Spots 
Reorganising a site's main menu is one of those jobs that sounds small and isn't. A client wants "Services" split into three, the blog moved under "Resources", two dead links gone and the order changed. In wp-admin that's twenty minutes of dragging items around on the menu visitors are using right now. One wrong drop and the header is broken until you notice.
It's also a job people now ask an AI client to do. The risky way is to let the agent edit the live menu item by item. This post shows a safer pattern that works with any MCP client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code and others): build the new menu beside the old one, check it, swap the theme location, and keep the old menu as your way back.
Everything here uses WPPilot Free, a self-hosted WordPress plugin that turns your site into an MCP server. Your AI client brings its own model; there's no relay in between.
Disclosure: I work on WPPilot. Ability names and behaviour below are taken from the public WordPress core ability reference.
Disclosure: I work on WPPilot. Ability names and behaviour below are taken from the public WordPress core ability reference. One scope note first: classic menus
The menu abilities in WPPilot work on classic navigation menus: the ones you manage under Appearance → Menus and assign to theme locations like "Primary" or "Footer". If your site runs a block theme whose header uses a Navigation block, this exact workflow doesn't apply. Check before you start: if Appearance → Menus exists and your theme lists menu locations, you're good. The abilities you'll use (all Free)
Two abilities to keep away from in this job: delete-menu (permanent, menus have no trash) and delete-menu-item (permanent). Both need explicit confirmation anyway. The whole point of this pattern is that you never need them until the new menu has been live for a while. You need self-hosted WordPress 6.9+, PHP 8.0+ and HTTPS if your client connects remotely.
Download wppilot.zip from the latest GitHub release (it isn't on WordPress.org) and upload it under Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
Leave the safety profile on Production Safe, the install default. It blocks PHP execution, WP-CLI, filesystem and database access, and plugin/theme installs, none of which a menu job needs. Connect your client. With Claude Code over OAuth:
Use a WordPress account that can already manage menus in wp-admin. Every MCP call inherits that user's permissions, so the agent can't do more than that account can. Step 1: Have the agent describe what's there Start with reads only. This prompt changes nothing: You now have a written snapshot of the current menu. Save it next to your ticket. It's the plan's "before". Step 2: Build the new menu beside the old one Give the agent the target structure in plain language and make it build a new menu:
Reorganising a site's main menu is one of those jobs that sounds small and isn't.