# Speed up a slow site with Claude Code on xCloud

> Ask Claude Code why a site is slow and it reads xCloud's CPU, RAM and disk history, cache layers, PageSpeed result and access log, then names the cause.

Speeding up a slow site with Claude Code means asking Anthropic's terminal agent why a site on xCloud is slow, and letting it read the monitoring samples, cache layers, PageSpeed result and access log before it names a cause.

## How do you set up Claude Code to speed up a slow site on xCloud?

### 1. Add the xCloud MCP server

Run this in your terminal, then type /mcp inside Claude Code, pick xcloud and choose Authenticate. The browser opens on the xCloud approval screen, where you tick the teams and choose Read-only or Full access.

```bash
claude mcp add xcloud --transport http https://app.xcloud.host/mcp
```

### 2. Install the xCloud skills plugin

Optional but recommended. Inside Claude Code, add the xCloud marketplace, install the plugin and reload. The nine skills teach Claude Code which tool to reach for, how to dry-run and confirm, how to poll a long job and how to diagnose a failed deploy.

```bash
/plugin marketplace add xCloudDev/xcloud-agent-skills
/plugin install xcloud@xcloud-agent-skills
/reload-plugins
```

### 3. No browser? Use an API key

For a headless or CI machine, create a token with the mcp:invoke scope plus the read abilities for the areas it will use (read:servers and read:sites, with read:billing and read:addons for billing and add-on tools) and the matching write: abilities if it should change things in Settings, Developers, API Tokens and pass it as a header. Keep the single quotes: xCloud tokens contain a pipe character.

```bash
claude mcp add xcloud --transport http https://app.xcloud.host/mcp \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN'
```

Then ask: "Why is shop.example.com slow? Read-only: cache layers, server load, latest PageSpeed. No purges."

## How does performance work from Claude Code?

Claude Code is usually open in the repository of the site that feels slow, which gives it something a dashboard never has: the code sitting next to the numbers. You type why is shop.example.com slow, and it does not start by reading templates. It resolves the domain to a site and a server, checks the site status in case a deploy is still running, then pulls the 24-hour series from sites_monitoring_history and the machine's samples from servers_monitoring. Only when those numbers point at the application does it open files in your checkout, for example a plugin directory your repository vendors or a query you changed last week.

The cache question is answered by a call, not a guess. Claude Code reads sites_cacheSettings, then sites_pagespeed_latest, then a bounded window of sites_access-logs, and finishes with servers_services and sites_wordpress_status for the PHP version and the pending updates. What lands in your terminal is a short finding with its numbers: page cache is off, the mobile server response is the weak spot, Redis is stopped. If the fix is a switch, Claude Code names the dashboard path, Site, WordPress, Caching, and prints the dashboard link xCloud returned, because enabling a cache layer is not something the API can do.

Two things are specific to a terminal agent. First, you can ask it to cross-check from your own machine, such as timing a request to the site with curl. It treats that as a rough second opinion, since the result includes your network path as well as the server. Second, with the xcloud:performance skill from the xCloud plugin loaded, it follows the read chain in order and tells you before it spends a PageSpeed scan or purges a cache. Without the plugin the MCP connection still gives it every read, but the plugin is what makes the order a habit.

### Example session

**You:** Why is shop.example.com slow? Read-only. No purges.
→ `sites_monitoring_history` (read-only)
→ `sites_cacheSettings` (read-only)
**Agent:** Disk on the server is at 91 percent and CPU has been high since yesterday. Page cache and Redis object cache are both off, and the mobile PageSpeed result shows a slow server response. Most likely cause: nothing is cached, so every visit runs PHP. Enabling it is a dashboard step: Site, WordPress, Caching. Want the link?
**You:** Yes. And check what is filling the disk.

## What xCloud does for performance

xCloud reads the site's and the server's CPU, RAM and disk samples, which cache layers are on, the latest PageSpeed result, traffic in the access log, service health and the site's PHP version. The agent names the cause from that data, then hands you the switches that only the dashboard can flip.

Skill: `xcloud:performance` · Toolsets: `pagespeed`, `sites`, `servers`, `broken-links`

1. **Resolve the site and its server.** The agent looks up the site and the server it runs on, because the answer often comes from both. A slow site is frequently slow because a neighbour on the same server is.
2. **Check status and monitoring history.** A site that is mid-deploy or failed explains slowness without any measurement. Otherwise the agent reads the site's and the server's samples, and a 24-hour or 7-day series to tell whether the slowdown is new. Disk comes early: a nearly full disk slows everything, the database first.
3. **Read the cache layers.** The agent reads the cache settings before saying anything about caching: whether page cache, Redis or Object Cache Pro object cache and Cloudflare edge cache are on, and which server stack the site runs. It never reports that no cache configuration is readable without calling it.
4. **Read PageSpeed and traffic.** The latest completed PageSpeed run is free to read. A new scan is worth starting only when there is no result or the site changed since, and the agent tells you it is spending a scan. The access log shows spikes, a crawl or one client hammering a path.
5. **Check services and PHP.** The agent checks that PHP, the web server, Redis and the database are running, and reads the site's PHP version and pending updates. A stopped Redis next to an object cache that reads as on is a found answer.
6. **Name the cause and hand off.** You get the most likely cause with its numbers. The fix is either something the agent can do, such as a purge after you agree, or a dashboard switch it names with the path and the site's dashboard link. If every number looks normal, it says so instead of inventing a cause.

## Performance reference

| Setting or limit | What applies |
|---|---|
| Monitoring history | Site and server CPU, RAM and disk samples as a 24-hour or 7-day series. History is not available on the free plan, and the agent says that is a plan limit rather than reporting no data |
| Cache state | Read through sites.cacheSettings: page cache, object cache (Redis, Object Cache Pro) and Cloudflare edge cache. It returns settings only, never cache contents |
| Enabling a cache layer | Dashboard-only: Site, WordPress, Caching. The API reads the layers and purges them, and cannot switch one on for an existing site |
| Page cache details | Cache duration, URL and cookie exclusions and ignored query parameters are dashboard-only and are not returned by the cache settings read |
| PageSpeed | The latest mobile and desktop results and the history are read for free. One scan runs both strategies |
| Scan conflicts | A 409 while a scan is running means it is still pending or scanning. The agent polls it instead of starting another, and it is not a cooldown |
| Cache purge | Purging runs without a confirmation stop but throws away a warm cache, so the agent asks first on a live site and reports each layer as queued or skipped |
| Traffic | The access log shows spikes and bots. It is read over SSH, so the agent asks for a bounded window |
| PHP version | Read from the site's status. Changing one site's PHP version is a dashboard step: Site, Site Settings |
| Server PHP default | Changing the server default PHP changes only the command-line php and the version new sites get. It does not move any existing site |
| Broken links | A broken-link scan on a WordPress site returns findings grouped by source page, and a truncated scan is reported as partial |

## Rules Claude Code has to follow

- The agent diagnoses from measurements, not guesses, and it calls the cache settings read before it says anything about caching.
- It never offers to turn on Redis or any other cache layer itself. Enabling a layer is a dashboard step, and the agent gives you the path and the dashboard link.
- It never presents a change of server PHP default as a substitute for changing one site's PHP version.
- A cache purge on a live site, a new PageSpeed scan and any server-level PHP change are announced first. Server-level changes also need your explicit yes.
- A site that errors rather than loads slowly goes to troubleshooting, and a failed deploy goes to deploy.

**Claude Code specific:** The xCloud plugin's REST fallback is GET-only in v4.4.2. If you installed only the plugin and skipped the MCP connection, Claude Code can run the whole read chain but cannot start a PageSpeed scan or purge a cache, and it will tell you to connect MCP for those two. On a free xCloud plan, sites_monitoring_history is refused as a plan limit, and Claude Code should report it as that, not as no data.

## What can you ask Claude Code to do?

- Why is shop.example.com slow? Read-only: cache layers, server load, latest PageSpeed. No purges.
- Show CPU, RAM and disk for shop.example.com over 24 hours and say whether the slowdown is new.
- Check the nginx access log for shop.example.com, last 200 lines, for a bot or one path getting hammered.
- Why is shop.example.com slow? Check the cache, the server load and the latest PageSpeed result.
- Is Redis object cache on for the shop site? If it is off, tell me where to switch it on.
- Show CPU, RAM and disk for the shop site over the last 24 hours and tell me whether the slowdown is new.
- Run a PageSpeed scan on the shop site and compare the score with the previous scans.
- Look at the access log of the shop site for a traffic spike or a bot hammering one path.
- Which PHP version is the blog site running, and are there pending updates I should apply?
- Purge all caches on the shop site.
- Scan the shop site for broken links and list the pages with the most.

## Frequently asked questions

### Will Claude Code change my cache settings when it finds the site is slow?

No. It can read which cache layers are on and purge them after you agree, but switching page cache, Redis object cache or Cloudflare edge cache on for an existing site is a dashboard step under Site, WordPress, Caching. Claude Code gives you that path and the site's dashboard link.

### Can Claude Code use my repository to explain a slow site?

Yes, but after the numbers. It starts with xCloud's samples, cache settings and PageSpeed result, and opens your code only if they point at the application. Because it can edit files, a fix in the code can be committed and redeployed from the same session.

### Can the agent turn on caching for my slow site?

No. It can read which cache layers are on and purge them, but switching page cache, Redis object cache or Cloudflare edge cache on for an existing site is a dashboard step under Site, WordPress, Caching. The agent tells you the path and gives you the site's dashboard link.

### What does a 409 mean when the agent starts a PageSpeed scan?

It means a scan for that site is still pending or running. The agent polls the existing scan instead of starting another, and it is not a cooldown period. A new scan is only worth starting when there is no recent result or the site has changed.

### Will changing the server's PHP default speed up my site?

No. The server default changes only the command-line php and the version new sites get, and it does not move any existing site. The PHP version of one site is changed in the dashboard under Site, Site Settings.

### Why does the agent say monitoring history is unavailable?

Monitoring history is a paid-plan feature, so on the free plan the request is refused as a plan limit. The agent reports it that way rather than saying there is no data, and it falls back to the samples and measurements the plan does include.

### Does purging the cache ask for my confirmation?

xCloud itself runs a purge without a confirmation stop, because it is a routine action. The agent still asks you first on a live site, since a purge throws away a warm cache and the next visitors wait while it rebuilds.

## Performance with other agents

- [Speed up a slow site with Claude](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Claude Cowork](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-cowork/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Cursor](https://xcloud.host/agents/cursor/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Codex](https://xcloud.host/agents/codex/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with OpenCode](https://xcloud.host/agents/opencode/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Hermes Agent](https://xcloud.host/agents/hermes-agent/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with OpenClaw](https://xcloud.host/agents/openclaw/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Windsurf](https://xcloud.host/agents/windsurf/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with GitHub Copilot](https://xcloud.host/agents/github-copilot/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Gemini CLI](https://xcloud.host/agents/gemini-cli/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with ChatGPT](https://xcloud.host/agents/chatgpt/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with ChatGPT dots](https://xcloud.host/agents/chatgpt-dots/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Grok](https://xcloud.host/agents/grok/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Grok Bot](https://xcloud.host/agents/grok-bot/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Kiro](https://xcloud.host/agents/kiro/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Antigravity](https://xcloud.host/agents/antigravity/performance/)
- [Speed up a slow site with Zed](https://xcloud.host/agents/zed/performance/)

## More Claude Code guides

- [Claude Code and xCloud overview](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/)
- [Deploy from Git with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/deploy-from-git/)
- [Run Docker apps with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/docker-apps/)
- [Install one-click apps with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/one-click-apps/)
- [Manage WordPress with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/wordpress/)
- [Back up and stage sites with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/backups-and-staging/)
- [Manage SSL and domains with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/ssl-and-domains/)
- [Manage servers with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/server-management/)
- [Troubleshoot a broken site with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/troubleshooting/)
- [Secure sites and servers with Claude Code](https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/security/)

## Related documentation

- [Enable the edge full page cache](https://xcloud.host/docs/enable-the-edge-full-page-cache/)
- [Configure xSpeed Cache settings](https://xcloud.host/docs/configure-xspeed-cache-settings-xcloud/)
- [Control OPcache with xCloud](https://xcloud.host/docs/control-opcache-with-xcloud/)

Canonical: https://xcloud.host/agents/claude-code/performance/
Last updated: October 2026. Keep a human in the loop: xCloud stops and asks before anything that creates, deploys, updates, reboots, deletes or buys.
Every agent guide: https://xcloud.host/agents/ · xCloud MCP: https://xcloud.host/mcp/ · Agent Skills: https://xcloud.host/ai-agent-skills/ · Setup script for agents: https://xcloud.host/agent-setup/prompt.md