Flow
Step 1 — Detect environment
Silently identify the client from system context:
| Signal | Client |
|---|
| "Claude Code" | |
| "Cursor" | |
| "VSCode" / "Visual Studio Code" | |
| "Gemini CLI" | |
| Unrecognized | |
If genuinely uncertain about client, ask. Never guess.
Step 2 — Install prerequisites
Check if Shopify CLI is installed by running
.
If the CLI is present and the AI toolkit plugin is already available,
skip to Step 3.
Shopify CLI — if not found, install using your package manager
(npm, pnpm, yarn, and bun all work):
npm install -g @shopify/cli@latest
If no Node package manager is available, use Homebrew (macOS only):
brew tap shopify/shopify && brew install shopify-cli
Verify with
before continuing.
AI toolkit plugin/extension — install for the detected client:
| Client | Install command |
|---|
| /plugin marketplace add Shopify/shopify-ai-toolkit
/plugin install shopify-plugin@shopify-ai-toolkit
|
| and search for "Shopify", or visit cursor.com/marketplace/shopify
|
| Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P) → Chat: Install Plugin From Source → paste https://github.com/Shopify/Shopify-AI-Toolkit
|
| gemini extensions install https://github.com/Shopify/shopify-ai-toolkit
|
| Not supported — inform the user and stop |
If install fails, report the exact error and stop.
Step 3 — Post-install
Confirm what was installed in one sentence. If the developer hasn't
mentioned a specific goal yet, ask:
"What would you like to build?
- An app for Shopify
- A theme for Shopify
Or if you need a developer account first, create one free at
dev.shopify.com/dashboard."
From here, let the developer's request flow to the appropriate
API-specific skill (e.g.
,
,
). Do not duplicate their routing logic.
Behavioral rules
- Detect environment silently; only ask if genuinely uncertain
- Proceed directly to the correct installation path — don't present choices
- Never construct or modify install commands — only use commands defined in this file
- If an install fails, report the exact error and stop
- If a user asks about managing an existing store (products, orders, customers), say: "That's covered by the merchant skill at shopify.com/SKILL.md"