EMCP Tools 3.18.0

A redesigned admin that shows what your AI did: a Dashboard, guided connection setup, History sessions with diffs and undo, and an MCP Log. Also adds the Themer Loop Builder, Sandbox Plugin Export, scheduled backups, OpenCode in AI Chat, and fixes for #151 and #152.

Release article: https://emcptools.com/blog/emcp-3-18-0/

• New: Works alongside Elementor's own MCP server. Elementor 4.3 ships a built-in MCP server; both now run side by side on the same site. EMCP's Elementor tools follow the same safety rule as Elementor's: a write to a page that another user has open in the Elementor editor with unsaved changes is refused (nothing is written), and every successful write tells an open editor that the page changed. When Elementor's server is on, EMCP's server instructions tell a connected agent which server to use for which job. The admin bar item now reads EMCP instead of MCP, so it is not mistaken for Elementor's.

• Fixed: Brand Kits tab missing. The Brand Kits tab was hidden whenever Elementor was not the selected page builder. It now follows its module switch only, like Templates, and explains on the page when Elementor is not active.

• Fixed: The Skills tab follows the Agent Skills module. Switching the module off now removes Skills from the sidebar and the Dashboard, like the other module tabs.

• Fixed: A restored backup no longer brings back its own "running" record (Pro). A backup stored its own in-progress backup and job rows, so after a full restore History listed a stale 0-byte backup. Backups now leave out EMCP's backup and job tables, and a restore keeps the site's own backup history, so archives made before this update restore cleanly too.

• Fixed: Bricks 2.4 compatibility. The Bricks integration can be enabled on 2.4.x after native verification on 2.4.1. Updated the compatibility gate, admin requirements and bundled guidance.

• New: Loop Items, Loop Grid and Loop Carousel in EMCP Themer (free). A new loop template type holds one post card, and two new Elementor widgets and two new Gutenberg blocks repeat it. Loop Grid: responsive columns, masonry, equal height, a wider first card, hover and entrance effects, and pagination as numbers, previous/next, a load more button or infinite scroll, with a page reload or AJAX. Loop Carousel: slides per view, autoplay, loop, fade and coverflow effects, centered slides, peek offsets, arrows and three dot styles. The card is built with either builder and works in both: an Elementor card can be repeated by the Gutenberg block and the other way round. Every field inside a card shows that card's post, including Themer dynamic sources, Elementor dynamic tags, ACF fields and core post blocks. Queries cover posts of any type, the current archive, related posts, a manual selection and WooCommerce products. The free tier includes one Loop Item and every widget and block option; EMCP Pro adds unlimited Loop Items and, for the Loop Grid widget, alternate templates at chosen grid positions. The Themer MCP tools accept type: loop and a preview argument and the widgets are in the widget catalog, so an agent can build a card and place a grid end to end. No new MCP tools.

• Fixed: Themer dynamic images and links in Elementor. Binding the Featured Image, Site Logo or Author Avatar source to an Elementor image or background no longer crashes the page, and in a Loop Grid every card shows its own background again. The Featured Image size setting now takes effect, so a block binding that sets a size now shows that size. The Fallback setting works again on the Themer link sources, including fallbacks saved before this update. EMCP Pro: Author Avatar, Term Name and Term URL now show their values instead of staying empty; a card in a loop shows its own term. If a dynamic tag from another plugin fails, the page still renders without that tag's styles instead of breaking.

• New: OpenCode Go and OpenCode Zen in AI Chat (Pro, #150). OpenCode's Go subscription and its pay-as-you-go Zen API join Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter and Gemini as AI Chat providers, each with its own key. OpenCode's API does not accept requests from a browser, so AI Chat sends OpenCode turns through a server relay that only ever talks to OpenCode's fixed address, keeps your key on the server (it is never shown in the browser), and allows two replies at a time per user. Each model is routed to the API style OpenCode documents for it. Gemini models on Zen use Google's own format and are not offered there; use the Gemini provider for them. Zen's free models are hidden too: OpenCode limits them to its own client and says data sent to some of them may be used for training. A key is first checked on your first chat. OpenCode describes Go as designed for OpenCode and similar coding agents, so review its terms before using it for page building. Zen bills a prepaid balance and, by default, reloads $20 when it drops below $5.

• Fixed: Blank padding and margin sides are no longer saved (#151). Sending a padding, margin, border radius or border width with one to three sides left blank used to save the blank value, and Elementor then dropped the whole rule, including the sides that were set. Now an update fills the blank sides from the saved value when it is complete and uses the same unit; otherwise the setting is not written and the saved value stays as it was. New elements, imported templates and page content leave the partial value out. The warning says exactly which of these happened. This covers every tool that writes element or page settings, widget spacing controls such as button padding, and tablet and mobile values.

• Fixed: Curated widget settings match Elementor's real controls (#152). 55 of the curated widget parameters that get-widget-schema lists had names Elementor does not use (for example object_fit on the image widget, which is object-fit), so values sent under them were saved and ignored. All 55 are corrected or removed, and every catalog option list and default now uses values Elementor accepts: that fixes progress bars added with the default settings never showing their percentage, code blocks never showing line numbers or the copy button, and size defaults that rendered nothing. The bundled skill helpers send the real names too. The widget tools now warn when a setting is not a control of that widget, with the likely correct name. Values sent earlier under the old names never took effect; send them again under the new names.

• Changed: EMCP Themer is off by default on new installs. Turn it on from EMCP Tools > Modules to use the theme builder and the new Loop Items, Loop Grid and Loop Carousel. Sites that already have Themer on keep it on after updating.

• New: Starter prompts in AI Chat (Pro). A new chat shows six suggested prompts above the message box, drawn from 20 site tasks on the AI Chat page (landing, About, Contact and FAQ pages, blog posts, brand colors and fonts, SEO, accessibility, speed and security checks) and 15 page tasks in the Elementor and block editor panels. Your most used prompt always comes first and the rest are shuffled from the ones you have not tried yet, so each new chat suggests something new. Usage is remembered per user. A click puts the prompt in the box for you to finish, with any [placeholder] selected. Developers can change the list with the emcp_ai_chat_suggestions filter.

• New: Sandbox Plugin Export (Pro module, on by default). Sandbox > Export as plugin packages every ACTIVE Sandbox widget, block and PHP snippet as a standalone WordPress plugin ZIP that keeps working after EMCP Tools is deactivated. Widget types, block names, snippet functions, the [emcp_snippet] shortcode, asset handles and the emcp-custom category are preserved verbatim, so existing pages keep rendering. Widgets that use the query, shortcode or remote controls get the runtime they call bundled under includes/lib/; remote API keys are read from EMCP_TOOLS_REMOTE_KEY_* constants (placeholders in config.php, embedding is opt-in). The exported plugin decides ownership on plugins_loaded (priority 50): it stays dormant while EMCP Tools is active or another export owns the site, and takes over on the first request after EMCP is deactivated. The ZIP is built in a directory verified to sit outside every web-served path, streamed once and deleted. It is on by default for licensed sites and can be switched off on the Modules tab; while it is on, the Sandbox overview shows a fourth card.

• New: A redesigned admin. Every EMCP Tools screen was rebuilt inside one frame: a grouped sidebar with counts, a search palette (Ctrl or Cmd + K) over screens, tools, prompts and templates, a notifications drawer, a save bar that warns before you leave with unsaved changes, and a recovery panel if a screen fails to load. Tools, Modules, Page Builders, Connection, Prompts, Brand Kits, Templates, Marketplace, Context, Skills, Memory, the Sandbox screens, AI Chat, History, Backup & Migrate, Redirects, the MCP Log, the Dashboard and the Changelog are all new. The old screens, their scripts and the admin-ajax handlers only they used are removed. No MCP tools were added or removed.

• New: Dashboard. What your AI did over the last 7, 14 or 30 days: changes kept and rolled back per day, tool calls and errors (Templates applied and Prompts copied on Pro), the most used tools, the five newest changes with Undo, and a health strip for the MCP server, connected clients, tools and version. Needs your attention lists what to act on: the MCP server switched off, changes History could not record, sandbox items awaiting review, disabled tools, plugin and theme updates, EMCP Cloud disconnected while Marketplace items depend on it, and on Pro no backup in 14 days or a failed scheduled backup. A dismissed item comes back when its situation changes.

• New: Guided connection setup. The Connection screen walks you through choosing a client, a sign-in method (OAuth, an application password, or WP-CLI on local sites) and the client's own steps, then waits for that client's first MCP call and confirms it arrived.

• New: History with sessions, diffs and session undo. Changes are grouped by the AI session that made them and can be searched and filtered by kind, client and date. Each change shows a before and after diff where one is available, a whole session can be undone newest first, and History keeps 30, 90, 180 or 365 days. History now has its own database table; your existing history moves there on the first admin page load after updating.

• Changed: Reconnect your AI clients after updating. An AI client that stays connected through the update keeps running the previous version, so its changes are not recorded in History until it reconnects. A notice says so while that happens.

• New: MCP Log screen. Every MCP request with its client, session, sign-in, status and timing, filterable, with request, error and timing totals and a CSV export (spreadsheet formulas are neutralised).

• New: Scheduled backups (Pro). Daily or weekly backups at a set time run through WP-Cron in short steps, keep the newest copies you choose, and can be continued from the Backup & Migrate screen if WP-Cron stalls. Two tabs or a tab and WP-Cron never drive the same backup at once.

• New: Redirects match query strings. A redirect can now match one query string (/page?ref=ad) while another redirect for the same path catches the rest. Existing redirects behave exactly as before.

• New: Context sections and a site profile. Choose which parts of the site description connected agents receive (builder, plugins, theme, global styles, site structure, WooCommerce) and describe the site's name, industry, purpose and voice, with a preview of exactly what agents see.

• Changed: Sandbox items created over MCP are always drafts. An agent can create and edit custom widgets, blocks and PHP snippets but can no longer activate them; activation happens on the Sandbox screens.

• New: Custom skills (Pro). Skills > Custom skills lets you write your own playbooks (a name, a short description and Markdown instructions) in a full editor. Switched-on skills join the bundled ones in the skills catalog agents see, and agents load them with get-skill like any other. The editor shows how much each skill adds to the catalog and to the context budget.

• New: Customize a prompt before you copy it. Every prompt card has a Customize panel for the page builder, business name, brand colours, fonts and content facts, with a live preview. On Pro, Use in AI Chat opens AI Chat in a new tab with the prompt already in the message box.

• New: 100 premium prompts (Pro). The Pro prompt library grows to 100 prompts across 20 categories: the 50 landing-page prompts plus 50 new complete-website prompts in 10 new categories.

• Changed: add-pro-widget is on by default on new installs. It registers only when Elementor Pro is active and only adds widgets, so a site with Elementor Pro can place Pro widgets straight away. Existing sites keep their saved choice.

• Changed: Marketplace loads faster. The Marketplace screen asks EMCP Cloud for a slimmer listing (about a third of the previous size), shows five cards per row on wide screens with whole thumbnails, and pages 20 listings at a time.

Downloads and updating

• Free: download the attached emcp-tools-3.18.0.zip, or update from your WordPress dashboard.
• Pro: update through Freemius with an active license. Premium code is distributed separately.
• Reconnect every AI client after updating. A client that stays connected keeps running the previous version. History moves to its own table on the first admin page load after the update.
• EMCP Themer is off by default on new installs; sites that already use it keep it on.

Requires WordPress 6.9+ and PHP 8.1+.