Shopify CLI connector
The Shopify CLI connector is part of the Shopify CLI. Developers use it to authorize an AI tool that runs on a local device to access the Shopify API for a store, so that the tool can build and test against that store from the command line.
The connector authorizes API access from a machine that you control. It's a different way to connect an AI tool than the Shopify integrations for ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, which you install from those tools and use in a chat.
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Intended audience for the Shopify CLI connector
The Shopify CLI connector is for developers who work on a store from their own computer, and who already use the Shopify CLI in a terminal. Supported AI tools include Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Visual Studio Code. For the full list, and the install command for each tool, refer to the Shopify AI Toolkit documentation.
If that doesn't describe what you're doing, then one of the following is a closer fit:
- Managing your store from a chat: To connect ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity to a store that you own, refer to authorizing AI tool access to your store.
- A store that an AI tool or a vibe code partner built for you: To claim that store and finish setting up your account, refer to setting up a store created with an AI tool or vibe code partner.
- An AI store builder that you installed from the Shopify App Store: Contact that app's developer through the app's listing on the Shopify App Store.
- Building a storefront before you have a store: To prototype against fictional catalog data, refer to the mock.shop documentation. For an overview of how AI coding tools use it, refer to the mock.shop announcement on the Shopify blog.
Problems with installing the Shopify CLI itself, such as a package manager that fails to install it, are environment problems on your own machine. Refer to that tool's documentation rather than to the Shopify CLI documentation.
Capabilities of the Shopify CLI connector
After you authorize the connector, an AI tool on your device can read and change store data through the Shopify API, limited by the access that you grant and by your user permissions. Developers use it to build and test an app or a theme against a real store, and to query store data from a local AI tool.
The connector authorizes API access and nothing more. It isn't a chat interface, and it doesn't include the storefront preview and claim flow that you get with the Shopify plugin for ChatGPT and the Shopify connector for Claude.
Setting up the Shopify CLI connector
Setup happens on your own machine with the Shopify CLI, so the steps are in the developer documentation. Refer to the Shopify AI Toolkit documentation to install the toolkit and authorize a local AI tool.
Before you start, make sure that you have access to the store that you want to connect. Approving the connector's data access works the same way as approving access for any other app, so review what you're granting before you accept it. For what to consider before you connect an AI tool, refer to considerations for using third-party AI tools with your Shopify store.
If you revoke the connector's access and then reconnect it to a different store, then start a new conversation in your AI tool. A conversation that started before you switched stores can continue to use the earlier connection.