Church Website Editor

Developer reference

Church Website Editor MCP server

A Model Context Protocol server that lets an AI assistant edit a church's website by operating directly on its GitHub repository. Writes commit to the default branch and auto-deploy to production via Vercel in about 30 seconds. 25tools, GitHub-OAuth scoped to the caller's own repositories.

Looking for the plain-English version? See the pastor's guide.

Connection

Endpoint

https://www.elijahdesent.com/api/mcp

Transport

Streamable HTTP (stateless)

Server

elijahdesent-crm v0.10.0

Auth

OAuth 2.1 — identity via GitHub

Authorization metadata

/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server

Protected-resource metadata

/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource

The endpoint advertises OAuth 2.1 with dynamic client registration; the discovery documents above let a compliant MCP client negotiate the flow automatically. Tokens are bound to the GitHub account that has access to the church's repository, so every call is scoped to repos the caller already owns.

Add as a remote connector

{
 "mcpServers": {
 "church-website-editor": {
 "url": "https://www.elijahdesent.com/api/mcp"
 }
 }
}

Most clients (Claude, ChatGPT developer mode, Perplexity) add it through their connector UI instead — see the setup walkthrough. On first connect, the client opens a GitHub sign-in to authorize.

Conventions

• repo accepts a bare name— the server fills in the caller's GitHub owner. Use owner/name only for another org.

• Every successful write is one commit to the default branch. Vercel auto-deploys on push; no separate deploy step.

• Prefer replace_in_file for edits. edit_file replaces the whole file and is guarded against partial-content wipes (allow_shrink to override).

• read tools never mutate; commit tools push to the repo; status tools report state only.

Tools

Connection & discovery

Establish identity and find the repos and sites the caller can touch.

connection_statusstatus

Confirm the caller is authenticated and the GitHub link is live. Use to diagnose auth failures.

No parameters.

Returns Authenticated user, GitHub link state, and the church site(s) wired to the account.

list_my_sitesstatus

List the church(es) linked to the caller in the CRM, with their live domains.

No parameters.

Returns Array of { church, domain }.

list_reposread

List GitHub repositories the caller can access. Owner-scoped by default.

Param Type Description filter string Substring to filter repo names (e.g. 'baptist').

Returns Array of { name, description, default_branch, private }.

search_reposread

Find a repo by matching across both its name AND description. Broader than list_repos (name-only) — use when you know what a site is about but not its exact repo name.

Param Type Description queryreq string Text to match against repo name or description (e.g. 'baptist', a town, a pastor's name). limit integer How many matches to return, 1–50. Default 20.

Returns Matching repos, newest first, each with description, visibility, and last-updated.

get_repo_inforead

Report a repo's framework versions so edits match its conventions. Call before any non-trivial code edit.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner.

Returns Next.js / React / Tailwind versions, TypeScript usage, and router (app vs pages).

Reading content

Navigate the tree, read files, search, and inventory live images. All read-only.

list_pagesread

List the contents of a directory. Empty path lists the repo root.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. path string Directory path; empty string for repo root (default). ref string Branch, tag, or SHA. Defaults to the repo's default branch.

Returns Array of { name, type: 'file' | 'dir' }.

read_fileread

Read the full UTF-8 contents of a file. Always read before editing.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. pathreq string File path within the repo. ref string Branch, tag, or SHA. Defaults to the repo's default branch.

Returns Full file contents.

search_contentread

Recursive content search (fetches the tree and greps each text file) — works on fresh, unindexed repos.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. queryreq string Case-insensitive text to find. ref string Branch, tag, or SHA. Defaults to the repo's default branch. path_prefix string Only search paths starting with this (e.g. 'src/app/').

Returns Up to 30 matching files, each with matching line numbers.

list_photosread

Inventory image files with their exact live URLs. Call before pointing a page at a photo to avoid broken-image typos.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. folder string Folder to list from. Defaults to 'public' (site-served images). ref string Branch, tag, or SHA. Defaults to the repo's default branch.

Returns Array of images with repo path and live URL.

Writing content

Each successful write is one commit to the default branch, which auto-deploys to production via Vercel (~30s).

replace_in_filecommit

Targeted edit — replace exact text. Preferred for small changes; only touches what you specify.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. pathreq string File path within the repo. old_stringreq string Exact text to find, whitespace included. Add context to make it unique. new_stringreq string Replacement text. messagereq string Plain-English commit message. branch string Branch to commit to. Defaults to default branch. replace_all boolean Replace every occurrence. Default false (must match exactly once).

Returns Commit confirmation.

edit_filecommit

Create a new file or replace a file's FULL contents. Has a shrink guard against partial-content wipes.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. pathreq string File path within the repo. contentreq string Full new file contents (UTF-8). messagereq string Plain-English commit message. branch string Branch to commit to. Defaults to default branch. allow_shrink boolean Override the guard that rejects writes dropping >20 lines AND <60% of prior size.

Returns Commit confirmation, or a rejection if the shrink guard trips.

upload_photocommit

Add a photo/video. Called without data, returns a one-time upload link; small images commit to the repo, videos & large files route to hosted storage automatically.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. pathreq string Save location. Use 'public/ . ' for site-served images. messagereq string Plain-English commit message. data string Advanced — base64 image bytes. Omit to get an upload link instead. branch string Branch to commit to. Defaults to default branch.

Returns A one-time upload link (default), or a commit confirmation when data is supplied.

get_uploaded_photo_urlread

Resolve where an upload landed after the user has used the link from upload_photo.

Param Type Description tokenreq string The upload link (https://.../u/) or the bare token.

Returns HOSTED (permanent storage URL), COMMITTED (live repo path), or PENDING (not uploaded yet).

History & undo

Inspect commits and roll changes back non-destructively.

list_recent_changesread

List recent commits, newest first.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. path string Limit to commits touching this file/directory. limit integer How many to return, 1–50. Default 15.

Returns Array of { short SHA, time, author, message }.

show_changeread

Get the message, touched files, and diff for one commit.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. shareq string Commit SHA (full or short).

Returns Per-file patch with added/removed lines.

revert_changecommit

Undo a commit by creating a new commit that restores the prior state. Original commit stays in history.

Param Type Description reporeq string Repo as 'owner/name', or bare 'name' to use the caller's GitHub owner. shareq string Commit SHA to revert. branch string Branch to apply the revert on. Defaults to default branch.

Returns Revert commit confirmation.

Deployment

Confirm edits reached production.

check_deploy_statusstatus

Check whether recent edits deployed. Auto-discovers the caller's site(s) from GitHub access.

Param Type Description repo string Narrow to one repo. Omit to check all of the caller's sites.

Returns Deploy state per site; on failure, the last lines of build output.

Custom domains

Attach a custom domain to a site on Vercel and confirm it's pointing correctly. Scoped to projects linked to repos the caller can access. The pastor changes their nameservers at their registrar; the tools never touch the registrar directly.

connect_domainvercel

Attach a custom domain to the caller's Vercel project and return plain-English instructions to point the domain's nameservers at Vercel (with an A/CNAME alternative for domains that host email). A bare apex auto-pairs its 'www.'. Goes live once nameservers propagate.

Param Type Description domainreq string Domain to connect, e.g. 'gracebaptist.org' or 'www.gracebaptist.org'. repo string Which site, as 'owner/name' or 'name'. Needed only if the caller has multiple sites.

Returns Confirmation plus the Vercel nameservers to set at the registrar (from the Vercel API, e.g. ns1/ns2.vercel-dns.com), and an A/CNAME fallback.

check_domainstatus

Check whether a connected domain's nameservers point at Vercel and the site is verified and live. When fully live and the caller owns exactly one church, records it as that church's live_domain so analytics attribute traffic.

Param Type Description domainreq string Domain to check, e.g. 'gracebaptist.org'. repo string Which site, as 'owner/name' or 'name'. Needed only if the caller has multiple sites.

Returns Nameserver status (current vs. expected) + site verification state; when live, confirmation it's been linked for analytics.

redirect_domainvercel

Change where a connected domain points: redirect it to another domain (e.g. an old domain or the non-www version → the main site), or pass redirect_to 'none' to serve directly. Can't chain — the target must not itself be a redirect.

Param Type Description domainreq string The connected domain to change, e.g. 'www.gracebaptist.org'. redirect_to string Domain to send visitors to, e.g. 'gracebaptist.org'. Use 'none' (or omit) to turn the redirect off. permanent boolean Permanent (308) by default; false for a temporary 307. repo string Which site, as 'owner/name' or 'name'. Needed only if the caller has multiple sites.

Returns Confirmation of the new redirect (or that the domain now serves directly). Reports the chaining error if the target is itself a redirect.

Analytics

Read-only traffic data, auto-scoped to the caller's own sites. Pass church to disambiguate when they own more than one.

analytics_summaryread

High-level traffic over a recent window.

Param Type Description church string Church name or live domain. days integer Window in days, 1–90. Default 28.

Returns Total pageviews, unique visitors (devices), country & device breakdown.

top_pagesread

Most-viewed pages over a recent window.

Param Type Description church string Church name or live domain. days integer Window in days, 1–90. Default 28. limit integer How many pages, 1–50. Default 10.

Returns Ranked pages with view counts.

top_referrersread

Top external referrers (direct traffic excluded).

Param Type Description church string Church name or live domain. days integer Window in days, 1–90. Default 28. limit integer How many referrers, 1–50.

Returns Ranked referrers with counts.

traffic_by_dayread

Daily pageviews trend for spotting spikes and quiet weeks.

Param Type Description church string Church name or live domain. days integer Window in days, 1–90. Default 14.

Returns Pageviews per day.

Scoring

Audit any church website against the Church Website Score rubric.

score_websiteread

Fetch a site's homepage and key subpages and return the grading rubric plus page content. The caller (the model) does the scoring — the tool calls no AI itself.

Param Type Description urlreq string The site to score, e.g. 'gracebaptist.org'.

Returns The full 6-category / 100-point rubric and the fetched page content.

Built and maintained by Pastor Eli (Elijah Desent) · [email protected]