Goldnat AI Connect for XenForo - Admin 1.4.35

XenForo just got a new AI management layer

Until now, we connected AI to XenForo so it could work with your content and users.

Now the next chapter arrives:

AI can manage the Admin side too.

Introducing Goldnat AI Connect for XenForo — Admin, a new addon in our chain, built on the SERVIO 1.0 protocol.

57 admin tools, organised into 10 bundles, letting AI perform actions that previously required a developer to open the Admin CP over and over.


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WHAT YOU CAN DO — real examples

Setting up a new XenForo site from a spec?

Instead of manually creating category → forum → sub-forum → permissions → display order → settings…

You give the AI an instruction like:

"Create this forum structure per the attached spec."

Click to expand...

And it performs the actions through the Admin API.


Have a mockup for the site's design?

You can work with the AI on Style adjustments:
• Set the default Style
• Change Style Properties — with full inheritance visibility (local/master/effective values)
• Upload the site logo
• Upload custom assets (favicon, backgrounds, images)
• Modify design settings
• Match the site to the mockup

Synchronous CSS cache flush means a browser refresh is enough to see the result live.


So instead of just asking the AI:

"How do I do this in XenForo?"

You can get to a point where you say:

"Do it."


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12 BUNDLES · 57 TOOLS — everything you need

Nodes — Create, edit, delete forums/categories/pages/links. Reorder siblings. Toggle private mode.
createNode · editNode · deleteNode · reorderNodes · setNodePrivate · getNodePermissions

Node Permissions — Grant/deny per user group with lockout protection.
setNodePermission · simulatePermissionChange

User Management — Create, update, delete users. Upload/remove avatars.
createUser · updateUser · deleteUser · uploadUserAvatar · deleteUserAvatar

User Credentials — Change email or password on behalf of a user.
changeUserEmail · changeUserPassword

Discipline — Permanent or timed bans with reason. Idempotent unbans.
banUser · unbanUser

User Groups — Full lifecycle + secondary group assignment.
createUsergroup · updateUsergroup · deleteUsergroup · addSecondaryGroup · removeSecondaryGroup

Add-ons — List installed addons, enable/disable them. Chain lockout protection prevents disabling the AIConnect stack.
listAddons · enableAddon · disableAddon

Cron Tasks — List all cron entries with next-run times. Manually trigger a task.
listCronTasks · triggerCronTask

Appearance & Styles — Full styling stack with inheritance awareness and synchronous CSS cache flush.
listStyles · setDefaultStyle · listStyleProperties · getStyleProperty · setStyleProperty · unsetStyleProperty · uploadSiteLogo · deleteSiteLogo · listStyleAssets · uploadStyleAsset · deleteStyleAsset

Widgets — Create, edit, delete widgets across every widget position. Supports HTML widgets with proper template row creation.
listWidgets · getWidget · createWidget · editWidget · deleteWidget · listWidgetPositions

Site Options & Email — Read/write board options, per-addon options, SMTP configuration in native XF option shape.
getOption · setOption · listOptionsByGroup · listOptionGroups · getAddonOption · getAddonOptions · setAddonOption · getEmailTransportConfig · setEmailTransportConfig · testEmailConfig · getOptionBlocklist

Phrases — Search XenForo's translation phrases, read a single phrase, edit its text.
searchPhrases · getPhrase · editPhrase


All of this through a defined tool layer — never giving the AI raw database access or shell.


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SAFETY BY DESIGN

Every setter enforces:

✓ Per-area ACP permission checks — an admin holding only "user" permission can't touch nodes / options / styles through the API
✓ Self-lockout protection — setNodePermission refuses actions that would lock out the calling admin (unless confirm_self_lockout=true)
✓ Addon chain lockout protection — disableAddon refuses to disable the AIConnect stack (would sever remote control)
✓ Site-lock blocklist — setOption rejects site-locking keys (boardActive, boardUrl, etc.)
✓ Type validation — every setter validates payload shape against the property's schema; wrong-shape input returns HTTP 400 with a hint rather than corrupting data silently
✓ Inheritance-aware style engine — child styles see local_value / master_value / effective_value / is_overridden on every property; overrides can be surgically reverted with unsetStyleProperty
✓ SERVIO-aligned permission model — token is identity; per-request is_admin and per-area permission checks are authoritative
✓ Dry-run support on delete / ban / reorder operations


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REQUIREMENTS

• XenForo 2.2+
• PHP 7.2+
• AI Connect for XenForo (Free) v1.2.56+ — install FIRST
• AI Connect for XenForo Pro — install SECOND
• An AI agent that speaks SERVIO 1.0 (Claude Desktop, ChatGPT with connectors, Goldnat vault integration)


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ONE-TIME SETUP AFTER INSTALL — enable admin permissions

The addon installs 57 new tool permissions but does NOT auto-grant them to any user group. This is intentional — administrative capabilities should never be silently enabled. You explicitly choose who gets which.

To activate the tools:

1. ACP → Groups → User group permissions
2. Pick the user group you want to grant admin API access to (typically "Administrative" or a dedicated group)
3. Scroll to the "AI Connect" section
4. Grant the permissions you want:
• use_package_admin — the master switch (required for any admin tool)
• Individual tool permissions — grant per-tool as you need
5. Save
6. Reconnect your agent (or wait for manifest cache TTL) so it discovers the newly-authorised tools

Verification: your agent should now list admin_* tools in the manifest. If not, double-check the permission grants and the target user (the one authenticated by the OAuth token) is in the group you granted.


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GETTING STARTED

1. Install this addon after Free already installed and up-to-date
2. Enable it in ACP → Add-ons
3. Grant permissions to your admin user group (see above)
4. Connect an admin OAuth client (Goldnat vault or manual OAuth flow with admin scope)
5. Start a conversation with your agent.


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MISSING A FEATURE YOU NEED?

We built the initial 57 tools based on what the XenForo Admin CP already exposes — but every site is different. If you're missing something specific to your workflow (a particular admin operation your AI needs to do, a specific bundle of permissions, better visibility into a specific area) — reach out at https://goldnat.ai/ and tell us what you need. We're actively expanding the tool set based on real user requests.


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THE BIG IDEA

ACP is an excellent product — it was built before AI agents could work like this. Now that they can, you no longer need to translate intent into screen navigation. You know what you want. The AI knows where it lives. This addon connects the two.

It's not AI that recommends. It's AI that does.

#XenForo #AIAgents #WebDevelopment #XenForoDevelopment #SERVIO #Goldnat