"pro_licensed": true,
"pro_tool_count": 40,
"pro_schema_count": 40
}
```
**`"pro_licensed": true`** is the definitive signal. If it's `false` or the `pro_*` fields are missing entirely, jump to [Pro Tool Returned Upgrade Prompt with Valid License](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/pro-tool-returned-upgrade-prompt/).
#### Run your first Pro tool
Pick something safe from the [40-tool inventory](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/#pro-tools). A few good first calls:
- `divi_clone_page` — clone your homepage as a draft. Reversible via `royal_mcp_undo_last_operation` if you don't like the result.
- `wp_audit_seo_bulk` — portfolio-scale SEO audit. Read-only, no writes to your content.
- `wp_prepare_for_launch` — composite site-readiness report. Read-only, gives you a scan across backup / SEO / performance.
Example prompts:
```
Clone my homepage as a draft using divi_clone_page and title it 'Homepage V2 Test'.
Run wp_audit_seo_bulk on my page post type and give me the rollup.
Run wp_prepare_for_launch and summarize what's flagged.
```
## Try the 72-hour undo
Every destructive Pro tool response includes an `undo` block at the top level of the MCP tool-call envelope. If you cloned a page in Step 5, the response contained something like:
```
{
"isError": false,
"content": [{"type": "text", "text": "Cloned Divi post 12 → 4291 (\"Homepage V2 Test\", format=divi_5_blocks, shortcodes=0, blocks=8)."}],
"structuredContent": {
"new_post_id": 4291,
"source_post_id": 12,
"new_title": "Homepage V2 Test",
"new_status": "draft",
"format_detected": "divi_5_blocks",
"shortcode_count": 0,
"block_count": 8,
"edit_url": "https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=4291&action=edit"
},
"undo": {
"token": "<64-character-hex-token>",
"expires_at": "2026-08-08T14:23:15Z",
"ttl_hours": 72
}
}
```
To reverse the clone, ask your AI to call `royal_mcp_undo_last_operation` with that token:
```
Undo that clone using royal_mcp_undo_last_operation with token <64-character-hex-token>.
```
The cloned draft will be moved to trash. Full concept explainer: [Undo Tokens & Reversibility](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/#undo-tokens).
## Verify the Audit Log is capturing calls
In wp-admin, go to **Royal MCP Pro → Audit Log**. You should see a row for each tool call you just made — user, tool name, timestamp, response status, and the undo token linkage where applicable.
The audit log is the definitive record of every AI-driven change to your site. It's how you diagnose "what did the AI actually do" and how you export a report for clients or compliance. Filter by user, tool, date range, response status, and undo state. Export filtered results to CSV (formula-injection safe).
## Common first-run issues
### `pro_licensed` returns `false`
Your license key was accepted but the site can't reach the license server for validation, OR the key is for a different Pro plugin (make sure the license row is for `royal-mcp-pro`, not another Royal Plugins product). Full diagnostic: [License Activation Issues](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/license-activation-issues/).
### Pro tool returns an upgrade prompt in Claude
Response starts with 🔒 and directs you to upgrade even though your license is active. Usually a stale object cache holding the pre-activation license state, or a licensing SDK sync delay. Full triage: [Pro Tool Returned Upgrade Prompt with Valid License](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/pro-tool-returned-upgrade-prompt/).
### Both free and Pro plugins appear active
Shouldn't happen — Pro's activation hook explicitly deactivates the free plugin. If you see both in **Plugins → Installed Plugins**, that usually means the deactivation failed silently (fatal error during activation, or your host has aggressive opcode caching). Manually deactivate the free plugin and reactivate Pro.
### Free tools still work but Pro tools return "This tool requires Royal MCP Pro"
License isn't recognized yet on this request. The licensing SDK re-validates once per day by default, so if activation completed less than 5 minutes ago the fastest path is to **force a fresh check**: go to **Royal MCP Pro → License**, click **Deactivate**, then paste the key and **Activate** again — this bypasses the daily cache. Then refresh the MCP client (in Claude.ai, disconnect and reconnect the connector; in Claude Desktop, quit and reopen), and retry the Pro tool. Run `royal_mcp_connection_health` to confirm `pro_licensed: true`.
## What's next
- **Browse the feature categories** — [Divi Pro](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/divi-tools/), [Elementor Pro](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/elementor-pro-tools/), [WooCommerce Bulk](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/woocommerce-bulk-tools/), [Composers](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/cross-plugin-composers/), [SEO Agency Suite](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/seo-agency-suite/).
- **Run the flagship workflows** — [Divi 4 → 5 Migrator](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/divi-migrator-guide/), [Site Launch Readiness](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/site-launch-readiness/), [SEO Audit → Fix → Report](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/seo-audit-fix-report-workflow/).
- **Understand the safety layer** — [Universal Audit Log](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/#audit-log), [Undo Tokens](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/#undo-tokens), [Builder Session Safety](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/#builder-safety).
- **Read the free-tier docs** if you haven't — [Royal MCP Free docs](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp/) cover the underlying MCP surface Pro uses (Claude Desktop setup, OAuth flows, MCP client configuration).
## Still Stuck? Two-Step Support Path
If setup, activation, or your first Pro tool call isn't working, work through these two steps in order — most setup failures resolve at Step 1 because they're actually the same underlying MCP-connection or host-layer issues covered in the shared Royal MCP troubleshooting flow.
### Step 1: Start with the Royal MCP Troubleshooting Guide
[**Royal MCP Troubleshooting — Start Here**](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp/troubleshooting-start-here/) covers the 4-step diagnostic checklist for MCP-layer issues: edge/host probes, cache and WAF interference, OAuth discovery failures, and connector-side error codes. If your issue is that Claude can't connect, the connector fails, or you're seeing an `ofid_xxxxx` error, that guide is where to start.
For Pro-specific patterns not covered there, see:
- [License activation fails](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/license-activation-issues/) — full diagnostic tree covering DNS, firewalls, license-server reachability, and seat conflicts
- [Pro tool returned upgrade prompt with valid license](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/pro-tool-returned-upgrade-prompt/) — license-server sync issues, object cache, tier-check middleware
- [Undo token errors](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/undo-token-errors/) — expired, consumed, handler missing, capability mismatch
- [Builder session detected](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/builder-session-detected-force-override/) — when to close the editor vs. pass `force: true`
### Step 2: Email priority support
If you've worked through Start Here and the relevant Pro-specific doc and the issue still isn't resolved, email priority support from your purchase email address at **[support@royalplugins.com](mailto:support@royalplugins.com)**. Priority email support is included with your license — typical response within 24 hours. **Never include your license key in email**; we look it up from your purchase address.
What to include in your email
- **Your hosting provider** (SiteGround, Cloudways, Hostinger, Kinsta, WP Engine, Liquid Web, self-hosted VPS, etc.)
- **Royal MCP Pro version** from WP Admin → Plugins
- **Active caching plugins** (LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, SpeedyCache, Hummingbird, none)
- **Active security plugins** (Wordfence, Defender Pro, Solid Security, NinjaFirewall, none)
- **Cloudflare or CDN** in front of the site? If yes, is “Manage AI Bots” or “Bot Fight Mode” on?
- **Which MCP client** — claude.ai web custom connector, Claude Desktop with `mcp-remote`, ChatGPT MCP, Cursor, or another MCP-compatible client
- **The exact error message** you see, plus any `ofid_xxxxx` reference code if claude.ai shows one
- **The Pro tool name and args** you called, if the issue involves a specific Pro tool
- **Screenshot of the most recent `oauth:` row in Activity Log** AND **the most recent Pro tool row in Audit Log** with View Details expanded (or confirmation that the logs are empty after a reproduced failure)
- **Which steps you ran from Start Here** and what changed at each
[← Documentation Hub](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/)
[License & Renewals →](https://royalplugins.com/support/royal-mcp-pro/license-activation-and-renewals/)