ThemesPro
Astra MCP: settings, Header Builder grids, hooks and per-page overrides
Astra MCP access through GoBuildWP covers the theme at the level people actually edit it: the global settings bag, the nine-slot colour palettes, the Header and Footer Builder grids, per-page layout overrides, and with the Astra Pro Addon its modules, Advanced Hooks, Advanced Headers and WooCommerce styling. Writes are allowlisted merge patches under a lock, so an agent changing the link colour cannot wipe the header layout sitting in the same row.
On desktop, move the search icon from the left of the main header row to the right, and hide the page title on our Summer Sale landing page.
wppilot/astra-check-setupReadConfirms the theme is active at a supported version and reports the Pro addon and module state.
wppilot/astra-get-header-layoutReadReturns the live desktop and mobile grids plus the valid cell keys and element slugs.
wppilot/astra-reorder-header-rowConfirm firstMoves search from primary_left to primary_right under the settings lock; if it is no longer in the source cell, nothing is written.
wppilot/astra-get-post-settingsReadShows the landing page's raw overrides beside the resolved values that fall back to the Customizer.
wppilot/astra-set-post-settingsConfirm firstWrites only the title-visibility override on that page; every other override keeps its value.
- Edition
- Pro
- Abilities
- 34
- Requires
- WordPress 6.9+, PHP 8.0+, Astra theme 4.13.5+, Astra Pro add-on (Pro option operations) 4.13.5+
Abilities
Astra abilities by effect
Inspect16
astra-check-setupCheck Astra Setupastra-get-color-paletteGet Astra Color Paletteastra-get-css-outputGet Astra Dynamic CSSastra-get-defaultsGet Astra Defaultsastra-get-footer-layoutGet Astra Footer Layoutastra-get-header-layoutGet Astra Header Layoutastra-get-hookGet Astra Advanced Hookastra-get-layoutGet Astra Layoutastra-get-page-headerGet Astra Page Headerastra-get-post-settingsGet Astra Post Settingsastra-get-settingsGet Astra Settingsastra-get-woocommerce-settingsGet Astra WooCommerce Settingsastra-list-customizer-settingsList Astra Customizer Settingsastra-list-hooksList Astra Advanced Hooksastra-list-modulesList Astra Pro Addon Modulesastra-list-page-headersList Astra Page Headers
Create and change0
None.
Destructive18
astra-clear-post-settingsClear Astra Post Settingsastra-create-hookCreate Astra Advanced Hookastra-create-page-headerCreate Astra Page Headerastra-delete-hookDelete Astra Advanced Hookastra-delete-page-headerDelete Astra Page Headerastra-disable-moduleDisable Astra Moduleastra-edit-hookEdit Astra Advanced Hookastra-edit-page-headerEdit Astra Page Headerastra-edit-settingsEdit Astra Settingsastra-edit-woocommerce-settingsEdit Astra WooCommerce Settingsastra-enable-moduleEnable Astra Moduleastra-reorder-header-rowReorder Astra Header Rowastra-set-color-paletteSet Astra Color Paletteastra-set-footer-layoutSet Astra Footer Layoutastra-set-header-layoutSet Astra Header Layoutastra-set-post-backgroundSet Astra Post Backgroundastra-set-post-settingsSet Astra Post Settingsastra-set-typographySet Astra Typography
Reference: /docs/reference/astra
Documented source abilities; live registration can be narrower. Edition and effect labels describe the source catalogue. The installed schema, dependency versions, licence, WordPress capability, safety profile and per-ability policy determine availability; labels alone do not prove confirmation or recovery.
Data model
One large settings row, a palette row, post meta and two post types
Nearly everything the Customizer shows lands in a single astra-settings option: colours like theme-color, typography, container and sidebar layout, blog options, the Header and Footer Builder grids and, with the Pro WooCommerce module, around ninety shop, product, cart and checkout keys. The builder grid is simply keys such as header-desktop-items holding element slugs per cell. Palette rosters are kept apart in astra-color-palettes, which is why a palette write and a settings write never race each other.
Page-level choices are post meta, for example the content layout and sidebar of one page, and a resolver ability reports for each field whether the value came from that meta or from the global bag. Astra Pro adds astra-advanced-hook posts for markup placed at theme hooks and astra_adv_header posts for page headers, and it tracks which of its twenty modules are on in _astra_ext_enabled_extensions.
Worked example
Moving search to the right and hiding the title on one landing page
Expected outcome to verify on the installed stack; this sequence has not been recorded as a runtime test.
The header change applies site-wide on desktop and the title disappears on one page only. Both writes can be rolled back, the first by restoring astra-settings and the second by restoring the page's meta, and astra-clear-post-settings returns that page to the global defaults.
Compare the requested theme-mod operation with Astra’s own native tools, then inspect the saved value and the actual desktop and mobile page before and after the change.
astra-check-setupConfirms the theme is active at a supported version and reports the Pro addon and module state.
astra-get-header-layoutReturns the live desktop and mobile grids plus the valid cell keys and element slugs.
astra-reorder-header-rowMoves search from primary_left to primary_right under the settings lock; if it is no longer in the source cell, nothing is written.
astra-get-post-settingsShows the landing page's raw overrides beside the resolved values that fall back to the Customizer.
astra-set-post-settingsWrites only the title-visibility override on that page; every other override keeps its value.
Limits
Astra boundaries
- Unknown or wrongly typed keys are not written; they come back in the response, or fail the whole call when strict is true.
- The PHP-execution option on Advanced Hooks is never read or written. Hook content is block markup capped at 32 KB.
- Deleting a hook or page header trashes it by default and is undoable; with force it is permanent and recorded as irreversible.
- Disabling a module that still owns hook or header posts needs confirm and leaves those posts in place.
- Pro abilities need the Astra Pro Addon with the matching module on; the theme and addon both have supported floors shown above.
Astra changes an agent can trace
From a Customizer label to the Astra key behind it
Clients describe Astra changes in Customizer language: the transparent header logo, the blog archive layout, the button radius under Global. The agent needs the key in astra-settings that holds it, and guessing key names is how wrong writes happen. astra-list-customizer-settings boots the Customizer and returns Astra's own sections and controls with their labels, types, choices and the setting id each control saves to, so a label the client used can be matched to a real key. Pass a section to drill into one area instead of reading the whole tree.
Then read the current value with astra-get-settings and only the keys you need, and check the expected type with astra-get-defaults, whose factory default shows whether a key wants a string, a number, a boolean or a responsive array. Sending strict true on astra-edit-settings turns any refused or mistyped key into an error, which is what you want when the agent is less sure than usual. Without it, refused keys come back as warnings while the valid ones are written.
Rebranding an Astra site: palette first, then type
A brand refresh on Astra is mostly two writes. astra-get-color-palette shows the active palette and every registered palette with its nine slots, and astra-set-color-palette replaces all nine slots of one palette, the active one when no id is given. Because Astra elements usually point at palette slots rather than raw hex values, changing the slots recolours the site without touching individual settings. Read the palette before writing and keep the old nine values, since that response is the simplest way back.
Typography goes through astra-set-typography, which accepts body and heading fonts and sizes from its own allowlist. Responsive size keys must be arrays carrying desktop, tablet and mobile values with their units, so a request for a bigger H1 on phones only should still send the full array with the other two values unchanged. After both writes, astra-get-css-output shows the CSS Astra now generates, which separates a setting that did not change from a page or CDN cache that has not caught up. Check a few real pages on a phone-sized screen as well; generated CSS proves the rule exists, not that it wins.
Auditing Advanced Hooks before adding another
On older Astra Pro sites the Advanced Hooks list is often where tracking scripts, promo bars and leftover experiments live. astra-list-hooks returns each hook's action, priority, layout, status and a location summary without the content, so an agent can build a map of what is injected where and flag hooks that are still published but no longer wanted. astra-get-hook then shows one hook's block markup and its location, exclusion and user rules.
GoBuildWP never reads or writes the PHP-execution option on these hooks, and content is block markup capped at 32 KB, so a hook that relies on PHP has to be maintained another way, such as a snippet plugin. When retiring a hook, the default delete moves it to trash, which can be undone; force deletes it permanently. If the plan is to switch the whole module off, astra-disable-module stops and reports how many hook posts would be orphaned until confirm is sent, and even then the posts stay in the database.
Questions
Astra questions
Can an AI edit the Astra header without breaking the mobile header?
The layout grids are kept apart: desktop and mobile are separate keys, the set-layout call can leave the mobile grid untouched, and unknown cells or slugs are dropped and reported rather than stored. That protects the mobile layout, not its look. Mobile header elements can inherit colours, fonts and sizes from desktop settings, so a desktop styling change can still show up on phones. Check the header at a phone width after any change.
Why did my Astra colour change not appear on the front end?
astra-get-css-output returns the CSS Astra builds from its settings, so the agent can check whether the rule changed before blaming a cache.
Does it need Astra Pro?
No for settings, palettes, typography, the builder grids and per-page overrides. Yes for modules, Advanced Hooks, Advanced Headers and WooCommerce styling.
The Astra WordPress theme documents an MCP connection. This is distinct from security products also named Astra. Compare theme settings and the inherited styling effects before writing through either interface. Astra MCP documentation
Where these facts come from
GoBuildWP behaviour is taken from the plugin source and the ability reference; third-party details from the vendor documentation below, checked by the GoBuildWP team.
Astra is a separate product; no partnership or endorsement is implied.