> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.merchantai.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect MerchantAI to Your Shopify Store in Minutes

> Install the MerchantAI Shopify app to automatically sync your product catalogue, policies, and pages so your AI associate can go live in minutes.

MerchantAI connects natively to Shopify through a dedicated app on the Shopify App Store. Once installed, it automatically ingests your products, variants, collections, policies, and blog posts — so your AI associate can answer shopper questions the moment it goes live, with no manual data entry required.

## Install the Shopify app

<Steps>
  <Step title="Find MerchantAI on the Shopify App Store">
    Open the [Shopify App Store listing](https://apps.shopify.com/merchant-ai) directly, or go to your Shopify admin, navigate to **Apps**, and search for **MerchantAI**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the app and approve permissions">
    Click **Add app**. Shopify will show you the list of permissions the app requires. Review them and click **Install app** to approve.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Complete setup in the MerchantAI dashboard">
    After approval you are automatically redirected to the MerchantAI dashboard. Initial setup — including brand voice, widget appearance, and handover rules — begins here. Follow the on-screen steps to configure your agent before sending live traffic.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Your catalogue syncs automatically">
    MerchantAI pulls in your products, variants, collections, policies, and blog posts as part of the setup flow. Your agent is ready to answer questions about your store as soon as the sync completes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What gets synced

MerchantAI indexes the following Shopify sources so your agent always has accurate, up-to-date knowledge about your store.

| Source          | What's included                                    |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Products**    | Titles, descriptions, prices, variants, and images |
| **Collections** | Names and descriptions                             |
| **Policies**    | Refund, shipping, and privacy pages                |
| **Blog posts**  | All published posts                                |
| **Pages**       | All published website pages                        |

## Keeping your catalogue up to date

Shopify sends webhook events to MerchantAI whenever you update a product, change a price, publish a new blog post, or edit a policy page. These changes are reflected in your agent's knowledge automatically — you do not need to trigger a manual sync for routine updates.

For larger catalogue changes, such as a bulk product import or a major collection restructure, you can trigger a full re-sync manually from the MerchantAI dashboard. This ensures every record is refreshed even if individual webhook events were missed during a large batch operation.

## Supported workflows on Shopify

MerchantAI is designed to support the most common shopper interactions on a Shopify store, including:

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Product discovery" icon="magnifying-glass">
    Shoppers can ask about products, compare options, filter by attribute, and get directed to the right item or collection.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cart review & checkout links" icon="cart-shopping">
    Where enabled, the agent can review a shopper's cart and provide a direct checkout link to reduce drop-off.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Order lookup" icon="box">
    Where enabled, shoppers can check order status and tracking details by providing their order number and email.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Warning>
  Refunds, cancellations, returns, account changes, and other sensitive order operations are not handled by MerchantAI. These actions remain with your human support team. MerchantAI will hand the conversation over with full context whenever a shopper requests them.
</Warning>

## Permissions required

When you install the MerchantAI app, Shopify will ask you to approve the following permission scopes:

* **Read products** — required to sync your catalogue, variants, and collections
* **Read shop policies** — required to answer questions about your refund, shipping, and privacy policies
* **Read orders** — only requested if you choose to enable the order lookup workflow during setup

MerchantAI does not request write access to your Shopify store. It cannot create, modify, or delete any Shopify resource.

<Note>
  The Shopify integration is available on the **Starter plan and above**. Install the app and connect your store at no charge during your 14-day free trial — no credit card required.
</Note>

<Tip>
  Before directing any live traffic to your agent, use the **Preview** tool in the MerchantAI dashboard to test how it responds to real questions about your products and policies. This lets you catch gaps in your knowledge sources and fine-tune your brand voice before shoppers ever see it.
</Tip>