Connect an AI assistant (MCP)

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard way for AI assistants to use outside tools. Connect one to your control panel and you can ask about your hosting in plain English: which domains are on the plan, what databases you have, which FTP accounts exist. With a token that allows it, the assistant can also make the changes you ask for, such as creating or deleting a database.

The assistant works on your live hosting account, not a copy. Start read-only.

Generate a token

1. Go to Hosting, open the plan, and click Open control panel.
2. Go to Account → AI Assistant (MCP).
3. Enter a Name that says where the token will be used, for example Laptop - Claude Desktop.
4. Choose when it expires. Expires in 90 days is a sensible default.
5. Tick Read-only.
6. Click Generate new token.
7. Copy the token straight away. It starts with op_mcp_ and is shown only once. If you lose it, revoke it and generate a new one.

Start with read-only. When you want the assistant to change something, generate a second token without Read-only, give it a short expiry such as Expires in 30 days, and revoke it when the job is done.

You don't need a control panel password. The token is what signs the assistant in.

Connection details

The examples below use mel02.phas.au and op_mcp_xxxxxxxx. Replace both with your own. Use the server of the plan you made the token on.

The same token also works with the control panel API.

Claude Code

Run this in a terminal:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user phas https://mel02.phas.au:2083/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer op_mcp_xxxxxxxx"

--scope user makes the server available in all your projects. Claude Code saves it, token included, in ~/.claude.json. Don't use --scope project: it saves the token in a .mcp.json file inside the project, where it is easy to commit to Git by mistake.

Run claude mcp list to check. It should show phas as connected. Inside a Claude Code session, /mcp shows the server and its tools.

To remove it, run claude mcp remove phas.

Claude Desktop

The Claude Desktop example on the control panel's AI Assistant (MCP) page uses a format Claude Desktop doesn't support. Use these steps instead. They run mcp-remote, a free open-source bridge, on your computer to pass your token to the server.

1. Install Node.js 18 or later from nodejs.org.
2. Open Claude Desktop's settings. On a Mac, choose Settings from the Claude menu in the menu bar. On Windows, click the menu icon at the top left, then File → Settings.
3. Select Developer, then click Edit Config.
4. Open claude_desktop_config.json in a text editor and add the config below. If the file already has an mcpServers section, add the phas entry inside it.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "phas": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mel02.phas.au:2083/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"
      ],
      "env": {
        "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer op_mcp_xxxxxxxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Keep Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER} exactly as shown, with no spaces. Your token goes in AUTH_HEADER, after Bearer and a space.

Save the file, quit Claude Desktop completely, and open it again. In a chat, click + in the message box, then Connectors. phas should be in the list.

The file is in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on a Mac and %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows. Your token is stored in it as plain text.

Other apps

Any app that can connect to a remote MCP server over HTTP with a custom header should work, including Cursor and VS Code. Give it the MCP endpoint and the Authorization header from the table above, and follow the app's own MCP instructions.

Use it safely

• Start with a read-only token. Use one that can make changes only for the job that needs it.
• Read what the assistant is about to do before you approve it. Don't turn off the approval prompts for tools that change or delete things.
• Attach and remove domains in your phas account, not through the assistant.
• Use a separate token for each device and app, named so you can tell them apart. If a laptop is lost, you revoke one token, not all of them.
• Revoke tokens you no longer use. Revoke is next to each token on Account → AI Assistant (MCP), and the token stops working straight away. The list shows when each token was last used.
• Treat a token like a password. Don't paste it into a chat, an email or a support ticket.

Changes are real

Anything the assistant does with your token happens on your live hosting account, as if you had done it in the control panel yourself. A deleted database, file or domain is gone unless you have a backup.

• The Premium Backups add-on keeps daily off-site copies of your plan. With it, you can take a backup before asking for a big change.
• Account → Activity Log in the control panel records actions on the account.

What it doesn't cover

The token reaches the control panel only. These stay in your phas account:

• Billing and invoices
• Registering and renewing domains
• DNS records for domains on phas DNS
• Add-ons
• Support tickets

If it won't connect

• 401 error: the server didn't accept the token. Check it is sent as Bearer, a space, then the full token. If the token was revoked or has expired, generate a new one.
• "This token is read-only": the token can't make changes. Generate one without Read-only if you want the change made.
• 403 or 404 on a particular task: that feature isn't part of phas plans.
• Claude Desktop doesn't list phas: check the file is valid JSON, run node --version to confirm Node.js 18 or later, and quit and reopen Claude Desktop fully.

Still stuck? Contact support.