# AI Connector (MCP) for Shopify

> Connect ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini CLI to your Shopify store. The AI reads your SEO data, proposes changes to pages, blog, menus, products and metafields, and you approve each one. History and 30-day Undo.

## What it does

AI Connector (MCP) lets an AI assistant work with your Shopify store through one connection, together with your Rankfinity data. You say what you want ("fix the missing SEO titles on my best sellers"), the assistant reads your rankings and site audit first, finds the items, and proposes the change. Nothing is written until you approve it.

It is included in paid plans (Solo and up). On the Free plan the store tools are locked and the assistant explains why; your Rankfinity data in AI assistants stays available on every plan.

## Connect it

You need a Rankfinity project with a connected Shopify store (install the Rankfinity app from the Shopify admin, or connect it in **Project settings › Integrations › Shopify**).

1. Open **AI Connector (MCP)** in the project options (in the Shopify app: the **AI Connector (MCP)** screen) and copy the **Server URL**.
2. Add it to your AI app.
   - **Claude:** Settings › Connectors › Add custom connector. Paste the URL, click Connect, sign in to Rankfinity and click **Allow**.
   - **ChatGPT:** Settings › Connectors (Apps) › Add. Name it Rankfinity, paste the URL, choose OAuth, sign in and click **Allow**.
   - **Gemini CLI:** add Rankfinity as a remote MCP server in the settings with the URL, then sign in. Other Gemini apps work only if they accept a remote MCP server.
3. Ask: "Can you work with my Shopify store?" The assistant calls `shopify_status` and tells you what this connection may do and what stops it.

The connection is the same one described in **Connect Claude or ChatGPT (MCP)**: the same address, sign-in and Connected apps list.

## What the assistant can read and change

| Resource | Read | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Products | titles, descriptions, SEO fields, handles, image alt text, tags | SEO title and description, alt text, text, tags, product type, status. **Never price or stock.** |
| Collections | titles, descriptions, SEO fields, handles | SEO fields, text, handle |
| Pages and blog | pages, blog posts, SEO fields | edit text and SEO, create a page or post (created hidden), publish |
| Menus | the menu as a tree, with broken links | add, move, rename or remove items |
| Metafields | values and definitions | set values |
| Redirects | the list | add or remove |

The assistant never gets free-form access to your store, and it never sees your store's access token.

## Permissions

For each AI connection you decide, per resource, whether it may **Read**, **Write** and **Delete**:

- Write needs Read, and Delete needs Write.
- **Delete is off by default.** It means hiding a page or post, or archiving a product. It does not erase anything and Undo can restore it.
- A connection made before this feature keeps only what it could do before (SEO text, alt text, content, redirects and handles). Menus, metafields and the newer changes stay off until you allow them.
- A client account can only read, even with permissions on.

Permissions are checked again on every request and when a change is applied. If you remove a permission after a preview, the apply is refused.

## Approval

1. **Proposal.** The assistant asks for a preview. Nothing changes in your store. You see the item, the before and after, and the cost in credits.
2. **Your yes.** You tell the assistant to apply it. Applying a change that visitors can see also needs the assistant to confirm that you agreed to change the live store. Each change costs credits (the price is shown first, and your balance is checked before anything is charged). Reading, previews, history and Undo are free.
3. **Read-back.** After the write, Rankfinity reads the item from your store again. A change counts as verified only when the store matches.

**Some changes only you can approve.** Large batches, hiding or archiving content, new links and anything that adds script-like content come back as *waiting for a person*. Open **AI Connector (MCP) › History** (or the same screen in the Shopify app), look at the before and after, and click **Approve** or **Reject**. The assistant cannot approve it for you.

## History and Undo

Every change to your store is in one history: the ones made through an AI connection, and the ones made in Fixes, Bulk and Autopilot. For each you see when it happened, who asked (a person or the name of the AI connection), the item with a link, the before and after, the status and the credits. Statuses: preview, waiting for a person, applied, verified, failed, unknown, undone, cancelled, rejected, expired.

- **Undo** puts the old value back. It is free and works for 30 days after the change. A record stays in the history after that.
- If the item was edited after the change, Undo stops and tells you instead of overwriting your newer edit. You can then confirm it.
- A page or post that the assistant created is removed by Undo only while nobody has edited it.
- If a write ended in an unclear way (for example a timeout), the status is *unknown*. Rankfinity reads the store before it tries again, so a change is never applied twice.
- Filter the history by date, resource, status, connection and source, and export it as CSV.
- Ask the assistant: "What did you change yesterday?" It reads the same history and can offer Undo.

## Safety

- Text that comes from your store (a product description, a page) is passed to the assistant as **data**. The assistant is told never to follow instructions found inside it.
- The store is always the store of the project you pick. The assistant cannot name a different store, and another account's project is "not found".
- Your sign-in and the store token are never shown to the assistant.
- Disconnect an app in **My account › Connected apps** (or in AI Connector (MCP) › Connections). Access stops immediately.

## Common questions

**Why does the assistant say the store tools are not available?**
Ask it to call `shopify_status`. The usual reasons are: your plan does not include it (Free), no store is connected to the project, or this connection is read-only. The answer says which one and where to fix it.

**Which plans include it?**
Solo and up. See **Billing › Compare plans**.

**Can it change prices or stock?**
No.

**I used the old Shopify tools. Do they still work?**
Yes. The old tools (`shopify_preview_change`, `shopify_apply_change`, `shopify_undo_change`) keep working unchanged for connections made before this feature, and are marked as deprecated. New connections use `shopify_propose`, `shopify_apply`, `shopify_undo` and `shopify_cancel`. Nothing is written without your approval in either case.

**How many credits does a change cost?**
Applying a change costs credits, the same as applying it in the app. The assistant tells you the price first and applies only after you confirm. Your first few fixes in a store may be free.