Claude

Claude can work on your site directly, building pages, writing posts, checking analytics and fixing links. BrightSite is listed in Claude's connector directory, so most people connect in a few clicks. Connecting is included on every BrightSite plan at no extra cost.

If you just want AI help inside BrightSite without setting anything up, use Lumi instead. See Meet Lumi.

Claude on the web and the desktop app

Claude calls these connectors. You add BrightSite once and it is available in your conversations from then on.

Individual plans (Free, Pro, Max)

1. Open the BrightSite listing. Or, in Claude, go to Customize > Connectors, click +, choose Browse connectors and search for "BrightSite".
2. Click Connect. BrightSite is a Community connector, so Claude shows a notice that it has not been verified by Anthropic.
3. A BrightSite page opens. Sign in if you are not already, and approve the connection. You are returned to Claude.
4. In a chat, click + > Connectors and turn BrightSite on.

There is no key to copy, and nothing stored on your computer.

Optional: under Customize > Connectors > BrightSite you can set each tool to Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked. For example, set the publish tools to Needs approval so Claude always asks before anything goes live.

Team and Enterprise plans

An Owner adds BrightSite for the organization first. In Claude, go to Organization settings > Connectors > Browse connectors, find BrightSite and choose Add to your team. Or use Connect for your team on the listing.

Each member then connects with their own BrightSite login from Customize > Connectors. Members who are not allowed to add connectors see Request instead of Connect, which asks an Owner to add it.

Mobile

You browse and connect on the web or in the desktop app. Once connected, BrightSite also works in the Claude mobile apps.

Disconnecting

In Claude, go to Customize > Connectors > BrightSite and choose Remove. You can also revoke Claude's access from your BrightSite settings.

If you cannot use the directory

You can add BrightSite as a custom connector instead. In Claude's connector settings, add a custom connector, name it BrightSite, enter https://onbrightsite.com/api/mcp as the address, then connect and sign in. That address is the same for every customer. You do not put your own domain in it.

Claude Code

If you sign in to Claude Code with a claude.ai subscription, connectors you added on claude.ai show up automatically. Run /mcp to check BrightSite is listed.

Otherwise, add it with one command:

claude mcp add --transport http brightsite https://onbrightsite.com/api/mcp --scope user

Then run /mcp in Claude Code, choose BrightSite and sign in through your browser.

Breaking that down:

• --transport http tells Claude Code this is a remote server rather than a local program.
• brightsite is the name you will see in Claude Code. You can call it something else.
• https://onbrightsite.com/api/mcp is the BrightSite address, the same for every account.
• --scope user makes the connection available in every project on your computer rather than just the current folder.

Using an API key instead

An API key suits scripted jobs and machines without a browser. Create one in BrightSite under User Settings, on the Security tab, in the API keys section. The key is shown once, at the moment you create it, so copy it somewhere safe immediately. You cannot look it up again. Full detail is on API keys.

Then add the key as a header:

claude mcp add --transport http brightsite https://onbrightsite.com/api/mcp --scope user --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Keep the word Bearer and the space after it. Restart Claude Code after adding it.

Editing the desktop config file directly

You will not need this if the connector directory worked. It is a fallback for anyone who prefers editing a file, or who is on a version of the desktop app without connectors. It uses an API key. The Connecting AI tools box on the Security tab in User Settings shows this snippet ready to copy.

The file lives at:

If it does not exist, create it. If it already has an mcpServers section, add the brightsite entry inside the existing one rather than adding a second mcpServers block.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brightsite": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://onbrightsite.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your key, keeping the quotation marks and the word Bearer. Keys start with bs_mcp_. Save the file, then fully quit and reopen the app. On macOS use Quit rather than closing the window.

The first thing to ask for

Every BrightSite action needs to know which account you mean, and Claude cannot guess. So the first thing in a new conversation is:

List my BrightSite accounts.

Claude comes back with each account and its id, and from then on you can refer to them by name ("work on my Riverside Dental account") and let Claude resolve the rest. Skip this and your first real request fails with an error about a missing account id.

Check it worked

Ask for something that only reads:

List my BrightSite accounts, then show me the pages on the first one.

Real account names and real page titles coming back means the connection is good.

If it does not work

No BrightSite tools appear at all

If you connected from the directory, check BrightSite shows as connected under Customize > Connectors, and that it is turned on for the chat (+ > Connectors). If you edited the config file, quit the app completely and reopen it (the file is only read at startup), then check your JSON is valid, because one missing comma makes the whole file be ignored without any warning.

Authentication fails, or you see a 401

This only affects key-based setups. Work through these in order:

• Check the header is Bearer YOUR_KEY: the word Bearer, one space, then the key. The word is easy to leave out.
• Check the key was not truncated when you copied it. Keys begin with bs_mcp_.
• Check it has not been revoked or expired, in the API keys section of the Security tab in User Settings.
• If in doubt, revoke it and create a fresh one. A key retyped from memory is very often the problem, because it is only ever shown once.

Other problems

Missing accounts, billing refusals, permission errors and rate limits work the same way for every tool, and are covered on Connecting an AI tool.

For agencies

• Prefer connectors over keys. Signing in through the browser leaves no secret in a file, which matters most on a shared or synced machine. Use keys only where a browser is not available, such as scripted jobs.
• One key, all clients. Keys are per person, so a single key reaches every account you are a member of. Convenient, but a leaked key exposes every client at once. Revoke on the slightest doubt.
• Name the client in your first message. With thirty accounts, "update the homepage" is ambiguous, and the wrong id means working on the wrong client's site.
• Constrain automation with roles, not prompts. If a connection should only ever draft, put its user on a role without publish rights. The check runs on every call, so it holds regardless of what Claude is asked to do.

Related

• Connecting an AI tool
• API keys
• What AI tools can do
• Working safely with AI