AI Tools Guide

Support guide

AI tools guide for Fernlight

Connect your AI client, give it the site context, inspect the page, and create a separate draft for human review. The theme supplies presentation; Companion supplies local tools; your chosen client supplies the AI model.

Current as of 13 October 2026. Companion Pro 1.3.13 is released through Freemius. Free Companion 1.3.13 was submitted for WordPress.org recheck on 12 October; approval is pending. The workflow below describes the 1.3.13 tools. Actual configured Codex/Claude end-to-end acceptance remains pending; it is not established by server-side checks.

What each product does

  • Fernlight theme: templates, patterns, styles, typography, and layout. It does not run AI workflows or call an AI provider.
  • Companion Free Site Intelligence: context, recommendations, validation, and exports. These tools do not create drafts, edit live content, or publish. Owner-operated settings and Starter Content are separate actions.
  • Companion Pro: licensed draft tools, editing guardrails, review surfaces, and Agency handoff tools. Free and premium are editions of one plugin; keep one Companion plugin active.
  • Migration beta: staging-first audits, local handoff exports, and separate Fernlight drafts from supported builder content. Originals remain unchanged. The public beta is 1.2.18; 1.2.19 awaits full fidelity verification.

1. Set the site brief and editing guidance

Open Tools → Fernlight AI Connections. Under Site Context → Site Brief, an administrator saves the site purpose, audience, voice, primary visitor action, protected material, permitted reference pages or posts, and environment confirmation. Permitted editors can read the brief. Unknown owner facts stay unset rather than being replaced by product defaults.

Review Editing Guidelines before requesting work. Audience and voice share the saved Site Brief values. Eligible Pro administrators can save additional guardrails such as banned phrases, preferred CTAs, and never-change material. Saved site guidance is labeled separately from product defaults. Protect pricing, legal copy, contact details, product names, and factual claims that need your approval.

2. Connect your AI client

  1. Open Connect AI Client for the site’s authenticated REST agent-brief endpoint and, when detected, MCP endpoint.
  2. Choose a dedicated WordPress account with the permissions needed for the task and create a revocable Application Password. Configure credentials securely in your client; keep them out of prompts, exports, and shared guides. Application Passwords inherit the account’s permissions.
  3. Use authenticated REST if your client supports it. REST does not require MCP Adapter. A client that only supports MCP needs a compatible MCP connection.
  4. For optional MCP access, install and configure the separate MCP Adapter. An administrator selects Fernlight context-read exposure and, when appropriate, licensed draft exposure. Plan eligibility, account permissions, and MCP exposure are independent checks.
  5. Verify tool discovery and a read-only request in the actual client before enabling draft work. A detected server or successful Run server-side MCP check does not verify external credentials or establish a Codex/Claude connection.

Client setup differs by product and version. Use transport and authentication supported by your client. Fernlight does not include a model subscription, configure a provider API key, or provide AI chat or manual AI task forms in WordPress.

3. Read the brief, inspect, and agree on changes

Ask the connected client to read Get Agent Brief first. Confirm site identity, environment, purpose, audience, and protected material. Then request detailed site context, pattern recommendations, or Get Page Brief for the selected page. The compact brief is an orientation, not a complete inventory.

Discuss the intended changes before requesting a draft. Preserve the owner’s voice, approved claims, pricing, legal text, and contact information. Use a dry run where the selected tool supports one. Read-only recommendations remain useful without a Pro license.

Example instruction: “Read the agent brief and inspect this page. Explain the changes you recommend, preserve my protected facts and voice, and wait for agreement before creating a separate review draft.”

4. Create a separate Pro draft

With an eligible active Pro plan and the required WordPress permissions, ask your connected client to create a separate page draft, refactor draft, or refresh draft. For MCP, the owner must also expose the relevant draft tools. The live source stays unchanged.

Source-version tokens and retry identifiers are not required. Repeating a draft-creation request can create another draft. If a refresh request has no selected source, review the returned candidates and choose a page before creating a draft.

5. Review in WordPress

Follow the returned review link or open Tools → Fernlight AI Connections → Draft Review. Review the content, actor and source, workflow, changed fields, and review status. Compare the draft with the current source. Check links, CTAs, facts, accessibility, brand voice, and protected text. Edit as needed and publish manually.

Pro drafts are review copies. They do not automatically publish or replace a live page. Remove test drafts and revoke temporary test credentials after connection testing.

Client handoff

The Agency Client Handoff Guide provides written brand rules, maintenance notes, safe-editing guidance, and permitted tool references. Review it with the client before they use an outside assistant. Client Admin Restrictions is a separate Agency setting that changes admin access; the written guide does not change permissions.

Migration review

  1. Install Migration beta on a staging copy and run the read-only audit.
  2. Review detected builders, supported mappings, confidence, and gaps. Export a local Markdown or JSON Migration Handoff Pack when useful.
  3. Create separate Fernlight drafts only for supported content you want to review. Compare each draft with its original before publishing.
  4. Use Companion context and Pro draft tools for further review where appropriate.

Privacy and access

Fernlight does not call an external AI provider itself. A connected external client receives the data returned by the tools it calls; export-based sharing is also your choice. Share only what the task needs. Never put passwords, license keys, private customer data, or sensitive unpublished material in prompts or exports. Site-wide local analytics requires administrator-level access and is distinct from the public performance summary.

Disabling Fernlight MCP access blocks Fernlight MCP discovery and cached-name execution. It does not disable other plugins’ tools or authenticated non-MCP access. Revoke the Application Password separately when ending account access.

Technical quick reference

  • First authenticated read: GET /wp-json/fernlight/v1/ai/agent-brief or ability fernlight/get-agent-brief.
  • Tool reference: /wp-json/fernlight/v1/manifest; capabilities: /wp-json/fernlight/v1/capabilities.
  • WordPress navigation: Tools → Fernlight AI Connections → Connect AI Client, Draft Review, Editing Guidelines, Site Context, or Client Handoff Guide.
  • MCP: use the detected endpoint shown by Connect AI Client rather than guessing an adapter URL.
  • Abilities: where required, use the standard {"input":{}} wrapper for a no-input call.
  • More detail: Companion technical reference and developer reference.